ON THIS day
1587
Mary, Queen of Scots (above), is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire.
1867
The Ausgleich (Compromise) establishes the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, under Emperor Francis Joseph.
1868
An Indigenous cricket team leaves Sydney for England, where they play 47 matches, winning 14, losing 14 and drawing 19.
1887
US Congress passes the Dawes General Allotment Act, providing for the distribution of American Indian reservation land among individual tribesmen.
1904
Japanese warships launch a surprise attack on the Russian imperial fleet anchored off Manchuria. Russia and Japan then go to war.
1924
The gas chamber is used for the first time, in Nevada. Chinese-born gangster Gee Jon, 29, is executed for murder.
1929
John Gibson, 39, is attacked by a shark while surfing off Bondi. Rescuers drag him ashore but he dies of wounds.
1943
The freighter Iron Knight is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off Twofold Bay, NSW, killing 36 as it sinks in less than two minutes.
1950
In a national radio broadcast, prime minister Robert Menzies announces the immediate end of petrol rationing.
1976
The American film classic Taxi Driver, directed by Martin Scorsese, has its world premiere. The drama was especially known for the performance of Robert De Niro as a mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran.
1983
A dust storm envelops Melbourne and drops 1000 tonnes of topsoil, forcing evacuation of the CBD.
2008
Bruce Burrell is jailed for at least 21 years for the murder of wealthy Sydney grandmother Dorothy Davis, 74. He is already serving a life sentence for the murder of Kerry Whelan.