History of Australia
Australia was first seen in maps made by Europeans. Mapmakers named the undiscovered place in latin, calling it Terra Australis Incognita-- Unknown Southern Land. The exploring nations in Europe rushed for Australia to discover it.
In 1606 a Dutch Ship Duyflken made the earliest recorded discovery of Australia, which came across the west coast of Cape York Peninsula.
In 1642 Captain Abel Tasman, one of the greatest Dutch explorers, proved that Australia was not a part of the Antarctic continent but either an island or a continent. Tasmania, Australia's island state, and Tasman Sea, part of the Pacific, are named after him.
Captain James Cook landed near the city of Sydney in 1770. Captain cook, the great explorer of the Pacific, sailed into Botany Bay, with his ship, Endeavour, in April. He named it New South Wales and claimed the new land for Great Britain.
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