Highlights in history on this date:
1398: Turkish warrior Timur Lenk (Tamurlane) conquers Delhi.
1559: Queen Elizabeth I sends aid to Scottish lords to drive French from Scotland.
1737: Death of history’s most renowned violin-maker, Antonio Stradivari, in Cremona, Italy.
1836: A decision to found Adelaide inland on the Torrens River is confirmed, and a proposal for an alternative site on the coast is rejected.
1846: Copper first discovered in Western Australia.
1865: Slavery is abolished in United States.
1872: Opals first discovered in Australia, at Listowel Downs, Queensland.
1892: Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite premieres in St Petersburg, Russia.
Dancers of The Australian Ballet perform in The Nutcracker, which premiered on this day in Russia in 1892. Picture: Dan BoudSource:Supplied
1894: South Australian women given the vote.
1903: US-Panama treaty places Canal Zone in US hands in perpetuity for annual rent.
1916: In World War I, 10-month Battle of Verdun ends after huge loss of life: 543,000 French and 434,000 German troops were killed in the battle.
1927: Chiang Kai-shek overthrows Hankow government in China.
1940: Secret plan issued by Adolf Hitler orders German General Staff to prepare for the invasion of Russia under the codename Operation Barbarossa.
1957: The first nuclear facility to generate electricity in the US goes online in Pennsylvania.
1970: Divorce law goes into effect in Italy despite opposition by Roman Catholic Church.
1972: The US begins its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
1987: Ivan Boesky, the Wall Street financier who played a key role in the biggest insider trading scheme in US history, is jailed for three years.
Ivan Boesky arrives at Federal Court.Source:News Corp Australia
1990: Taj Mahal reopens after being closed to tourists due to sectarian violence that took 11 lives in three days of fighting in the Indian city of Agra.
1994: Failed Australian tycoon Christopher Skase is free after Spanish appeal court overturns an earlier extradition order.
1995: Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating visits Jakarta for the signing of the Australia-Indonesia security treaty.
2000: British singer Kirsty MacColl, who featured on The Pogues hit Fairytale Of New York, dies after being hit by a speedboat in Mexico.
2006: Australia regains the Ashes with victory over England in the third cricket Test.
Australian team members celebrate their Ashes victory. Picture: AFPSource:News Limited
2011: The Northern Territory government confirms a new inquest will be held on February 24 into the death of baby Azaria Chamberlain, more than three decades after she disappeared at Uluru.
2012: A memorial service is held for Dame Elisabeth Murdoch at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne.
2013: Ronnie Biggs, famous for his role in Britain’s 1963 Great Train Robbery, dies in England aged 84.
2014: Islamic extremist group Boko Haram kidnaps at least 185 people, including women and children, in northeast Nigeria.
2016: Senator Pauline Hanson launches her One Nation candidates for the Queensland state election in Brisbane.
2017: US President Donald Trump presents a new National Security Strategy document that labels China and Russia as the primary threats to US economic dominance.
2018: Japan announces plans to launch its first aircraft carriers since WWII, indicating plans to become a regional power alongside China and Russia.
Abel Prasad | News and Updates 