ON THIS DAY

1733: France declares war on Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI.

1774: Captain James Cook reaches Norfolk Island. 1913: Atlantic and Pacific oceans are united when Gamboa Dam in the Panama Canal is blown up. 1938: Nazi Germany completes occupation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland. 1954: Liberation of Hanoi, Vietnam, from French troops.

1970: Fiji, a British colony since 1874, becomes an independent member of the Commonwealth. 2004: Superman actor Christopher Reeve, 52, who campaigned for spinal cord research after being paralysed in an accident in 1995, dies. 2010: Wedding venues kept extra busy as couples many tie the knot on 10/10/10. Birthdays: Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (18131901); US jazz musician Thelonious Monk (19171982); Australian singer Gabriella Cilmi (1991-).