# Kimberley historical timeline

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
This timeline is a selected list of events and locations of the development of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
| Date | Event | Location |
| c 120,000 BP | Wolfe Creek Crater formed by meteorite impact | Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater National Park |
| 17-25,000 BP | Estimated age of Gwion Gwion (Bradshaws) rock art | Roe River |
| c 4000 BP | Estimated age of Wandjina rock art | North-West Kimberley |
| 1688 | William Dampier, first European to the region, sails along the coast | Cape Leveque and King Sound |
| 1699 | William Dampier return journey, leaves after an altercation with Indigenous Australians after a man is killed | |
| c 1720 | Visits of Makassan trepang fishermen begin | Niiwalarra |
| 1803 | Nicolas Baudin sails along the coast charting Cape Bougainville | Admiralty Gulf |
| 1819 | Philip Parker King sails along the coast in HMS Mermaid surveying the coastline | Cambridge Gulf and King Sound |
| 1820 | HMS Mermaid grounded and repaired at Careening Cove, Coronation Island | Coronation Island |
| 1837 | Lieutenants George Grey and Franklin Lushington, and 12 men sailed on the schooner Lynher from Cape Town to Hanover Bay and explore inland | Hanover Bay |
| 1861 | The giant North West pearl oyster the Pinctada maxima was discovered in Roebuck Bay by the crew of the Dolphin. | Roebuck Bay and Eighty Mile Beach |
| 1864 | First white settlement made at Camden Harbour, soon abandoned | Camden Sound |
| 1865 | La Grange expedition shoots dead several Aboriginal men in retaliation for deaths of three white men | Lagrange Bay |
| 1879 | Alexander Forrest trekked across from the western coast to the Northern Territory. Forrest named the Kimberley district, Margaret River, Ord River and the King Leopold Ranges | Kimberley |
| 1879 | Charles Harper suggested to the Legislative Council that Roebuck Bay be set up as a port for the pearling industry | Roebuck Bay |
| 1880 | The Murray Squatting Company take up leases in the newly opened West Kimberley | Yeeda |
| 1881 | The Kimberley Squatting Company take up the lease for Liveringa Station | Liveringa |
| 1881 | First ships using pearl diving equipment arrive in Roebuck Bay, revolutionizing the pearling industry | Roebuck Bay |
| 1882 | The Victorian Squatting Company take up leases on the Drysdale River | Drysdale River Station |
| 1883 | The townsite of Derby is named and established with a Government resident | Derby |
| 1883 | Townsite for Broome chosen by John Forrest, town proclaimed later the same year | Broome |
| 1883 | Leases issued to the MacDonald and MacKenzie families for lands along the Fitzroy River | Fossil Downs Station |
| 1885 | Construction of wooden jetty at Derby completed | Derby |
| 1885 | Gold rush at Halls Creek following discovery by prospectors Charles Hall and John Slattery | Halls Creek |
| 1885 | Gogo cattle station established by the Emanuel family | Gogo Station |
| 1886 | Townsite of for Wyndham chosen by John Forrest | Wyndham |
| 1887 | 140 lives lost when pearling fleet hit by cyclone | off Broome |
| 1887 | Lots at townsite for Halls Creek laid out | Halls Creek |
| 1887 | Apostolic Vicariate of Kimberley (later Catholic Diocese of Broome) established | Broome |
| 1889 | Broome connected to Java by telegraph cable landed at Cable Beach | Cable Beach |
| 1890 | Trappist monks establish Beagle Bay mission | Beagle Bay |
| 1891 | Pastoralist Joseph Bradshaw discovers Gwion Gwion rock paintings | Roe River |
| 1893 | Michael and Patrick Durack establish Carlton Hill and Ivanhoe cattle stations | Carlton Hill Station and Ivanhoe Station |
| 1894 | Townsite of Halls Creek gazetted | Halls Creek |
| 1894 | Shootout between posse of white police and settlers and aboriginal band led by Jandamarra | Windjana Gorge |
| 1897 | Jandamarra shot dead by tracker Micki | Tunnel Creek |
| 1900 | Daisy Bates visits Beagle Bay and Broome and reports on conditions | Broome, Beagle Bay |
| 1908 | Construction of wells along Canning Stock Route commences | Halls Creek |
| 1908 | Benedictines establish Drysdale River Mission | Kalumburu |
| 1908 | Irish Sisters of St John of God establish convent in Broome | Broome |
| 1910 | Construction of wells along Canning Stock Route completed | Wiluna |
| 1913 | Forrest River Mission re-established by Anglican Church, run by Ernest Gribble | Oombulgurri |
| 1915 | Several indigenous people killed in Mistake Creek massacre | Mistake Creek, near Lake Argyle |
| 1916 | Sun Picture Gardens outdoor cinema opens | Broome |
| 1918 | Beagle Bay church with pearl shell altar opened | Beagle Bay |
| 1920 | Broome race riots between Japanese and Indonesians, leaving 8 dead | Broome |
| 1926 | Punitive expedition kills unknown number of Aboriginal persons in Forrest River massacre | Oombulgurri |
| 1931 | Fr Worms begins research on Yawuru langauage and culture | Broome |
| 1932 | Two German aviators rescued by aboriginal fishermen after forced landing on Kimberley coast | Berkeley River |
| 1936 | Derby Leprosarium opened, staffed by nuns led by Sr Mary Gertrude. | Derby |
| 1938 | Australia's only order of aboriginal nuns founded | Broome |
| 1939 | Isaac Steinberg arrives in Perth to promote Kimberley Plan to resettle Jewish refugees in northern Australia | Perth |
| 1942 | Japanese planes attack Broome, killing at least 88 | Broome |
| 1943 | Drysdale River mission bombed by Japanese, killing 6 | Kalumburu |
| 1944 | Construction of Mungalalu Truscott Airbase completed | Mungalalu Truscott Airbase |
| 1945 | Frank Lacy established Mount Elizabeth cattle station | Mount Elizabeth Station |
| 1949 | Air Beef Scheme commences operation | Glenroy Station |
| 1949 | Townsite of Halls Creek moved 12 kilometres (7 mi) west after flooding and regazetted | Halls Creek |
| 1951 | BHP commence mining Iron ore at Cockatoo Island | Cockatoo Island |
| 1957 | Lease for Home Valley taken up by Harold MacNamara | Home Valley Station |
| 1959 | Construction of barrages and 17-mile dam completed for Camballin Irrigation Scheme | Camballin |
| 1959 | BHP commence mining Iron ore at Koolan Island | Koolan Island |
| 1959 | Mary Durack's book Kings in Grass Castles tells the story of her grandfather Patrick Durack's overland trek from Queensland to the Kimberley | |
| 1960 | Construction of Ord River Diversion dam commences | Ord River |
| 1961 | Townsite for Kununurra is proclaimed | Kununura |
| 1962 | Air Beef Scheme operations cease | Glenroy Station |
| 1963 | Construction of Ord River Diversion dam completed forming Lake Kununurra | Lake Kununurra |
| 1967 | Nurse and aviator Robin Miller begins outback flights delivering polio vaccine | |
| 1969 | Construction of Ord River main dam commences | Ord River |
| 1972 | Construction of Ord River main dam completed forming Lake Argyle | Lake Argyle |
| 1975 | Townsite of Fitzroy Crossing is gazetted, town has existed since the 1900s | Fitzroy Crossing |
| 1978 | Kimberley Land Council formed | Noonkanbah Station |
| 1983 | Construction of RAAF Curtin commences | Derby |
| 1983 | Camballin Irrigation Scheme abandoned | Camballin |
| 1984 | Pearl Coast Zoo opened as part of Lord Alistair McAlpine's tourist developments | Broome |
| 1985 | Argyle diamond mine opens | Lake Argyle |
| 1987 | Three murdered by the "Kimberley Killer" Joseph Schwab | Pentecost River |
| 1988 | Construction of RAAF Curtin completed | Derby |
| 1990 | Premiere of Jimmy Chi's musical Bran Nue Dae | Perth |
| 1993 | BHP cease mining Iron ore at Koolan Island | Koolan Island |
| 1994 | Broome campus of University of Notre Dame Australia opened | Broome |
| 2000 | Cyclone Rosita causes severe damage in Broome area | Broome |
| 2002 | Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre closed after riots | RAAF Curtin |
| 2003 | Miriuwung and Gajerrong native title claim recognised by Federal Court | Kununurra |
| 2003 | Purnululu National Park declared a World Heritage Site | Purnululu National Park |
| 2006 | Mining and processing commences at Coyote Gold Mine | Coyote Gold Mine |
| 2007 | Mount Gibson Iron commence mining Iron ore at Koolan Island | Koolan Island |
| 2007 | Filming of Baz Luhrmann movie Australia | Kununurra |
| 2008 | Filming of Bran Nue Dae musical comedy-drama | Broome, Djarindjin |
| 2008 | Documentary film Yajilarra portrays indigenous women's fight against violence in Fitzroy Crossing area | Fitzroy Crossing |
| 2011 | Oombulgurri Community closed down after history of violence | Oombulgurri |
| 2014 | Mount Gibson Iron suspend mining Iron ore at Koolan Island | Koolan Island |
| 2017 | Fitzroy Crossing woman June Oscar appointed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner | |
| 2019 | WA Coroner reports on inquest into 13 aboriginal child deaths by hanging | Perth |
| 2020 | Argyle diamond mine closes | |
| 2022 | Cyclone Ellie causes record flooding | Fitzroy River |
| 2022 | Multiple injuries in tour boat accident at Horizontal Falls | Horizontal Falls |