ON THIS day
1700
The southwest Pacific island of New Britain is discovered by English navigator William Dampier.
1788
Thomas Barrett, 17, becomes the first criminal to be hanged in the colony of NSW, for stealing butter, peas and pork.
1883
Port Kembla opens to heavy shipping, with a jetty and a railway line to Mount Kembla coal mine.
1902
Pretoria, South Africa (Boer War): British execute Breaker Morant for having shot Boers who had surrendered.
1933
In Berlin the Reichstag building catches fire; Nazis blame young Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe.
1942
During the Battle of the Java Sea in World War II, the Japanese sink five Allied warships.
1968
Lionel Rose wins the bantamweight world boxing championship after defeating Masahiko “Fighting” Harada.
1970
Pioneer refrigerator maker Sir Edward Hallstrom dies at 83 at his Northbridge, NSW, home.
1987
Amid the Joh for Canberra campaign, the National Party’s Queensland Central Council withdraws its 12 federal MPs from the Coalition.
1991
US president George Bush Sr orders a ceasefire and declares victory in the first Gulf War, a conflict triggered by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in August 1990.
1995
Businessman Alan Bond’s creditors accept half a cent in the dollar payout to release him from bankruptcy.
1998
Irish comedian Spike Milligan dies in Rye, England, at age 83.
2012
Kevin Rudd loses his challenge to Julia Gillard for the prime ministership.
2015
American actor Leonard Nimoy, who was best known for his portrayal of Mr Spock in the scifi TV and film franchise Star Trek, dies at age 83.