Today in Histroy

1787 Arthur Phillip sets sails with 11 ships of criminals to Botany Bay, Australia
1830 Republic of Ecuador is founded, with Juan Jose Flores as president
1934 Great dustbowl storm sweeps across US prairies
1940 Winston Churchill says “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat” in his first speech as Prime Minister to British House of Commons
1981 Pope John Paul II is shot and critically wounded by Turkish gunman Mehemet Ali Agca in St Peter’s Square, Vatican City
1989 Approx 2,000 students begin hunger strike in Tiananmen Square, China

Today in Film & TV

2004 The final episode of “Frasier” on NBC is watched by 33 million people

Today in Music

1767 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s first opera “Apollo et Hyacinthus”, written when he was 11 years old, premieres in Salzburg

Today in Sports

1950 First ever race of the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship is run at Silverstone, England and won by Giuseppe Farina of italy in an Alfa Romeo