ON THIS day
1558
Mary Queen of Scots, aged 15 or 16, marries the Dauphin of France, 14. The boy husband will become King but will die when Mary is 18. 1617
Concino Concini, the Marquis d’Ancre, an Italian rogue who usurped power in France, is assassinated in Paris on the orders of King Louis XIII.
1731
Death of Daniel Defoe, British journalist and author of Robinson Crusoe. 1929
The first guillotine is erected in Paris. 1898
Spain declares war on the United States. 1916
About 1600 Irish nationalists launch the Easter Rising, seizing key sites in Dublin. It is put down by British forces days later.
1957
Queensland Labor Party executive expels premier Vince Gair from the party for failing to introduce three weeks’ annual leave for all workers under state awards, ending 25 years of Labor rule. 1967
Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, 40, becomes the first person to die on a space mission. The parachute straps of his spacecraft get entangled and he plunges to Earth.
1979
The Australian Cricket Board gives Kerry Packer’s National Nine Network exclusive rights to televise its matches for three years. This ends the era of World Series Cricket.
1980
US forces launch a mission to rescue American hostages in Iran, but the attempt fails, and eight US service members are killed. 1986 Crocodile Dundee, starring Paul Hogan (above with co-star Linda Kozlowski), opens in Sydney. 2003
Officials of North Korea inform US diplomats that it has nuclear weapons and was making bomb-grade plutonium. 2004
American businesswoman Estée Lauder, who co-founded the hugely profitable fragrance and beauty company that bore her name, dies in Manhattan. 2008
Seven people are arrested after proTibet protesters and Chinese supporters clash as the Olympic torch is carried through Canberra.