ON THIS DAY
1272
British monarch Henry III dies, aged 65. His turbulent reign began when he inherited the throne at the age of nine. He is succeeded by his son, Edward I.
1824
Hamilton Hume and William Hovell find the Murray River, eventually crossing the great waterway near what is now Albury.
1864
A bushranger with Ben Hall’s gang shoots dead police sergeant Edmund Parry, 32, near Jugiong, NSW. The shooter was John Gilbert, who had ordered the officer to surrender during a stage coach holdup.
1910
A federal land tax, introduced by the Fisher Labor government, gains assent. It is aimed to break up large holdings and encourage closer settlement.
1919
Captain Henry Neilson Wrigley and Sergeant Arthur Murphy leave Victoria for Darwin on the first transcontinental flight.
1934
Strike Me Lucky, a film directed by Ken Hall and starring Mo (Roy Rene, pictured), is released by Cinesound in Sydney’s Capitol Theatre. It fails at the box office because Mo’s humour depends on establishing a rapport with a live audience.
1959
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s last musical, The Sound Of Music, starring Mary Martin as Maria, opens on Broadway.
1960
Actor Clark Gable, who played Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind and the Oscar-winning star of It Happened One Night, dies at the age of 59.
1981
Dennis Lillee aims a kick at Pakistan captain Javed Miandad in a Test in Perth. When Miandad reacts, umpire Tony Rafter intervenes. Lillee is suspended for two ODIS.
1988
Benazir Bhutto is elected as prime minister of Pakistan, the first woman in modern history to lead a Muslim country.
2015
The largest diamond in more than a century, the 1111-carat Lesedi La Rona, is found in Botswana.