Today in history
1066 - Death of Edward the Confessor, king of England (and later Saint Edward).
1871 - Group of Chinese find a nugget at Dunolly, Victoria, called The Precious, which yields 50.42kg of pure gold.
1928 - First state pensions awarded to people over 65 in Britain.
1929 - King Alexander I suppresses Yugoslav Constitution and establishes dictatorship.
1981 - Truck driver Peter Sutcliffe, arrested over the Yorkshire Ripper murders of 13 women makes his first appearance in court. He is later convicted of the murders.
1990 - American container ship and Panamanian tanker collide in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in a devastating fuel leak.
1991 - Cuba and the Soviet Union sign agreement ending trade at easy terms and artificially low prices.
1994 - Easing fears of a nuclear arms race in northeast Asia, the Clinton administration says North Korea has agreed to allow renewed international inspection of seven nuclear sites.
2000 - US authorities decide that Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy embroiled in an international custody battle, should be returned to his father in Cuba.
2007 - Death aged 96 of Japan’s ‘‘Cup Noodle’’ king Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant noodles.
2008 - Melbourne sports commentator Clinton Grybas, 32, is found dead in his Southbank apartment.
2013 - Bushfires continue to burn out of control across large areas of Tasmania, destroying homes and resulting in the evacuation of thousands of people.
2015 - Actress Cameron Diaz marries Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden in California.
2016 - Electronics retailer Dick Smith goes into receivership after being unable to secure funding to keep the debt-laden business going; West Indian cricketer Chris Gayle is fined $10,000 by the Melbourne Renegades for telling Network Ten journalist Mel Mclaughlin the two of them ‘‘should go out for a drink’’; Australian comedian Barry Humphries describes people who undergo gender reassignment as ‘‘mutilated men’’ and calls Caitlyn Jenner a ‘‘publicity-seeking ratbag’’. Today’s Birthdays:
Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor who had Taj Mahal built in India for his queen (1592-1666); Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani prime minister (1928-1979); Robert Duvall, US actor (1931-); Umberto Eco, Italian writer (1932-2016); King Juan Carlos I of Spain (1938-); Peter Luck, Australian TV personality (1944-2017); Diane Keaton, US actress (1946-); Mike Rann, former South Australian premier (1953-); Marilyn Manson, US rock singer (1969-).