TODAY IN HISTORY

1781 Peruvian revolutionary Tupac Amaru II, a descendant of the last Inca ruler, is executed by the Spanish in the main plaza in Cusco. After watching the execution of his wife and sons, he is mutilated and beheaded.

1794 Yemmerrawannie dies in London, aged about 19. Governor Arthur Philip had taken him to England with another Aborigine, Bennelong, to meet King George III but the cold weather troubled him.

1803 Britain declares war on France after little more than a year’s peace as Napoleon Bonaparte (pictured) strengthens his power in continental Europe.

1804 The French senate declares Napoleon Bonaparte emperor.

1812 Madman John Bellingham is hanged in front of Newgate Prison, seven days after he shot dead British prime minister Spencer Perceval in the House of Commons lobby.

1927 In the worst school massacre in the US, farmer Andrew Kehoe plants dynamite in the basement of Bath Consolidated School, Michigan, killing 45.

1940 Brussels falls to the invading German army in World War II and is subjected to harsh terms of occupation.

1944 Allied troops led by Poland’s General Wladyslaw Anders recapture Monte Cassino Monastery in Italy from the Germans after bitter fighting in World War II.

2011 Armidale becomes the first mainland town to be connected to the $36 billion national broadband network, with prime minister Julia Gillard flicking the switch at the Presbyterian Ladies College.