Captain Arthur Phillip raised the Union Jack at Sydney Cove on January 26, 1788,

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Sydney Founded: British Fleet Arrives in Australia

Captain Arthur Phillip raised the Union Jack at Sydney Cove on January 26, 1788, formally claiming the land for Britain and establishing the colony of New South Wales. The First Fleet's 751 convicts and their marine guards had already rejected nearby Botany Bay as unsuitable after finding inadequate fresh water. Phillip chose Port Jackson for its deep harbor and reliable streams. The Aboriginal people of the Eora nation watched the newcomers arrive but could not have anticipated the scale of dispossession that would follow. Within two years, a smallpox epidemic killed half the indigenous population around Sydney. Phillip attempted some engagement with Aboriginal leaders, most notably Bennelong, who traveled to London, but the colonial relationship was fundamentally extractive. January 26 remains one of the most contested dates in Australian history, celebrated by some as Australia Day and mourned by Indigenous Australians as Invasion Day.

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January 26, 1788

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Sydney Founded: British Fleet Arrives in Australia

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