Today in history
1315 - The Swiss Confederation wins the Battle of Morgarten, defeating Leopold of Austria.
1791 - First grapevine in colony of NSW is planted at Parramatta.
1837 - Details of the first practical shorthand system, designed by Isaac Pitman, are published for the first time as Stenographic Sound-hand.
1920 - League of Nations Assembly holds first meeting in Geneva.
1923 - Rampant inflation in Germany reaches a peak – its currency standing at four trillion marks to the dollar.
1928 - Fascist Grand Council becomes part of Italian constitution.
1976 - Syrian army takes full control of Beirut, effectively ending 18-month civil war in Lebanon.
1990 - NATO and Warsaw Pact nations agree in principle on a treaty drastically slashing their stocks of conventional weapons.
1993 - Gunmen in Lebanon kill a senior aide of Yasser Arafat, the fifth PLO assassination since Israelipalestinian accord was signed.
1996 - Shine is awarded best film at the AFI awards.
2002 - Palestinian gunmen ambush Jewish settlers at Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs, killing at least 12 people and wounding 15.
2007 - Cyclone Sidr roars across the southwestern coast of Bangladesh with 240kmh winds killing at least 3100 people in the deadliest such storm in more than a decade.
2010 - In Prague, scientists exhume the remains of 16th-century astronomer Tycho Brahe, in an effort to solve the mystery of his sudden death.
2012 - Oil giant BP agrees to plead guilty to a raft of criminal charges and pay a record $US4.5 billion in a settlement with the US government over the deadly 2010 disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
2013 - China’s leaders announce the first significant easing of its onechild policy in 30 years and move to abolish its labour camp system – addressing deeply unpopular programmes at a time when the Communist party feels increasingly alienated from the public.
2015 - Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton uses a presidential debate to call for global unity to crush Islamic State following the Paris terror attacks, which killed 130 people two days earlier. Today’s birthdays:
William Pitt, English statesman (1708-1779); William Cowper, English poet (1731-1800); Sir Frederick William Herschel, German-born astronomer (1738-1822); Petula Clark, English singer-actress (1932-); Rachel True, US actress (1969-); Chad Kroeger, Canadian rocker (1974-); Giaan Rooney, retired Australian swimmer, (1982-); Lily Aldridge, American fashion model (1985-).