ON THIS DAY

1864: Bushranger Ben Hall takes part in the shooting of a policeman near Goulburn, NSW.

1941: Nazi Germany launches a second assault, which also fails, on Moscow in World War II.

1968: Soviet Union launches the world’s largest space ship to date, the Proton Four.

1998: Judges at a war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, pass down their first convictions for crimes against Bosnian Serbs.

2001: Investigators in Washington DC find a letter sent to a senator contains anthrax.

2007: North and South Korea agree to launch cross-border rail service for first time in more than half a century.

2014: Islamic State terrorists execute US aid worker Peter Kassig.

Birthdays: Australian comedian Tim Ferguson, (1963-); Canadian jazz singer Diana Krall (1964-); US actress Maggie Gyllenhaal (1977-).