’96 Man versus machine

On February 10 in Philadelphia, USA, the IBM supercomputer called Deep Blue becomes the first machine to win a chess game against a reigning world champion, defeating Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov. Eight decaying bodies are found in barrels in a disused bank vault north of Adelaide, marking the beginning of the Snowtown murders case, Australia’s worstever serial killings. The body count rose to 11; three men were later convicted.

Gold dusting

In the men’s 1500m freestyle event at the Atlanta Olympics, Aussie Kieren Perkins is the slowest of the eight to qualify for the final. He goes on to stun the world by winning gold in a career-defining performance.