On This Day: Every January 26 is celebrated as Australia Day (previously known as Anniversary Day, Foundation Day, and ANA Day). The date commemorates the arrival of the British First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and the proclamation at that time of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of New Holland (part of present-day Australia). For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, today is known as Invasion Day or Survival Day. It is a day filled with great pain for many Aboriginal people, and calls continue for Australia to stop recognizing the day British colonists landed and illegally claimed Australia as their own.
