ON THIS DAY JANUARY 26

1500 Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil.

1531 Lisbon hit by an earthquake, which leaves about 30 000 people dead.

1788 The British First Fleet sails into

Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish the first permanent European settlement on Australia. Commemorated as Australia Day.

1808 The Rum Rebellion is the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia. At the time Vice-Admiral William Bligh was Governor of New South Wales and had orders to clean up the corrupt rum trade.

1885 Mahdist forces take Khartoum in Sudan after a nine-month siege and slaughter most inhabitants and British garrison including General Gordon.

1902 General Ben Viljoen and seven men are ambushed and captured by the British. His pocket book in his breast pocket saves him from a bullet.

1945 The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army in East Prussia, which will end in destruction of the 4th Army two months later.

1950 India’s Constitution comes into force.

1972 A bomb destroys the plane air stewardess Vesna Vulovic is in and she survives the 10.160m fall. She awakens from a coma and asks for a cigarette.

1992 Boris Yeltsin announces Russia will stop targeting US cities with nuclear weapons.

2009 Rioting in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparks a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina. | The Historian