ON THIS DAY

1521

Holy Roman Emperor Charles V signs Edict of Worms declaring protestant Martin Luther an outlaw.

1622

The Tryal (or Tryall), believed to be the first English ship to sight Australia, is wrecked on the Montebello Islands off Western Australia, killing more than 90 of the 143 people on board.

1768

James Cook, 39, is promoted from master to lieutenant. He takes command of the Endeavour two days later for a trip to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus across the sun and to find the southern continent.

1830

Charles Sturt, 35, and his party of explorers return to Sydney after tracing the Murray River almost to the sea. Sturt is later nearly blinded by the malnutrition he endured.

1895

Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde, 40, (pictured) is convicted in London of “committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons” and sentenced to serve two years in prison.

1986

Thirty million people worldwide join in pop singer Bob Geldof’s Race Against Time to raise money for the starving in Africa.

2011

The last episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show airs.