Today in History

1715 – A hurricane strikes Florida, sinking 10 Spanish treasure ships and killing nearly 1000 people.

1786 – Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect ,by Robert Burns, right, is published.

1902 – An explosion at a mine in Wollongong, Australia, results in the deaths of 96 men and boys.

1945 – Pierre Laval, leader of Nazioccupied Vichy France, surrenders in Austria to American authorities, who extradite him to France to stand trial.

1951 – French Brigadier General Charles Marie Chanson and Governor Thai Lap Thanh, of French-backed South Vietnam, are killed south of Saigon by a Communist suicide bomber.

1954 – First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio. 1971 – Two United States Apollo 15 astronauts begin three days of Moon exploration in an electric car. 1976 – New Zealand runner John Walker wins gold in the 1500 metres at the Montreal Olympics.

1988 – A pier jammed with thousands of travellers collapses at a ferry terminal in Malaysia, killing at least 30 people and injuring about 370.

1992 – A Thai Airways jet crashes into a Himalayan mountain minutes after the pilot reports a technical problem, killing all 113 people on board.

2007 – The deployment of British troops to support Northern Ireland police officially ends after 38 years.