ON THIS DAY

1610 Astronomer

Galileo Galilei observes four moons orbiting Jupiter. These are the first satellites seen orbiting another planet.

1788 Crew

and convicts of the First Fleet catch their first glimpse of what is now Australia, off the coast of Van Diemen’s Land, now Tasmania. The Lady Penrhyn signals land in sight.

1830 Explorer

Charles Sturt sets off with seven other men by boat down the Murrumbidgee River on his way to Lake Alexandrina.

1887 Four

youths are hanged in Sydney’s Darlinghurst Jail for the gang rape of 16-year-old Mary Jane Hicks in Moore Park after she accepted a ride in a hansom cab. Two other men were sentenced to death but reprieved.

1920 Edmund

Barton, who served as Australia’s first prime minister, dies.

1933 Bert

Hinkler dies in a plane crash in the Tuscan Mountains, Italy, on a flight from England to Australia in a DH80A Puss Moth.

1953 President

Harry Truman announces the development of the hydrogen bomb.

1965 Sydney’s

hydrofoil service begins between Circular Quay and Manly. The Japanese-built vessel carries 72 people and cuts the journey from 40 to 20 minutes.

2018 Snow

falls in the Sahara desert. The town of Ain Sefra in Algeria records 38cm of snow.

2020 After

ruling out SARS or MERS, Chinese doctors identify the recent severe flu outbreak as a new virus. Initially dubbed coronavirus (a broad description of a variety of viruses) it is later given the designation COVID-19.