ON THIS DAY

1847: Liberia becomes the first African colony to declare independence.

1891: France annexes South Sea island of Tahiti.

1908: The Federal Bureau of Investigation – the FBI – is established in the US.

1941: President Franklin Roosevelt appoints General Douglas MacArthur commander of US Forces in the Far East.

1942: Two Japanese flying boats drop bombs near the wharves at Townsville.

1990: Iraq agrees to pull thousands of troops back from Kuwaiti border.

2004: A fast-spreading computer worm MyDoom disrupts the world’s most popular online search sites.

Birthdays: Irish writer George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950); former Australian prime minster John Howard (1939-); British rock star Mick Jagger (1943-); US actor Kevin Spacey (1959).