THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1933 - US House of Representatives completes congressional action on an amendment to repeal Prohibition, the prevention of the manufacture, sale or transportation of alcoholic beverages.

1942 - Japanese invade island of Bali in Dutch East Indies during World War II.

1962 - Astronaut John Glenn, aboard the Friendship 7 Mercury capsule, becomes the first American to orbit the Earth.

1986 - Russia launches the Mir space station.

2002 - Fire breaks out on a crowded train travelling from Cairo to Luxor in southern Egypt, killing 373 people and injuring 60 in the worst train disaster in Egyptian history.

2007 - Three ultra-endurance athletes complete the first-ever run across the Sahara Desert in less than four months.

2011 - A 14-year-old boy is taken by a crocodile while swimming in a remote Northern Territory creek.