ON THIS DAY

1667: The first known successful blood transfusion is carried out by Jean-Baptiste Denys, personal physician to Louis XIV of France, on a 15year-old-boy using blood from a sheep.

1872: Royal Mint opens in Melbourne.

1963: One of Hollywood’s costliest failures, Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Rex Harrison, premieres in New York.

1991: Boris Yeltsin is elected president of the Russian Republic.

1996: Eighteen Australian servicemen die when two army Blackhawk helicopters collide and burst into flames near Townsville, Queensland.

2003: Gregory Peck, one of the last great stars from Hollywood’s golden era, dies aged 87.

Birthdays: George Bush, former US president (1924-2018); Terry Alderman, Australian cricketer (1956-); John Linnell, US musician of They Might Be Giants fame (1959-).