ON THIS DAY

1998: The last power cable supplying downtown Auckland, NZ, fails, leaving 100 blocks dark for weeks.

2002: Fire breaks out on a crowded train travelling from Cairo to Luxor in southern Egypt, killing 373 people and injuring 60.

2007: Three ultra-endurance athletes complete the first-ever run across the Sahara Desert in less than four months.

2014: Australian journalist Peter Greste and two Al Jazeera colleagues go on trial in Egypt on terror charges.

2015: Cyclone Marcia carves a path of destruction through central Queensland, and Cyclone Lam hits remote communities in the NT.

2016: British PM David Cameron announces the date of a Brexit referendum (June).

Cindy Crawford, US model (1966-); Kurt Cobain, singer/guitarist, Nirvana (1967-1994).