Highlights in history on this date:
1453 - Constantinople, capital of Byzantine Empire, is captured by Turks.
1692 - British fleet defeats French Navy at La Hogue, ending attempted invasion of England.
1765 - Peter II, grandson of Peter I and son of Alexis, becomes Tsar of Russia.
1835 - Australian Patriotic Association is formed in NSW to campaign for a changed Constitution for the colony.
1914 - The liner Empress of Ireland carrying 1477 passengers and crew collides with Norwegian freighter Storstadt in St Lawrence River in Canada. At least 1012 people die in one of the worst maritime disasters ever.
1921 - Bulk wheat is first shipped from Sydney.
1923 - Palestine constitution is suspended by British because Arabs refuse to cooperate.
1941 - HMAS Perth is damaged while evacuating Allied troops from Crete, in World War II. Over 16,000 troops successfully evacuate the island over four nights.
1942 - Bing Crosby records Irving Berlin's White Christmas. It becomes one of the best-selling songs of all time.
1943 - Americans defeat Japanese in Battle of Attu in Aleutian Islands in World War II.
1944 - USS Block Island, an American aircraft carrier, is sunk by a German submarine near Madeira. It was the only US carrier lost in the Atlantic in World War II.
1953 - Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tensing Norgay of Nepal become the first people to reach the top of Mount Everest.
1966 - A Buddhist nun burns herself to death outside a pagoda in the South Vietnamese city of Hue to protest the country's military government.
1972 - US President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign a declaration pledging an era of peaceful coexistence between the United States and Soviet Union.
1974 - The British government brings Northern Ireland under direct rule from Westminster one day after the collapse of the Northern Ireland executive.
1982 - Pope Paul II pays the first papal visit to Britain since 1531.
1985 - More than 30 people are killed and 375 others injured at Brussels' Heysel stadium in riots involving Liverpool and Juventus supporters before the European Cup soccer final.
1990 - Boris Yeltsin is elected president of Russia, the largest of the Soviet Union's 15 republics.
1991 - The Yugoslav republic of Croatia declares itself "an independent state".
1992 - Bosnian Serb forces unleash their fiercest bombardment of Sarajevo as corpses litter bombed-out streets.
1996 - Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud Party, is elected Israeli prime minister by a slim margin.
1999 - The US space shuttle Discovery becomes the first spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station.
2001 - A US court convicts four followers of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden over a plot to murder Americans abroad, including 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa.
2005 - France rejects the European Union's constitution in a referendum, dealing a potentially fatal blow to a charter designed to make the enlarged bloc run smoothly.
2007 - President Bush chooses Robert Zoellick, a one-time US trade representative and Lạc Sơn Đại Phật former No.2 official at the State Department, to lead the World Bank.
2008 - The Vatican firmly rejects attempts by women to become priests in the Roman Catholic Church.
2012 - The Pope's butler is arrested for allegedly having confidential documents in his home.
2013 - Syria's foreign minister says Bashar Assad will remain president at least until elections in 2014 and may seek another term.
2014 - A new study says species of plants and animals are becoming extinct 1000 times faster than they did before humans arrived.
2015 - Sydney Swans' forward Adam Goodes celebrates a goal at the Sydney Cricket Ground by performing an indigenous war dance towards visiting Carlton supporters.
2016 - A day after dismissing its critics as "too sensitive", a Chinese detergent company expresses regret for an ad showing a black man being stuffed into a washing machine.
2017 - Britain says intelligence service MI5 is reviewing its processes following a suicide bomb attack which killed 22 people in Manchester, as questions continue over how much authorities knew about the assailant.
2018 - Convicted murderer Derek Bromley, who has always maintained his innocence, loses an appeal to overturn his conviction for the 1984 murder of Stephen Docoza, whose body was found in an Adelaide river.
2019 - The ABC's newly appointed chair, Ita Buttrose, says staff should not fear job losses despite looming cuts to the broadcaster's budget.
Today's Birthdays:
Charles II, British monarch (1630-1685); Patrick Henry, US statesman (1736-1799); GK Chesterton, English author (1874-1936); Bob Hope, US comedian-actor (1903-2003); Sir Hubert Opperman, Australian cyclist/politician (1904-1996); John F Kennedy, US president (1917-1963); Andre Brink, South African writer (1935-2015); Al Unser Sr, US racing driver (1939-); La Toya Jackson, US singer (1956-); Annette Bening, US actor (1958-); Rupert Everett, British actor (1959-); Melissa Etheridge, US singer (1961-); Lisa Whelchel, US actress (1963-); Noel Gallagher, British musician (1967-); Myf Warhurst, Australian radio and television presenter (1973-); Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown, British singer (1975-).
Thought For Today:
The first and great commandment is: Don't let them scare you - Elmer Davis, American news commentator (1890-1958).
1453 - Constantinople, capital of Byzantine Empire, is captured by Turks.
1692 - British fleet defeats French Navy at La Hogue, ending attempted invasion of England.
1765 - Peter II, grandson of Peter I and son of Alexis, becomes Tsar of Russia.
1835 - Australian Patriotic Association is formed in NSW to campaign for a changed Constitution for the colony.
1914 - The liner Empress of Ireland carrying 1477 passengers and crew collides with Norwegian freighter Storstadt in St Lawrence River in Canada. At least 1012 people die in one of the worst maritime disasters ever.
1921 - Bulk wheat is first shipped from Sydney.
1923 - Palestine constitution is suspended by British because Arabs refuse to cooperate.
1941 - HMAS Perth is damaged while evacuating Allied troops from Crete, in World War II. Over 16,000 troops successfully evacuate the island over four nights.
1942 - Bing Crosby records Irving Berlin's White Christmas. It becomes one of the best-selling songs of all time.
1943 - Americans defeat Japanese in Battle of Attu in Aleutian Islands in World War II.
1944 - USS Block Island, an American aircraft carrier, is sunk by a German submarine near Madeira. It was the only US carrier lost in the Atlantic in World War II.
1953 - Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tensing Norgay of Nepal become the first people to reach the top of Mount Everest.
1966 - A Buddhist nun burns herself to death outside a pagoda in the South Vietnamese city of Hue to protest the country's military government.
1972 - US President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign a declaration pledging an era of peaceful coexistence between the United States and Soviet Union.
1974 - The British government brings Northern Ireland under direct rule from Westminster one day after the collapse of the Northern Ireland executive.
1982 - Pope Paul II pays the first papal visit to Britain since 1531.
1985 - More than 30 people are killed and 375 others injured at Brussels' Heysel stadium in riots involving Liverpool and Juventus supporters before the European Cup soccer final.
1990 - Boris Yeltsin is elected president of Russia, the largest of the Soviet Union's 15 republics.
1991 - The Yugoslav republic of Croatia declares itself "an independent state".
1992 - Bosnian Serb forces unleash their fiercest bombardment of Sarajevo as corpses litter bombed-out streets.
1996 - Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud Party, is elected Israeli prime minister by a slim margin.
1999 - The US space shuttle Discovery becomes the first spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station.
2001 - A US court convicts four followers of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden over a plot to murder Americans abroad, including 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa.
2005 - France rejects the European Union's constitution in a referendum, dealing a potentially fatal blow to a charter designed to make the enlarged bloc run smoothly.
2007 - President Bush chooses Robert Zoellick, a one-time US trade representative and Lạc Sơn Đại Phật former No.2 official at the State Department, to lead the World Bank.
2008 - The Vatican firmly rejects attempts by women to become priests in the Roman Catholic Church.
2012 - The Pope's butler is arrested for allegedly having confidential documents in his home.
2013 - Syria's foreign minister says Bashar Assad will remain president at least until elections in 2014 and may seek another term.
2014 - A new study says species of plants and animals are becoming extinct 1000 times faster than they did before humans arrived.
2015 - Sydney Swans' forward Adam Goodes celebrates a goal at the Sydney Cricket Ground by performing an indigenous war dance towards visiting Carlton supporters.
2016 - A day after dismissing its critics as "too sensitive", a Chinese detergent company expresses regret for an ad showing a black man being stuffed into a washing machine.
2017 - Britain says intelligence service MI5 is reviewing its processes following a suicide bomb attack which killed 22 people in Manchester, as questions continue over how much authorities knew about the assailant.
2018 - Convicted murderer Derek Bromley, who has always maintained his innocence, loses an appeal to overturn his conviction for the 1984 murder of Stephen Docoza, whose body was found in an Adelaide river.
2019 - The ABC's newly appointed chair, Ita Buttrose, says staff should not fear job losses despite looming cuts to the broadcaster's budget.
Today's Birthdays:
Charles II, British monarch (1630-1685); Patrick Henry, US statesman (1736-1799); GK Chesterton, English author (1874-1936); Bob Hope, US comedian-actor (1903-2003); Sir Hubert Opperman, Australian cyclist/politician (1904-1996); John F Kennedy, US president (1917-1963); Andre Brink, South African writer (1935-2015); Al Unser Sr, US racing driver (1939-); La Toya Jackson, US singer (1956-); Annette Bening, US actor (1958-); Rupert Everett, British actor (1959-); Melissa Etheridge, US singer (1961-); Lisa Whelchel, US actress (1963-); Noel Gallagher, British musician (1967-); Myf Warhurst, Australian radio and television presenter (1973-); Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown, British singer (1975-).
Thought For Today:
The first and great commandment is: Don't let them scare you - Elmer Davis, American news commentator (1890-1958).
