ON THIS DAY
1497
Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama becomes first to sail around the Cape of Good Hope.
1718
A British naval force off North Carolina kills the pirate Blackbeard, born Edward Teach in Bristol, who terrorised the North American east coast.
1800
Convict George Howe, a Creole convicted of shoplifting, arrives in Sydney aboard the Royal Admiral. He would produce the country’s first newspaper and its first books.
1952
Pastoralist and mining entrepreneur Lang Hancock discovers iron ore while flying over the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara region, WA. 1954 Comedian Roy “Mo’’ Rene dies at age 63. 1958 Robert Menzies wins his third federal election easily against the Bert Evatt-led ALP. The breakaway Democratic Labor Party wins a peak of 9.4 per cent of the lower-house vote, not enough to win a seat.
1963
US president John F. Kennedy is assassinated.
1966
Police drag conscientious objector Bill White, 21, a teacher, from his parents’ home in Gladesville, Sydney, through a crowd of protesters, to be inducted into the army.
1980
Film star Mae West, 87, dies in California. Her open sexuality and use of innuendo and double meanings often upset censors.
1996
Australia’s worst mass murderer, Martin Bryant, 29, is sentenced to 35 life terms for his killing spree at Port Arthur, Tasmania.
1997
Michael Hutchence (above), 37, of INXS, is found dead in a Double Bay hotel room.
2003
England win their first Rugby World Cup, defeating Australia by a field goal with minutes to spare in extra time.
2008
Barbara Williams, mother of Melbourne gangland killer Carl Williams, is found dead in her bedroom after an overdose.