Today in history
14 AD - Augustus, the first Roman Emperor and adopted son of Julius Caesar, dies.
1587 - Pope Sixtus V proclaims Catholic Crusade for invasion of England.
1914 - British Navy torpedoes and damages German battleship Westfalen in North Sea and the German fleet bombards English coast.
1929 - Death of Sergei Diaghilev, Russian ballet impresario and director.
1942 - Large raid by British and Canadian commandos on Dieppe, France, is repulsed with heavy casualties during World War II.
1953 - In Iran, the nationalist government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq collapses in Us-backed military coup; Soviet Union publicly acknowledges it has tested a hydrogen bomb.
1960 - Soviet Sputnik 5 satellite is launched into orbit carrying two dogs named Belka and Strelka.
1961 - Australian hard-hitting TV current affairs programme Four Corners makes its debut on ABC.
1973 - George Papadopoulos sworn in as president of Greece as the monarchy comes to an end.
1980 - 301 people die when fire sweeps through a Saudi Arabian airliner as it makes an emergency landing at Riyadh airport.
1996 - The Philippine president and a rebel leader announce a settlement of the 26-year Muslim secessionist rebellion.
2005 - The first-ever joint military exercise between Russia and China, called Peace Mission 2005, begins.
2007 - A major Gaza power company shuts off the last of its generators because fuel to power them was blocked after Israel closed the Nahal Oz fuel crossing last week, citing security threats.
2012 - Wikileaks founder Julian Assange portrays himself as a victim of an American ‘‘witch-hunt’’ over his secret-spilling website in a defiant address from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, England, where he has holed up to avoid extradition to face sex-assault allegations. He remains there today.
2015 - Islamic State militants behead 81-year-old Khaled al-asaad, a leading Syrian antiquities scholar who had spent most of his life looking after the ancient ruins of Palmyra. Today’s Birthdays: Maria Jeanne Becu, Comtesse du Barry, French adventuress (1746-1793); Benjamin Harrison, 23rd US president (1833-1901); Orville Wright, US aviation pioneer (1871-1948); Georges Enescu, Romanian composer (1881-1955); Gabrielle ’’Coco’’ Chanel, French fashion designer (1883-1971); Matthew Perry, US actor (Friends) (1969-); Missy Higgins, Australian singersongwriter (1983-).