ON THIS DAY
1399
Henry IV begins his reign as the king of England. He rules until his death in 1413.
1791
The opera The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has its premiere in Vienna.
1846
Boston dentist William Morton uses ether as an anaesthetic for the first time while extracting a tooth from patient Eben Frost.
1868
Spain’s Queen Isabella flees to France and is declared deposed.
1891
French general Georges Boulanger, who led a right-wing movement that threatened to topple the Third Republic in the 1880s, commits suicide while in exile in Brussels.
1915
HMAS Brisbane, the first cruiser built in Australia, is launched at Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour.
1938
The notorious Munich Agreement, in which Britain’s Neville Chamberlain encouraged Britain and France to appease Adolf Hitler’s demands in the hope of preventing World War II, is reached.
1955
American actor James Dean (pictured above), who became a symbol of the confused, restless, and idealistic youth of the 1950s, dies in a car crash while travelling to a car rally in Salinas, California.
1976
Australian radio soap opera serial Blue Hills ends after 33 years on air. Grannie Bishop, played by Queenie Ashton, gets in the last word on Episode 5795. The serial began as The Lawsons.
1999
BHP ceases steelmaking in Newcastle after 84 years. About 1500 steelworkers march in a farewell parade.
2005
Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten prints controversial drawings of Muhammad. The publication led to global protests.
2006
The West Coast Eagles beat the reigning premiers Sydney Swans by one point – 85-84 – in the AFL grand final.