![Propeller of the "Cherry Venture" shipwreck (1973)](http://photos.travelblog.net/371703/972776/s/9219412-propeller-of-the-quot-cherry-venture-quot-shipwreck-1973-0.jpg "Propeller of the "Cherry Venture" shipwreck (1973)")
Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name...more history