ONT THIS DAY
1542
King Henry VIII of England has Catherine Howard, his fifth wife, beheaded on charges of adultery.
1689
Following the Glorious Revolution, William and Mary are proclaimed king and queen of England (after the interregnum), after which they rule jointly as King William III and Queen Mary II until her death in 1694.
1844
John Knatchbull, 56, fifth son of an English baronet, is hanged outside Darlinghurst Jail, Sydney, for the murder of Ellen Jamieson, whom he bludgeoned to death in a robbery on January 6. His lawyer Robert Lowe defends him on grounds of moral insanity, the first time such a plea has been made in a British court. A crowd of 10,000, including women and children, watch the hanging.
1907
South Australian officials agree in principle with prime minister Alfred Deakin to transfer the Northern Territory from that state to Commonwealth jurisdiction.
1938
Nineteen people drown when the ferry Rodney overturns in Sydney Harbour after passengers gather on one side to watch a US warship.
1978
Two council workers are killed and a policeman fatally injured in a bomb blast outside the Sydney Hilton Hotel, where a Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting (CHOGRM) is being held. The officer is Constable Paul Burmistriw, 31.
1998
The Constitutional Convention winds up with vote in favour of a republic.
2008
Australian country music performer Smoky Dawson (above) dies at 94.
2008
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologises to the Australian Aboriginal peoples for abuses they suffered under earlier administrations.