ON THIS day

1437

Scotland’s King James I is murdered by wouldbe usurpers near the Scottish city of Perth.

1876

The first submarine telegraph cable connects New Zealand with Australia, at La Perouse, Sydney. The 1930km cable links NZ to the rest of the world. 1911

New Zealander Joseph Hammond makes Australia’s first cross-country flight between towns, flying 72km (45 miles) from Altona Bay to Geelong.

1913

King O’Malley drives the first peg in the construction of Canberra. 1929

Formation of American Samoa. 1938

British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden resigns in protest at Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement in relation to Adolf Hitler. 1942

Japanese troops land in Portuguese Timor, starting a long, harsh guerrilla campaign against them by Australian and Timorese forces. 1943

The volcano Paricutín in Michoacán state, Mexico, erupts eventually burying two villages.

1944

British and US bombers begin massive night raids on German aircraft factory centres. The attacks become known as Big Week.

1954

A three-day cyclone hits the far northern NSW coast. It kills 26 in NSW and at least 10 in Queensland. 1962

John Glenn (pictured) becomes the first American to orbit the Earth. Residents of Perth, WA, turn on their lights at midnight to greet him.

1976

The Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation holds its final exercise in Manila (and formally ended on June 30, 1977).

2005

Hunter S. Thompson, hellraising writer of admired political prose, shoots himself dead at his Colorado home, aged 67.

2022

Britains Queen Elizabeth II is diagnosed with Covid-19 at age 95. She makes a full recovery.