what was australia called before it was discovered
History of Australia Although a theory of Portuguese discovery in the 1520s exists, it lacks definitive evidence.[77][78][79][80] The Dutch East India Company ship, Duyfken, led by Willem Janszoon, made the first documented European landing in Australia in 1606.[81] That same year, a Spanish expedition sailing in nearby waters and led by Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós had landed in the New Hebrides and, believing them to be the fabled southern continent, named the land "Austrialia del Espiritu Santo" (Southern Land of the Holy Spirit), in honour of his queen Margaret of Austria, the wife of Philip III of Spain.[82][83][84] Later that year, Queirós' deputy Luís Vaz de Torres sailed to the north of Australia through Torres Strait, along New Guinea's southern coast.[85]
Iran In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, Iran. As The New York Times explained at the time, "At the suggestion of the Persian Legation in Berlin, the Tehran government, on the Persian New Year, Nowruz, March 21, 1935, substituted Iran for Persia as the official name of the country." Opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably.[46] Today, both Iran and Persia are used in cultural contexts, while Iran remains irreplaceable in official state contexts.[47]
India The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu.[19] The latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River.[20] The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi (Ἰνδοί), which translates as "The people of the Indus".[21]
Melbourne Founded by free settlers from the British Crown colony of Van Diemen's Land on 30 August 1835, in what was then the colony of New South Wales,[14] it was incorporated as a Crown settlement in 1837.[14] It was named "Melbourne" by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Richard Bourke, in honour of the British Prime Minister of the day, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne.[14] It was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria, to whom Lord Melbourne was close, in 1847,[15] after which it became the capital of the newly founded colony of Victoria in 1851.[15] During the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the world's largest and wealthiest cities.[16] After the federation of Australia in 1901, it served as the nation's interim seat of government until 1927.[17] Additionally, it was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.