TODAY IN HISTORY

1774 Commander James Cook lands on Norfolk Island, then uninhabited.

1874 Fiji becomes a British crown colony, after negotiations with chiefs, who want to stem violence among their clans and with settlers.

1886 The tuxedo dinner jacket makes its American debut at the autumn ball in Tuxedo Park, New York.

1911 Imperial Chinese troops mutiny and occupy Wuhan city in Hubei province, setting off a series of revolts that end the Qing dynasty.

1912 The federal Maternity Allowance Act becomes law. Mothers get £5 each time they give birth, provided they are not Asian, Aboriginal or natives of the South Pacific.

1915 The Cooee March leaves Gilgandra for Sydney. It boosts army recruitment for World War I in the wake of Gallipoli.

1924 Voting becomes compulsory in federal elections as the Commonwealth Electoral Act is enacted, after attendance at polls falls below 50 per cent. Penalty for failure to vote is £2.

1959 Convicts Kevin Simmonds and Leslie

Alan Newcombe kill a warder at Emu Plains prison farm, Cecil Mills, and take his gun, beginning a five-week frenzied manhunt. The previous day, they had escaped from Long Bay through a ventilation shaft.

2008A Black Friday tumble wipes more than $95 billion off the value of Australian shares in the biggest fall for 21 years, as panic sweeps the world in the GFC.

2018 Hurricane Michael makes landfall in Florida, resulting in the deaths of 57 people and causing $25 billion in damage.