17th Century
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1606 | March | The Dutch East India Company (VOC) ship Duyfken, under Captain Willem Janszoon, explores the western coast of Cape York Peninsula. This was the first recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil. |
| May | Pedro Fernandes de Queirós believed that he had found the southern continent. He named it La Australia del Espiritu Santo (The Great South Land of the Holy Spirit). He actually was on Vanuatu. | |
| August | Portuguese or Spanish seaman Luis Váez de Torres sails through the Torres Strait, between Australia and New Guinea, along the latter's southern coast. He may well have sighted the northernmost extremity of Australia, although this is not recorded. Torres reported 'shoals', some of which may have been the northernmost atolls of the Great Barrier Reef. | |
| 1616 | Dutch captain Dirk Hartog in the Eendracht makes the second recorded landfall by a European, at Dirk Hartog Island on the western coast of Australia. Leaves behind the Hartog Plate. | |
| 1623 | Dutch captain Jan Carstensz navigates the Gulf of Carpentaria aboard the Pera and Arnhem. The Arnhem crosses the Gulf to reach and name Groote Eylandt. | |
| 1642 | Dutch explorer Abel Tasman explores the west coast of Tasmania, lands on its east coast and names the island Anthoonij van Diemenslandt. | |
| 1688 | English explorer William Dampier explores the west coasts of Australia. | |
| 1696 | Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh charts the southwestern coast of Australia, making landfall at Rottnest Island and the site of the present-day city of Perth. |
Read more about this topic: Timeline Of Australian History
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