ON THIS DAY
1703 England’s Great Storm lashes the southeast coast, claiming at least 8000 lives and wrecking buildings.
1789 US citizens celebrate their first official Thanksgiving Day, thanking God for favours including being able to set up their own government.
1922 Tutankhamen’s 3300- year-old tomb is opened by British archaeologist Howard Carter and the Earl of Carnarvon in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.
1942 Rioting begins in Brisbane between Australian and US servicemen, leaving one Australian dead and dozens from both countries injured.
1942 The premiere of Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman (pictured).
1965 France successfully launches the Diamant A rocket into space to become the world’s third space power, after the US and Soviet Union.
1983 Gold worth some £15 million is stolen in a robbery from Brinks-Mat security company in London.
1984 Prime minister Bob Hawke and opposition leader Andrew Peacock take part in Australia’s first nationally televised election debate.
1990 Lee Kuan Yew, 67, founder of independent Singapore and the world’s longest-serving elected prime minister, resigns after 31 years as PM. He will become ”minister mentor’’ and one of his sons will be PM.
2005 The NSW Liberal Party loses the state seat of Pittwater to independent Alex McTaggart in a huge swing after former leader John Brogden bows out of politics.
2008 Terrorist gunmen begin a three-day rampage through the streets of the Indian city of Mumbai, killing at least 170 people and wounding another 239.