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Lt Cook (he became a Captain later) first arrived at Botany Bay on April 29, 1770. It was not until the 13th May 1787, that Captain Arthur Phillip left England with eleven ships filled principally with soldiers and convicts. He landed successfully at Botany Bay on 18th January 1788, but found the position too exposed and moved to Port Jackson, a few kilometres further north, and established a new settlement there on 26th January 1788.
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The original aboriginal name of the area was Warrane but was to become Sydney and the new colony New South Wales, being named after Lord Sydney, the British Secretary of State for Home Affairs, who had authorised the colonisation scheme.
The discovery of valuable
land west of the Great
Dividing Range led to
the early prosperity.
By 1842 with the arrival
of continuing convicts
and free settlers, numbers
had grown to 30,000.
In 1848 the British Government
stopped the policy of
sending convicts. The
flow of immigrants continued
as rural people escaped
the poverty of Britain.
It was in the 1800's
that large scale development
started and the Victorian
architecture spread,
going up the hill from
the harbour.
The 1930's were hard
for Sydney but it was
a time of celebration
with the completion of
the Sydney Harbour Bridge
in March 1932. The construction
provided a living for
many and had the nickname ‘Iron
Lung' due to the fact
that it saved so many
from starvation with
the earnings workers
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During the Second World
War, Sydney was considered
a target by the Japanese.
That led to the deployment
of large numbers of US
troops in the city. Three
Japanese submarines did
manage to enter the harbour
causing small damage.
Mass migration followed
the ending of the war
and migration continues
to this day. The mix
of immigrants who changed
over the years now
provide Sydney with its
very mixed and rich culture.
The grandest building
in Sydney, the Opera
House was opened in 1973
after many years construction.
In 2000 the very successful
Olympic Games promoted
Sydney to the world.
Now Sydney continues
to develop as a major
world city with growing
confidence and strength,
helping power the thriving
Australian economy.
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