1978, July 1. 2001. The Encyclopedia of World History

The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.


1978, July 1

The Northern Territory, a Commonwealth territory, was granted self-government.	1

1980, June

The world's oldest known fossil, a 3.5 billion-year-old bacterium, was found near Marble Bar, Western Australia.	2

1983, Feb. 16

In Australia's worst natural disaster, “Ash Wednesday” bush fires killed 71 people and destroyed $400 million worth of property in Victoria and South Australia.	3

March 5

The Labour Party under Bob Hawke defeated Malcolm Fraser's Liberal-National Party coalition in a federal election.	4


The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.