ON THIS day

1494

European explorer Christopher Columbus encounters the island of Jamaica, which he names Santiago.

1790

Bennelong, an Indigenous man captured to explain ways to colonists, pretends he is sick at 2am, strips off his English clothes and jumps the paling fence to freedom in the bush. Months later he agrees to return.

1804

Risdon Cove, Van Diemen’s Land, settlers fire on approaching Indigenous men. By some accounts, about 50 are killed. 1820 John Joseph Therry and Philip Conolly, the first Catholic priests officially appointed to Australia, arrive at Port Jackson aboard the Janus.

1841

Captain William Hobson reads a charter proclaiming New Zealand a separate British colony (from NSW), a year after the Treaty of Waitangi.

1888

A mass protest meeting is held at Sydney Town Hall following the arrival of two ships carrying Chinese migrants, who are prevented from landing. After the meeting, a mob storms Parliament House.

1903

American singer, actor and songwriter Bing Crosby, whose mellow, relaxed singing style made him the most successful entertainer of his day, is born in Tacoma, Washington.

1937

In New York, journalist Margaret Mitchell, 36, wins the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Gone With The Wind. 1942

Japanese forces seize the Solomons island of Tulagi in their plan to isolate Australia. This brings on the battle of the Coral Sea.

1983

Potato farmer Cliff Young, 61, wins the 875km Sydney to Melbourne ultra-marathon in a record five days, 15 hours.

2007

British girl Madeleine McCann, 3, (above) disappears from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal.