ON THIS day

978

England’s 15-year-old Saxon king Saint Edward the Martyr is assassinated at Corfe, Dorset, in what was probably a conspiracy engineered by his stepmother, who wants her son Ethelred crowned

1766

King George II of Britain assents to parliamentary repeal of the Stamp Act of 1765 after violent protests from American colonists.

1857

The government proclaims the formation of Parramatta Park, handing 200 acres from the Governor’s Domain over to public use.

1910

US magician Harry Houdini completes three flights in a biplane at Digger’s Rest (pictured), Victoria.

1914

Eight women are fined seven shillings in Perth for wearing unsheathed hatpins, which they were said to have used as weapons. 1922

Mahatma Gandhi, leading a peaceful Indian campaign against British rule, is sentenced to six years’ jail after pleading guilty to three charges of sedition.

1949

In a blow to the White Australia policy, the High Court prevents the deportation of East Indies-born Annie Maas O’Keefe, who is married to an Australian, John William O’Keefe, and her eight children.

1965

Soviet cosmonaut Aleksey Leonov becomes the first person to leave an orbiting spacecraft and float in space, the world’s first space walk.

1977

The Moomba (SA) to Sydney natural gas pipeline officially commissioned by Pat Hills. 2007

Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer dies at 58 after being found unconscious in his hotel room in Jamaica following his side’s World Cup exit. The cause of his death will be much disputed. 2012

Brazilian student Roberto Laudisio Curti, 21, dies after multiple Taser strikes from police pursuing him through inner Sydney. This follows reports that a convenience store had been robbed of a packet of biscuits.