1100 King William II of England, reviled as the brutal and corrupt son of William the Conqueror, is killed by an arrow while hunting in the New Forest, Hampshire, and is succeeded by his brother, Henry I.

1807 Billy Blue advertises in The Sydney Gazette as a licensed ferryman on Sydney Harbour. The Afro-Jamaican former convict had been transported for stealing sugar in Kent.

1917 Workers at Randwick tram workshops strike after being given cards to record how fast they complete jobs. The dispute will soon spread to the railways and cripple many industries across the state.

1939 Scientist Albert Einstein suggests to US president Franklin Roosevelt that research should begin into creating an atomic bomb, as Nazi Germany is marshalling its uranium supplies.

1945 Immigration minister Arthur Calwell announces a proposal for Australia to take 50,000 British "war orphans", along with large numbers of adult workers and their families.

1965 The ALP drops the White Australia Policy from its platform at a federal conference in Sydney, in a move supported by deputy leader Gough Whitlam. His boss, Arthur Calwell, bites his tongue.

1983 Forestry student Paul Sharp (right), 22, becomes the first person to cross the Simpson Desert alone and on foot, as he walks into Birdsville.

1988 Opposition leader John Howard stirs racial feelings with his One Australia migration policy. He says he favours Asian migration but is concerned at the community's capacity to absorb change and that he would change the mix.

1991 Medical entrepreneur Geoffrey Edelsten, 48, a former owner of the Sydney Swans Australian rules football team, is released from Long Bay Jail. He had served a year there for conspiracy.
 

This feature is only a sample of the full "Today in History," You are invited to see the entire story at  The Daily Telegraph (Australia)

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