British Australia exists partly because of American independence.
Convicts used to be shipped to America; having lost it, Britain sent the First Fleet, which reached Sydney in January 1788, four months after the US Constitution was signed.
The events
- First Fleet arrives in Australia1788 · Sydney Cove. Eleven British ships under Captain Arthur Phillip brought over a thousand people, mostly convicts, to Sydney Cove. The colony of New South Wales, founded on 26 January, began the British colonisation of Australia.
- US Constitution1787 · Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Convention, chaired by George Washington, signed a Constitution creating a federal republic with separation of powers. In force since 1789, it is the oldest written national constitution still in use.
More amazing facts
- 1787 · 1797 Potemkin's fake villages most likely never existed.
- 1789 The navy's most famous mutiny broke out on a ship carrying plants.
- 1789 Captain Bligh, set adrift by mutineers, sailed 6,700 km in an open boat.
- 1789 · 1792 Dr Guillotin did not invent the guillotine and opposed the death penalty.
- 1789 When the Bastille was stormed on 14 July 1789 it held just seven prisoners: four forgers, two lunatics and one aristocrat.
- 1789 George Washington's false teeth were not wooden.