Settlement
Darwin was discovered in 1839 by John Lort Stokes and John Clements Wickham. They discovered what they called “Port Darwin”. They named it after fellow shipmate Charles Darwin who sailed with them on their previous voyage. In 1869 Port Darwin became Palmerston and in 1911 it was renamed Darwin.
Bombing of Darwin
On February 19, 1942 Darwin became the only Australian location to have been a major battlefield during WWII. More bombs were dropped on Darwin than at Pearl Harbour, resulting in 243 deaths. The Japanese raid left a destructive effect on Darwin resulting in upgraded roads to Alice Springs, the development of Manton Dam for secure water supplies and a military airport in Darwin and Bachelor.
The military presence is still very strong in Darwin and has many historical sites that you can visit such as: The Wharf Precinct, Aviation Heritage Centre, WWII oil storage tunnels, Burnett House, Bicentennial Park and the Darwin Military Museum at East Point.
Cyclone Tracy
In 1974, in just a few short hours, the entire town of Darwin was almost completely destroyed by Cyclone Tracy. The population went from about 45,000 people to 10,000. It was estimated that wind speeds got up to 300 km/h. Not only were thousands of lives lost, but almost all of the buildings, homes and infrastructure in the town were completely destroyed. Most of the people who left Darwin at this time never returned. During the rebuilding phase of Darwin, many people from different countries chose to move to Darwin, making it a young and diverse city and is a key fact in understanding how the city operates.
Aboriginal people
The Aboriginal Society is one of the oldest living cultures in the world. The Arnhem Land was settled more than 50,000 years ago and the original inhabitants of Darwin are the Larrakia people. They were the first to start trading with many Asian countries.
Fifty percent of the Northern Territory is Aboriginal land with over 40 indigenous languages spoken today.