- 1770 – Captain James Cook and the crew of HMS Endeavour first sight the Eastern coast of Australia.
- 1818 – Phillip Parker King discovers Port Essington (pictured), later one of the first British settlements in what is now the Northern Territory.
- 1973 – George Gregan, former captain and games record-holder of the Australian rugby union team, is born in Lusaka, Zambia.
- 1984 – Advance Australia Fair is proclaimed as Australia's national anthem, and green and gold are proclaimed as Australia's national colours.
- 2006 – Severe Tropical Cyclone Monica makes landfall near the Lockhart River in Far North Queensland.
- 2010 – Carl Williams, a convicted murderer and drug trafficker who was involved in the Melbourne gangland killings, is beaten to death at Barwon Prison in Victoria.