ON THIS DAY
939
Athelstan, the first king to rule over all of England, dies.
1492
Explorer Christopher Columbus reaches Cuba, thinking it is Japan, and later claims the island for Spain.
1553
Michael Servetus, Spanish physician and unorthodox theologian, burns at the stake as a heretic in Switzerland on the order of John Calvin.
1662
Charles II of England sells Dunkirk to France for £400,000.
1815
Dr William Bland, transported for duelling, receives a pardon and establishes a private medical practice in Sydney.
1888
Henry Ernest Searle, 22 “the Clarence River Comet” from Grafton, wins the World Sculling Championship on the Parramatta River against titleholder Peter Kent. It is the ninth WSC in Australia.
1900
Jimmy Governor, hardworking Aboriginal turned murderous bushranger, is wounded by gunfire and captured by settlers near Wingham, NSW. He later hangs for his crimes.
1916
Boxing champ Les Darcy, 20, angered by attempts to pressure him into enlisting, stows away from Newcastle to the US.
1927
Gangsters Squizzy Taylor (pictured) and Snowy Cutmore die after a gun duel in Carlton, Melbourne.
1962
Dawn Fraser, 25, of Sydney, becomes the first woman to break the one-minute barrier for 100m when she swims the longer distance of 110 yards in 59.9 seconds in a Melbourne race.
1982
China announces its population has passed the mark of one billion people.
2008
Billionaire James Packer all but severs his family’s 50-year ties to Channel 9 as his Consolidated Media Holdings says it will not put any capital into PBL Media.