ON THIS day

1483

641

An army commanded by Amr ibn al-As conquers Egypt for Islam by seizing the fort of Babylon in the Nile Delta. Alexandria capitulates the following November.

1241

Mongol horsemen under Batu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, defeat the Teutonic Knights at Liegnitz (Polish name Legnica), Silesia.

1388

The Battle of Nafels culminates in a major victory for the Swiss Confederation in the first century of its struggle for selfdetermination against Habsburg overlordship. 1483

Edward V, aged 12, succeeds as King of England. He is never crowned as is one of the two “Princes in the Tower” whose presumed remains are interred at Westminster Abbey.

1626

English writer and statesman Francis Bacon dies in London of bronchitis at the age of 65. He is said to have caught a chill while stuffing a dead hen with snow to find out whether this would slow its decay.

1865

Frederick Pottinger, the second baronet who hunted bushrangers as a police inspector after gambling away his fortune, dies in Sydney at the age of 33 after accidentally shooting himself. 1865

Station hand, Jack Quinlan, shoots bushranger Dan Morgan dead near Wangaratta, Victoria. Murderous Morgan had left NSW to hold up Peechelba station when a nurse raised the alarm.

1966

Italian film star Sophia Loren touches off a scandal when she marries director Carlo Ponti, who still has a wife.

1989

Wayne Gardner, 39, wins the inaugural Australian 500cc Motorcycle Grand Prix, held at Phillip Island. 2003

As Baghdad falls, US Marines help Iraqis topple a giant bronze statue of Saddam Hussein, marking Coalition victory over his dictatorship.

2005

Prince Charles marries Camilla Parker-Bowles.