ON THIS DAY
1697
Willem de Vlamingh, in command of the Dutch ships Geelvink, Nijptang and Wezeltje, visits Dirk Hartog’s landing site in Western Australia. He replaces the pewter plate nailed by Hartog to a tree with a new plate.
1789
George Washington is elected as the first US president by a unanimous vote in the first electoral college.
1899
Filipinos start an unsuccessful revolt for independence against the US, which seized the territory from Spain.
1945
The Yalta Conference begins in Ukraine, with the “Big Three”, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin.
1964
Underworld figure Kate Leigh, aka Mrs Kathleen Ryan, dies in Surry Hills.
1974
Patricia Hearst, 20, granddaughter of the late William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
1983
US singer Karen Carpenter, 32, who suffered anorexia nervosa, dies of a heart attack. She and her brother Richard were duo The Carpenters.
1987
US yacht Stars and Stripes, skippered by Dennis Conner, beats Kookaburra III off WA to reclaim the America’s Cup.
2004
Mark Zuckerberg and two Harvard University roommates launch thefacebook.com, renamed The Facebook in 2005. The social networking site is originally for the use of students only.
2020
Attempting to come back from his 2018 fall from grace, when it was revealed he was having a child with a former staffer, Barnaby Joyce unsuccessfully challenges to get back his old job as leader of the National Party.