A bicentennial is the two hundredth year of something. In the United States, bicentennial is commonly is used to refer to the year 1976. This is because 1976 is two hundred years after the country was started in 1776. In Australia it commonly means on of two bicentennials. The first, in 1970, was the two hundredth anniversary of James Cook finding Australia. The second, in 1988 was the two hundredth anniversary of the first white settlement on the continent.