The first European landfall was made on the continent of Australia by Willem Janszoon in what year?
European exploration of Australia European exploration of Australia Dutch explorers, in 1606, made the first recorded European sightings and first recorded landfalls of the Australian mainland. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the "Duyfken" captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, and made landfall on 26 February at the Pennefather River near the modern town of Weipa on Cape York. The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent "New Holland" during the 17th century, but made
Willem Janszoon and copper maps of the hemispheres on the floor of The Citizens’ Hall of the Royal Palace Amsterdam Willem Janszoon Willem Janszoon (; ), sometimes abbreviated to Willem Jansz., was a Dutch navigator and colonial governor. Janszoon served in the Netherlands East Indies in the periods 16031611 and 16121616, including as governor of Fort Henricus on the island of Solor. He is the first European known to have seen the coast of Australia during his voyage of 16051606. Willem Janszoon was born around 1570, but nothing is known of his early life. Janszoon is first recorded as entering into the