TODAY IN HISTORY

42BC

Battle of Philippi, second engagement; Brutus commits suicide.

1642

The first major conflict of the English Civil War takes place at the Battle of Edgehill between the Royalists under King Charles I and the Parliamentarians.

1739

Britain declares war on Spain. The conflict is called the War of Jenkins’ Ear, because of the alleged amputation of Captain Robert Jenkins’ ear by Spanish coastguards.

1789

Matthew Flinders, adventurous at 15, joins the Royal Navy as a lieutenant’s servant aboard HMS Alert.

1823

Surveyor-general John Oxley leaves Sydney on the cutter Mermaid to examine Port Bowen, Port Curtis (Gladstone) and Moreton Bay. He is to examine the suggestion of a convict colony at Port Curtis. He will also examine the Tweed River and Brisbane River.

1917

Vladimir Lenin arrives in Russia from Finland to urge his Bolshevik comrades to seize power.

1942

The British, led by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, launch a successful infantry attack against the Germans, led by Rommel, at ElAlamein, Egypt.

1944

US forces led by Admiral William F. Halsey Jr, start a decisive air and sea battle against the Japanese on the central Philippine island of Leyte. The Japanese lose 34 ships.