Highlights in history on this date:
1915: About 25,000 women march in New York City, demanding the right to vote.
1922: Irish parliament adopts a constitution for an Irish Free State.
1929: On Black Thursday, the New York Stock Exchange loses 12.8 per cent of its value in one day.
1931: US gangster boss Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years in jail for tax evasion.
1935: Italy invades Ethiopia.
1939: Nazis force Jews to wear the Star of David in Germany.
1940: The 40-hour work week goes into effect in the US.
1945: The United Nations officially comes into existence as its charter takes effect.
1951: US President Harry Truman formally ends the state of war with Germany.
1956: On the second day of the Hungarian uprising against Stalinist rule, Soviet tanks appear on Budapest’s streets and Imre Nagy is named prime minister.
1957: Death of Christian Dior, French fashion designer who created the New Look.
1962: The US blockade of Cuba during the missile crisis officially begins.
1963: Australia agrees to the purchase of 24 US F-111 jets for the RAAF.
1964: Northern Rhodesia becomes independent as the Republic of Zambia with Kenneth Kaunda as president.
1980: Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) begins full-time television transmissions.
1994: Twelve people are killed in a coach crash at Boondall, Brisbane.
1995: Sydney teenager Anna Wood dies in a coma induced by taking ecstasy at a dance club.
1996: At least 20 people are killed when a Taliban jet bombs villages north of Kabul.
1999: Argentina’s centre-left Alliance ends 10 years of Peronist rule in presidential elections with president-elect Fernando de la Rua promising a “moral change”.
2000: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak appeals to hawkish Opposition Leader Ariel Sharon to join a coalition government, further dashing hopes of reconciliation with the Palestinians.
2001: Two trucks crash head-on in a main tunnel through the Alps, igniting a fire and killing at least 10 people.
2002: Two suspects are arrested in the US after a spate of sniper attacks in the Washington DC area leave 10 people dead.
2004: About 50 US-trained Iraqi soldiers are massacred after insurgents waylay the three mini buses carrying the men home on leave.
2005: Rosa Parks, who galvanised the US civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama half a century earlier, dies aged 92.
2007: China launches its first lunar probe — a leap forward in the Asian space race that gives a boost to national pride and the promise of scientific and military pay-offs.
2009: The strategically located hometown of Pakistan’s Taliban chief is captured after fierce fighting, the first big prize in a major US-backed offensive along the Afghan border.
2010: A top British official says allegations of prisoner abuse and civilian killings in Iraq from a cache of leaked US secret military documents are extremely serious and must be investigated.
2011: In the first official results from Tunisia’s landmark elections, an Islamist party takes half the seats reserved for Tunisians living abroad — a strong showing expected to be replicated at home in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.
2012: The Queen extends Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce’s five-year term by another six months to March 2014.
2013: Former senior Victorian firefighter Peter Brereton dies aged 60 when his light plane crashes on his way home after helping with the NSW bushfire effort.
2014: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says extra security is vital if Australia is to avoid a “copycat” attack on Parliament House following a terrorist attack on the Canadian parliament.
2015: The World Health Organisation warns that processed meats such as bacon pose a significant cancer risk.
2016: French authorities begin dismantling the notorious Calais Jungle after thousands of migrants fleeing war on their way to Britain built temporary homes in the makeshift camp a year earlier.
2017: A group of swimmers run from the water’s edge on a New Zealand beach when a killer whale comes too close for comfort.
2018: Julia Gillard reveals her official prime ministerial portrait at Parliament House. Gillard says the head-and-shoulders painting style was chosen following endless commentary on women’s appearances in public life.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:
Malcolm Turnbull, former Australian prime minister (1954); Ben Gillies, Australian rock musician (Silverchair) (1979); Monica, US singer (1980); Marc Leishman, Australian golfer (1983); Wayne Rooney, English soccer player (1985); Lincoln Lewis, Australian actor (1987).
THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
“Happiness is not a horse; you cannot harness it.” — Russian proverb.
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