Aussie hopefuls lost in Thames party tragedy
The Marchioness had survived Dunkirk but on August 20, 1989, met a tragic fate while cruising the Thames
Today In History
Race stopped nation for all the wrong reasons
The horse was orange but needed to be dark brown to fool the stewards and that was just the start of the Fine Cotton fiasco
Pythons raised hell with Brian’s biblical romp
Protesters were out in force for the premiere of Monty Python’s Life Of Brian but they only served to make more people want to see it
Convicts chased freedom from Tasmania to China
When the transport ship Cyprus was becalmed at Recherche Bay in Van Diemen’s Land a group of convicts decided their chance of freedom had arrived
More Stories
Brilliant artist killed by flu on cusp of success
The Austrian artist Egon Schiele was struck by a tragedy when his wife died in 1918. His own death followed just days later
James Cook’s widow mourned him for the rest of her life
WHEN Captain Cook was killed in Hawaii in 1779 the nation mourned, particularly his wife, who lived for another 56 years after his death.
German sailors’ mutiny triggered end of WWI
WHEN sailors at Kiel Canal refused to take part in a do-or-die naval battle on October 29, 1918, it sparked a revolution that ended one destructive war, but laid seeds for another.
Gift gave Stonehenge back to British people
STONEHENGE had been in private hands for centuries. But a 100 years ago today, British barrister Cecil Chubb gifted the ancient neolithic monument to the public.
Pioneering war painter captured spiritual ruin
ARTIST Evelyn Chapman was forced to give up her successful painting career in 1925 when she married organist/composer George Thalben-Ball.
Belgian mystic first woman to visit Lhasa
THE French-Belgian woman dressed as a Tibetan pilgrim might not have passed close inspection, but Alexandra David-Neel was able to sneak her way into Lhasa to become the first western woman to visit the holy city.
UK inventor a pioneer in motoring industry
WHEN he fell on hard times inventor Frederick Lanchester applied for a pension but was knocked back.
Pilot and plane disappeared after seeing ‘metallic object’
ON a fine spring evening 40 years ago a young pilot and his plane vanished near Cape Otway. No trace has ever been found.
Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/today-in-history/page/19