ON THIS DAY

1492: Christopher Columbus lands on island later to be named Bahamas.

1928: The first “iron lung” used at Boston Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts.

1942: US forces defeat Japanese in Battle of Cape Esperance on Guadalcanal in World War II.

1994: US Magellan space probe ends its fouryear mapping mission of Venus.

2002: Bombs explode in two Balinese nightclubs killing 202 people, including 88 Australians.

2007: Former US vice-president Al Gore and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

2011: The Gillard government secures passage of its controversial carbon tax through the lower house of Federal Parliament.

Birthdays: England’s King Edward VI (15371553); Italian singer Luciano Pavarotti (19352007); Australian actor Hugh Jackman (1968-).