ON THIS day

1770

Crowds and British troops clash in Boston, Massachusetts, over soldiers being quartered in the area. The incident, in which five people are killed, becomes known as the Boston Massacre. 1803

George Howe publishes the first issue of the weekly Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser, Australia’s first newspaper. 1804

Martial law is declared as the NSW Corps quells an Irish rising at Castle Hill (on day two). Fifteen convicts are shot dead, nine hanged and many flogged. 1823

A road from Richmond to Wallis Plains (Maitland) is opened for droving.

1868

Lucy Osburn (above) lands as superintendent in charge of five trained nurses, sent from London by Florence Nightingale to Sydney Hospital after a request from colonial secretary Henry Parkes.

1899

Cyclone Mahina hits Cooktown and Bathurst Bay: more than 300 drown in the storm.

1933

Adolf Hitler, installed in January as German chancellor in a deal with rightwing parties, wins 43.9 per cent of the vote for his Nazi Party. 1946

Winston Churchill coins the term Iron Curtain for the boundary of communist countries. 1953

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, 73, dies after 29 years in power.

1963

American country and western singer Patsy Cline dies in an aeroplane crash at age 30.

1981

The British launch the one of the world’s first home computers, the ZX81. 1983

New ALP leader Bob Hawke, 53, leads his party to a federal election victory over the Coalition, led by prime minister Malcolm Fraser. 2001

35 Muslim pilgrims are crushed to death during the Hajj in Mecca. 2008

A police sniper shoots dead a man armed with explosives who takes 10 Australians hostage on a tourist bus in Xi’an, China.