TODAY IN HISTORY

44 BC

Roman dictator Julius Caesar is assassinated by conspirators led by Brutus and Cassius.

1493

Christopher Columbus returns to Spain, concluding his first voyage to the Western Hemisphere.

1877

The first cricket Test between Australia and England is played in Melbourne. The home side wins by 45 runs.

1888

US baseballers play a match between Chicago and AllAmerica at the Sydney Cricket Ground but spectators are confused about the game and don’t know the result until they read about it in the papers the next day.

1933

Release of Australian Charles Chauvel’s first sound film, In The Wake Of The Bounty, starring Errol Flynn.

1942

Japanese planes attack Darwin in World War II.

2000

In what authorities believe is a forensic first, a grand jury in New York indicts an unidentified man for three rapes based on his DNA profile.