1400

Death of Geoffrey Chaucer (born 1342), considered the father of English poetry. The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories told by a party of pilgrims travelling from London to Canterbury, is his most famous work.

1616

Dutch mariner Dirk Hartog discovers Australia.

1647

Death of Evangelista Torricelli, the Italian mathematician and physicist who invented the barometer.

1746

Birth of Ngo Thi Nham (died 1803), Vietnamese scholar, politician, military officer and member of the Ngo Thi literary clan. He was also well known for his contribution to the victories of the Tay Son dynasty.

1825

Birth of Johann Strauss (the Younger). The Austrian composer is famous for his Viennese waltzes, notably The Blue Danube.

1838

Birth of French composer Georges Bizet (died 1875). He is famous for his opera Carmen and the Arlesienne suite.

1874

Britain annexes the Fiji Islands, in South Pacific.

1881

Birth of Pablo Picasso (died 1973). The Spanish painter and sculptor was perhaps the most prolific, influential, versatile and controversial artist of the 20th century. Among his many works are Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and Guernica (1937).

1904

The French governor in Indochina establishes the Ecole de Medecine de l'Indochine in Ha Noi, and approves the instalment of a telephone network for the northern port city of Hai Phong.

1906

Lee de Forest of the United States patents his Audion, a three-diode amplification valve which will prove a pioneering development in radio and broadcasting.

1973

The Democratic Republic of Viet Nam establishes full diplomatic relations with Argentina.

1974

Foreign ministers of 19 Arab countries meet in Rabat, Morocco, and vote to support the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

1995

Israeli troops start pulling out from Jenin on the West Bank, the first city to be handed over under the Israel-PLO autonomy agreement.

2005

Election officials in Baghdad announce that Iraq's landmark constitution has been adopted by a majority of voters during the country's referendum. Results show that Sunni Arabs, who had sharply opposed the draft document, failed to produce enough "no" votes to defeat it. – AP/REUTERS/VNS