Who Really Discovered Australia?. Captain James Cook? Don't ...

Who Really Discovered Australia?
Captain James Cook? Don’t make me laugh…
Would you believe me if I said that Captain James Cook didn’t discover Australia first? Would you also believe me if I said that he’s not the reason we celebrate Australia Day? And that he didn’t circumnavigate Australia?
It’s time to face the truth, Australia.
Who Really Discovered Australia First?
Aside from the fact that Australia was already inhabited by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, the first person to discover Australia was Willem Janszoon.
Who? you may ask. And for good reason, too. I, myself, was never taught this, either. So I guess we’ve both learned something new recently!
Willem Janszoon was a Dutch explorer who first made landfall on Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula in 1606. Following his brief landing, Janszoon decided to map out a third of the continent.
Then Dirk Hartog, another dutch explorer, came along and discovered the far western side of Australia in 1616.
Then there was Frederick de Houtman, another Dutch explorer, who discovered more coastline on the western side in 1619.
And then along came Abel Tasman, another Dutch explorer who, if you can tell by the name, was the first to discover Tasmania (it was originally called Van Diemen’s Land). His notable voyage took place between 1642–1644, where he also discovered New Zealand, Tonga and the Fiji Islands.
And then Willem de Vlamingh, another Dutch explorer, retraced Dirk Hartog’s route in 1696, simply to find the inscribed plate that was left there in 1616 and replace it with a new one. (The original plate can be seen in a museum in Amsterdam.)
It wasn’t until 1699 when the first British explorer witnessed the harsh coastline of Western Australia. His name was William Dampier, and he landed at Shark Bay. He must’ve got homesick quickly, as he was back out on the sea in no time, returning to England in 1700.
And finally, after several decades, Captain James Cook was tasked with a secret mission to find and conquer the great southern land “in the Name of the King of Great Britain.”