ON THIS day

1913

1721

Robert Walpole is appointed first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer, effectively Britain’s first prime minister. 1855

The armed ketch Spitfire, built by John Cuthbert, is the first warship built in NSW. it is to help protect NSW against Russian vessels. 1860

The Pony Express mail delivery system, using continuous horse-andrider relays along a 2900km route between St Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, is launched in the US. 1879

Sofia, liberated from the Ottoman Empire by Russian troops, is named the capital of Bulgaria.

1882

Outlaw Jesse James is killed by a member of his own gang in Missouri, shot in the back of the head after a reward is posted for his capture. 1885

Engineer Gottlieb Daimler patents an internal combustion engine in Germany. It is one of the first to run successfully at high speeds. 1913

English suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, 54, is found guilty of encouraging arson and sentenced to three years jail. 1946

Japanese army general Homma Masaharu is executed for forcing the Bataan Death March.

1954

Vladimir Petrov, third secretary at the Soviet embassy in Canberra, defects, giving ASIO a source of secret information on Russian attempts at espionage. 1973

Motorola executive Martin Cooper makes what is claimed as the first mobile phone call.

1992

Brisbane’s Kieren Perkins, 18, cuts 0.48sec off the world swimming record for 400m freestyle, clocking 3:46.47 at 1992

China’s National People’s Congress approves construction of the Three Gorges Dam.

2002

Senior Constable Glenn McEnallay, 26, dies a week after being shot in an ambush after chasing a car with four men through Hillsdale in Sydney’s east. All four are jailed.