Today in History

68– Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide.

1549 – The Church of England adopts The Book of Common Prayer, compiled by Thomas Cranmer.

1803 – Matthew Flinders returns to Sydney after circumnavigating the Australian continent.

1856 – Nearly 500 Mormons leave Iowa City and head west for Salt Lake City, more than 1600 kilometres away, carrying all their goods and supplies in two-wheeled handcarts.

1870 – Death of British novelist Charles Dickens, left. 1898 – Agreement is signed under which Hong Kong is leased to Britain from China for a period of 99 years.

1909 – Alice Huyler Ramsey, 22, leaves New York in her quest to become the first woman to drive across the US. She reaches San Francisco 59 days later.

1946 – Bhumibol Adulyadej becomes king of Thailand, aged 18. He rules for 70 years, dying in 2016.

1975 – The first live broadcast from the British House of Commons takes place.

1979 – Seven people die in ghosttrain fire at Sydney’s Luna Park.

2003 – Britain decides to delay adopting the euro, the European Union’s single currency, but signals that it might be prepared to join the European Monetary Union before its 2005 general election.

2019 – More than 1 million people protest in Hong Kong over proposed new extradition laws to China.

Birthdays

Peter I (the Great) of Russia (1672-1725); Cole Porter, US composer (1891-1964); Philip Trusttum, NZ artist (1940-); Patricia Cornwell, US author (1956-); Michael J Fox, Canadian actor (1961-); Johnny Depp, US actor (1963-); Andrew Symonds, Australian cricketer (1975-); Natalie Portman, US actress (1981-); Richard Kahui, All Black (1985-).