The First Fleet Lands in Australia

A British fleet of 11 ships established a penal colony in Australia in 1788. It was the first step towards claiming Australia as a British territory. For the indigenous population, the arrival of British settlers brought violence and disease which would decimate the population.

(Photo: Royal Navy ships took 750 British convicts to New South Wales, where they established the first European settlement in Australia. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)