ON THIS DAY
1609 Spain’s Philip III orders deportation of Moriscos (Christians of Moorish ancestry).
1776 American revolutionary officer Nathan Hale, 21, is hanged as a spy by the British. His last words are: “My only regret is that I have but one life to lose for my country.’’
1828 Shaka, founder of the Zulu empire, who built a vicious army, is murdered by his half-brothers. He had gone insane after his mother died.
1914 One U-9 German submarine sinks three British cruisers, killing 1500. The demise of HMS Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy reveals the potency of the submarine.
1927 Gene Tunney successfully defends his world heavyweight boxing title by defeating Jack Dempsey after the controversial “long count” in the seventh round.
1933 Australian (Cricket) Board of Control cables the MCC asking for bodyline bowling to be stopped. It later gets a positive reply.
1940 Jean Decoux, Vichy French governorgeneral of Indo-China, concludes an agreement with Japan that permits stationing of 30,000 Japanese troops in Indo-China.
1964 The musical Fiddler On The Roof, starring Zero Mostel, opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 3242 performances.
1966
All 24 on board die when an Ansett ANA Viscount crashes near Winton, Qld. Metal fatigue caused a fire which engulfed an engine.
1994 The first episode of Friends airs on NBC. The show becomes one of the world’s most popular sitcoms.
1996 Darwin resident Bob Dent, assisted by pro-euthanasia doctor Philip Nitschke (above), becomes the first person in the world to die using euthanasia legislation.
2015 Volkswagen admits 11 million cars have been wrongly programmed to appear to emit lower emissions.