ON THIS day

1581

Elizabeth I knights Francis Drake on his ship Golden Hind in the Thames after he circumnavigated the globe. The English queen takes her share of the booty.

1660

England’s exiled king Charles II issues the Declaration of Breda from The Netherlands, promising religious tolerance and other concessions if he is returned to the throne.

1818

US Congress decides the American flag will consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state of the Union.

1841

After 31 days in office, US president William Harrison dies from pneumonia. During his inauguration, he had worn no overcoat for the ceremony in freezing weather.

1883

Thursday Island’s police magistrate, Henry Chester, raises the British flag at Port Moresby on behalf of the Queensland government. Britain later repudiates the attempted annexation.

1902

British financier Cecil Rhodes leaves $US10 million in his will to provide scholarships at Oxford University.

1929

Cascade Dam in Tasmania bursts, flooding the township of Derby.

1960

The biblical epic BenHur becomes the first film to win 11 Academy Awards. It notably receives Oscars for best picture, director (William Wyler) and lead actor (Charlton Heston).

1968

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr (above), 39, is assassinated on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was supporting a strike.

1969

American surgeon Denton Cooley implants the first complete artificial heart in a human. Several days later the patient receives a donor heart but died shortly thereafter.

1975

Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft, which became the world’s largest personal-computer software company.

1983

The US space shuttle Challenger roars into orbit on its maiden flight.