Though many Australians will celebrate their national holiday on Thursday with fun events like barbecue and fireworks, the history behind the Jan. 26 festival is not entirely festive.
The most basic reason why the national holiday falls when it does, as explained by the National Australia Day Council, is that it marks the day in 1788 when the so-called “Father of Australia,” Captain Arthur Phillip, and his “First Fleet” of 11 ships arrived at Sydney Cove and raised the Union Jack. They thus staked out Britain’s claim to the eastern half of the continent that had been claimed by Captain James Cook about two decades earlier, and Phillip became the first governor of the New South Wales territory.
Continue to time.com article: http://time.com/4644497/australia-day-2017-history-origins/?xid=homepage
