Bicentenary of James Cook in Australia Bicentenary of James Cook in Australia The Bicentenary of James Cook in Australia was commemorated in Australia in 1970. The British explorer Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook sailed and charted the East Coast of Australia in 1770, and claimed the Eastern Seabord of the Continent for the British Crown. This is not considered the official bicentenary of Australia, but rather the mapping of the Eastern coastline. Commemorations were held in Australia in 1970. A commemorative 50 cent piece was issued. The name of the place on which he is believed to have made first landfall was renamed from Cape Everard
Bicentenary Medal of the Royal Society of Arts Bicentenary Medal of the Royal Society of Arts The Bicentenary Medal of the Royal Society of Arts is awarded to "a person who, in a manner other than as an industrial designer, has applied art and design in great effect as instruments of civic innovation", as long as the winner is not already "bedecked with medals". It was first awarded in 1954, on the bicentenary of the Royal Society of Arts, and continues to be awarded annually with exceptions in 2003, 2006 and 2012. The Medal was instituted in 1954 to commemorate the founding of the RSA over two hundred