ON THIS DAY

1497:

Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama is the first person to sail around the Cape of Good Hope.

The SOS distress signal is adopted at the International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin.

US President John F Kennedy is assassinated as he rides in motorcade in Dallas, Texas.

The British and French supersonic airliner Concorde begins service out of New York’s Kennedy International Airport.

Michael Hutchence, lead singer of Australian band INXS, is found dead in a Sydney hotel room at the age of 37.

Billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer quits Queensland’s Liberal National Party.

Terry Gilliam, UK filmmaker (1940-); Jamie Lee Curtis, US actress (1958-); Robbie Slater, Australian footballer (1964-).

1906: 1963: 1977: 1997: 2012: Birthdays: