ON THIS DAY

1524

Portuguese Vasco da Gama, the first European to sail to India, dies. His pioneering voyage paved the way for sea travel from Europe to the Spice Islands.

1814

The US and Britain sign the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium, ending the War of 1812, marking a decline of American dependence on Europe, and stimulating a sense of US nationalism.

1865

Six young Confederate Civil War veterans founded the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee, to protect white prominence after the abolition of slavery.

1888

After a quarrel with his friend and fellow artist Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh (pictured) cuts off his own earlobe.

1951

In Libya, Idris I, head of the Sanusiyah (an Islamic Sufi brotherhood), is proclaimed king of an independent United Kingdom.

1953

A Wellington Auckland express train full of passengers heading home for Christmas crashes into a flooded river at Tangiwai, New Zealand, killing 151 people.

1956

Woman’s Day, formed by the amalgamation of Woman and Woman’s Day and Home, begins publication.

1968

Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders aboard Apollo 8 of the US become the first people to orbit the moon, passing 125km from the surface in a flawless expedition.

1971

Tropical cyclone Althea devastates Townsville. Three people die.

1974

Former British cabinet minister John Stonehouse, 49, is arrested in Melbourne after faking his own death and starting a new life with his secretary.

1979

The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan to aid the Afghan communist government in its conflict with anti-communist Muslim guerrillas.

1980

The third Woolworths bombing in a month strikes Sydney Town Hall store.