ON THIS DAY

54: Roman emperor Claudius I dies, after being poisoned by his wife, Agrippina.

1844: Greenwich Mean Time introduced.

1933: Australia’s first traffic lights are installed in Sydney.

1943: Italy declares war on Germany, its former World War II Axis partner.

1952: Egypt reaches agreement with Sudan on Nile waters.

1999: French lawmakers adopt a law giving unwed gay and straight couples the same rights previously limited to the married.

2013: Bill Shorten wins Labor leadership and Tanya Plibersek becomes deputy leader.

2015: Investigators find a Russian-made missile brought down MH17 over Ukraine.

Birthdays: British former PM Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013); US singer Paul Simon (1941-); Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe (1982-).