1770: Captain Cook Claims Australia's East Coast for Britain

The year 1770 marks the first recorded European contact with Australia's eastern coastline, led by Lieutenant James Cook aboard HMS Endeavour.

• January 22: Land sighted at Point Hicks (Victoria).
• April: Cook enters Botany Bay (near present-day Sydney), staying eight days. He claims the territory for Great Britain.
• August 23: At Possession Island in the Torres Strait, Cook formally claims the entire eastern coast, naming it New South Wales.

This voyage laid the groundwork for British colonisation, beginning with the First Fleet's arrival in 1788.