ON THIS DAY

1788

Lieutenant Philip Gidley King goes ashore on Norfolk Island and takes possession. He takes a total of 22 convicts and marines to live there.

1857

US chief justice Roger B. Taney announces the Dred Scott decision, making slavery legal in all US territories. He rules that black Americans are not US citizens.

1869

At a meeting of the Russian Chemical Society, Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev presented the first periodic table.

1882

Bulletin publisher Jules Archibald and John Haynes are arrested and taken to Darlinghurst Jail for the Clontarf libel case.

1899

The German company Bayer trademarks the name Aspirin for its drug made from acetylsalicylic acid.

1924

The Egyptian government officially reopens the mummy case of King Tutankhamen, ruler of Egypt in the 14th century BC. King Tutankhamen’s burial chamber had been discovered in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter.

1941

Walter Lindrum wins the world record for the fastest billiards century, in 46 sec, at NSW Rugby League Club, breaking his own record. 1964

American boxer Cassius Clay takes the name Muhammad Ali, which was given to him by his spiritual mentor, Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam.

1987

Nearly 200 people die when water pours through open bow doors on British ferry Herald of Free Enterprise, causing it to sink off Belgium.

1999

Sydney’s Olympic stadium opens at Homebush Bay for a rugby league match. Tom Dooker, 9, from Forster-Tuncurry (above), scores the first try on the field, in a junior game.

2012

As the Murrumbidgee River threatens to overflow, more than 9000 residents are evacuated from central Wagga Wagga.