ON THIS DAY

AD41

Claudius is affirmed as the new emperor of the Roman Empire.

1533

Henry VIII defies Rome to marry Anne Boleyn, his second wife, in a secret ceremony at York Palace.

1788

Arthur Phillip leaves Botany Bay aboard the Supply, heading for Port Jackson to prepare the site for the arrival of the rest of the colonists who follow a day later.

1848

The last convict ship to Port Phillip in Victoria, the Marion, disembarks passengers.

1858

Princess Victoria, daughter of Queen Victoria, weds Prince Friedrich of Prussia, in London. Mendelssohn’s Wedding March is played at the ceremony, cementing a wedding tradition.

1885

Train derails near Cootamundra after a flood washes away the track; six or seven are killed and 25 hurt.

1942

Japanese forces land at Lae, New Guinea; the Australian government orders full mobilisation of troops.

1947

Gangster Al Capone, one-time ruler of Chicago, dies at 48 at his Florida estate of a brain haemorrhage caused by syphilis.

1950

Explosion on HMAS Tarakan at Garden Island dockyard kills eight.

1952

Richie Benaud makes his Test debut for Australia against the West Indies in Sydney. He will go on to play 63 Test matches, captaining Australia for 28.

1971

American criminal and cult leader Charles Manson and three of his followers are convicted of a series of notorious murders; their crimes inspired the bestselling book Helter Skelter (1974).

1990

Hollywood 1940s star Ava Gardner (above), whose films include On The Beach, and also married Frank Sinatra, dies at 67.

2003

Top-seed Serena Williams defeats her older sister Venus in Melbourne to win the women’s singles title at the Australian Open.