IT HAPPENED TODAY
1788:
The first consignment of convicts from England arrived in Australia at Sydney Cove.
1828:
The Duke of Wellington became Prime Minister.
1841:
Hong Kong was proclaimed British sovereign territory.
1871:
The Rugby Football Union was founded at a meeting held at the Pall Mall Restaurant on Regent Street in London which was attended by representatives from 21 clubs.
1885:
General Charles Gordon, British commander and Governor of the Sudan, was killed by a spear while besieged at Khartoum.
1905:
The world’s largest diamond was found at the Premier Mines in Pretoria, South Africa. The Cullinan Diamond weighed more than 1.25lb.
1907:
‘Foul language’ caused a riot in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on the opening night of a new play, The Playboy Of The Western World, by Irish playwright JM Synge
1947:
Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden was killed near Copenhagen in an air crash.
1965:
Hindi was made the official language of India.
1972:
The musical Godspell had its first London performance.
1993:
Vaclav Havel became the first president of the new Czech Republic.
2009:
James Cameron’s Avatar became the top-grossing film of all time, beating his 1997 movie Titanic.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
British astronaut Tim Peake announced he was set to return for his second mission to the International Space Station.
BIRTHDAYS:
Christopher Hampton, playwright, 72; Eddie Van Halen, rock guitarist, 63; Anita Baker, singer, 60; Ellen DeGeneres actress/ television host, 60; Jazzie B, musician (Soul II Soul), 55; Andrew Ridgeley, singer, 55; Jose Mourinho, football manager, 55; Sara Rue, actress, 39.