TODAY IN HISTORY

1666 Great Fire of London ends, leaving 13,200 houses destroyed and 8 dead 1698 Russian Tsar Peter the Great imposes a tax on beards 1699 - Sea explorer William Dampier departs ‘New Holland’ after sailing along the western coastline for five days.

1774 Twelve of the thirteen American colonies adopt a trade embargo against Great Britain at the first Continental Congress at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1793 French Revolution: the “Reign of Terror” begins 1839 The First Opium War begins in China

1880 - The first Salvation Army meeting in Australia is held in Adelaide.

1905 50 prominent men meet in Sydney’s Australia Hotel to found the National Defense League fueled by fear of Japan after its victory over Russia 1915 Tsar Nicholas II, distressed by increasing Russian losses, assumes personal command of his nation’s military forces; clearly a symbolic act and devastating for his leadership 1939 New Zealand Prime Minister, Michael Joseph Savage declares New Zealand’s support for Britain in the war with Germany; Savage famously told the nation ‘where she goes, we go. Where she stands, we stand’

1943 US airland at Nadzab, New Guinea

1944 “Mad Tuesday” 65,000 Dutch nazi collaborators flee to Germany

1944 Allies liberate Brussels 1958 “Doctor Zhivago” novel by Boris Pasternak published in US 1960 Cassius Clay [Muhammad Ali] beats 3-time European champion Zbigniew Pietrzykowski of Poland by unanimous points decision to win Olympic light heavyweight boxing gold medal at the Rome Games

1994 - Australia’s first political assassination occurs. 2017 Hurricane Irma becomes the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin region with winds of 185mph (280km/h)