ON THIS day

330

Constantinople (now Istanbul) is dedicated as the new capital of the Roman Empire. It is named after Emperor Constantine.

868

The earliest surviving printed book is published. The Chinese translation of the sacred work - The Diamond Sutra - was kept by Buddhist Monks until 1907. It is now held by the British

Library.

1618

Haevik Claeszoon van Hillegom, captain of the Dutch ship Zeewolf, records the sighting of the Australian coast. Unable to land, he sails on to Java.

1811

Conjoined twins Chang and Eng, who gained worldwide fame in the 19th century, are born in Thailand (then known as Siam).

1812

British prime minister Spencer Perceval is shot dead at 49 by a deranged bankrupt broker, John Bellingham.

1918

American theoretical physicist Richard Feynman was born in NY City.

1958

Lake Eucumbene, Australia’s largest man-made lake, is completed in the Snowy Mountains.

1960

Mossad agents in Argentina kidnap Adolf Eichmann, Nazi Germany’s chief killer of Jews. He is smuggled to Israel for trial and hanged in 1962.

1981

Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley dies of cancer at age 36.

1987

The ABC television program Four Corners exposes entrenched police corruption in Queensland.

1996

A tornado in Bangladesh kills more than 600.

1997

The Deep Blue IBM computer demolishes world chess champion Garry Kasparov to win a six-game chess match between man and machine.

2010

Scottish-born British politician Gordon Brown resigns as prime minister of the United Kingdom, ending 13 years of Labour Party rule.

2014

St George Rugby League Club legend Reg Gasnier, considered one of the best centres in history, dies on the eve of his 75th birthday.