ON THIS day

1978

1204

Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen of France and England, who led troops in the Second Crusade, dies in a monastery in Anjou, France. 1572

The Dutch start their war of independence from Spain when guerillas capture the port of Brielle. 1857

The brig Sea Belle is wrecked in a storm off Fraser Island with four aboard. Years later, two fair-skinned girls are found with local Indigenous Australians but it is not known if they are shipwreck survivors or albinos.

1917

Scott Joplin, ragtime composer and pianist, dies in poverty at age 49 in a New York mental asylum. 1924

A Munich court sentences Adolf Hitler to five years jail for high treason after his abortive 1923 putsch. 1933

German chancellor Adolf Hitler orders a boycott of Jewish businesses, starting persecution of Jews. 1934

Leon Hermes, 16, of Manly, takes a dip at North Steyne after church on a Sunday. A shark bites him three times 90m offshore around lunchtime. Another surfer, George Herd, 17, of Mosman, tries to help. Lifesavers and surfers bring Hermes to shore but he dies in Manly hospital. 1945

The US invades the Japanese island of Okinawa. Allied victory will be achieved after an 83-day battle. 1955

Lord Mayor Park spends the first coin when Hobart becomes the first Australian city to introduce parking meters, following the example of Auckland, NZ. 1978

Dick Smith tows what looks like an iceberg into Sydney Harbour on April Fool’s Day. Rain starts, washing off foam and shaving cream to reveal plastic sheets on a barge (above).

1984

American singer and songwriter Marvin Gaye is shot and killed by his father in Los Angeles. 2001

The Netherlands becomes the first country to grant equal marriage rights to same-sex couples. 2017

Bob Dylan received Nobel Prize for literature.