ON THIS DAY
1795
Napoleon Bonaparte commands artillery to shoot rebels marching against the National Convention in Paris, saving the republic. He is soon appointed commander of the army of the interior. 1864 Calcutta, India, is almost destroyed by a cyclone that kills 60,000. 1910 Portugal is declared a republic the day after a revolution ousts King Manuel II.
1914
In World War I, the first people die in an air battle when French pilot Louis Quenault uses a machinegun to shoot down a German plane over France.
1930
The British hydrogen airship R101 crashes in a storm in France on its maiden voyage, killing 48 people. Eight crew and passengers escape; one later dies of injuries.
1962
The Beatles’ first hit, Love Me Do, is released in Britain by Parlophone.
1962
The first instalment in the James Bond film series, Dr. No, has its world premiere. The British spy film was adapted from Ian Fleming’s novel and starred Sean
Connery.
1964
After 57 East
German refugees reach West Berlin by tunnelling under the Berlin Wall, East German border soldier Egon Schultz is fatally shot at the tunnel entrance.
1969
Monty Python’s Flying Circus premieres on BBC-TV.
1999
In the morning peak hour rush, two trains collide 4km west of Paddington station, London, killing 31 people and injuring 520.
2000
A crowd applauds more than 40,000 Olympic volunteers as they march through Sydney (above) after the city’s successful Games.
2011
American Steve Jobs, a pioneer of the personal computer era who cofounded Apple and transformed it into one of the world’s most successful companies, dies at age 56.