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Tasman never set foot on it. He spotted the coastline, claimed it for the Dutch,
1642 Event

November 24

Abel Tasman Discovers Tasmania: Europeans Find a New Island

Tasman never set foot on it. He spotted the coastline, claimed it for the Dutch, and sailed away — convinced he'd found the edge of a massive southern continent. He named it Van Diemen's Land after the Dutch East India Company governor who funded his voyage. It took another century before anyone mapped it properly. And Tasmania, as it's known today, became home to one of history's darkest colonial chapters. But Tasman himself died never knowing what he'd actually found.

November 24, 1642

384 years ago

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