First Fleet Arrives at Botany Bay
January 26, 1788
Eleven British ships - six of them floating prisons - dropped anchor in Botany Bay after an eight-month voyage. The bay proved unsuitable; Governor Phillip moved the fleet to Port Jackson. On January 26 he raised the flag at Sydney Cove. A continent began its transformation into a British penal colony.
In context
Also in 1788 (6 other events on record)
- First Fleet Arrives at Sydney Cove · Oceania · Politics
- U.S. Constitution Ratified · North America · Politics
- Mozart's Last Three Symphonies · Europe · Culture
- Kant's Critique of Practical Reason · Europe · Culture
- Onset of George III's Madness · Europe · Politics
- The Times of London Founded · Europe · Culture
Before and after in Oceania
Before and after in Politics
Era
Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources