TODAY IN HISTORY

1035

William the Bastard, illegitimate son of Robert I of Normandy, becomes Duke of Normandy after the death of his father. He will later be known as William the Conqueror.

1797

Governor John Hunter sends a party of soldiers to protect settlers in the Hawkesbury area following Aboriginal attacks.

1826

The Bank of Australia opens in George St, Sydney. Set up by John Macarthur and other pastoralists to rival the Bank of NSW (now Westpac), it is dubbed the “pure Merino bank”.

1850

Work begins on NSW’s first rail line, from Sydney to Parramatta. The first sod is turned by Mrs Keith Stewart, daughter of governor Charles FitzRoy.

1863

In the US Civil War, the battle at Gettysburg ends as Robert E. Lee’s Confederate troops retreat.

1947

The federal government buys privately-held shares in Qantas. It had already purchased the BOAC shareholding in the airline.

1969

The body of musician Brian Jones, 27, is found in his swimming pool in Sussex. A coroner concludes the former Rolling Stone died from a combination of alcohol and drugs.

1971

John Newcombe, 27, wins his third (and final) Wimbledon singles competition, defeating Stan Smith of Pasadena.

2000

Vivian Bullwinkel, sole survivor of a World War II Japanese massacre of evacuees from Singapore on Bangka Island, dies at 84 in Perth.

2019

Heavy monsoon rains in India cause flooding, killing at least 43 people. Meanwhile, on the Japanese island of Kyushu one million people are evacuated due to the fear of mudslides.