1770: Capt Cook landed in Botany Bay

1789: Three weeks into a journey from Tahiti to the West Indies, the HMS Bounty is seized in a mutiny led by Fletcher Christian, the master's mate. Captain William Bligh and 18 of his loyal supporters were set adrift in a small, open boat, and the Bounty set course for Tubuai, south of Tahiti

1917: When the Germans launched heavy attacks on British troops in an exposed position on the Western Front, Second Lieutenant Haine, Honourable Artillery Company, organised a succession of counter-attacks with grenade-armed bombing parties. His efforts netted fifty German prisoners. He and his men then held their positions for over a day before relief arrived. Near St Quentin, Sergeant-Major Brooks of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry rescued a British attack which had been pinned down by a German machine-gun by a single-handed attack which wiped out the guns crew. He then turned the captured weapon on the neighbouring German defences and secured the success of the British raid. Haine and Brooks both received the Victoria Cross.

1940: HMS Arab arrived at Namsos in Norway to support the British troops fighting ashore there. During the next five days, she endured over thirty air attacks, shooting down one German bomber. Her Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Stannard, and two sailors succeeded in extinguishing a dangerous fire which broke out on a jetty packed with ammunition. Stannard was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1944: The Disaster at Slapton Sands occurred. A pre-invasion amphibious rehearsal was conducted off the south coast of Devon, due to its similarity to the coast of Normandy. The convoy left Plymouth for Lyme Bay. The close escort was limited to one Flower-class corvette, HMS Azalea, which was stationed one mile ahead of a column of five LSTs (Landing Ships, Tank). Three more LSTs from Brixham joined the convoy. A fourth LST failed to make the rendezvous and returned to base.

Once west of Tor Bay, the convoy manoeuvred in the Channel before making its final approach to Slapton Sands. One destroyer, the old Admiralty S-class HMS Saladin, was stationed to the south of the convoy as a screening force. In addition, three RN MTBs patrolled off Cherbourg as a blocking force to intercept a potential patrol by German E-boats.

Alerted by increased Allied radio traffic, the German 5th and 9th Schnellboote Flotillas, comprising six and three boats, respectively, sortied from Cherbourg managing to evade the British MTBs.

Once clear of the British patrol, they travelled at 36 knots under strict radio silence. Shortly after midnight, nine German torpedo boats moved into Lyme Bay.

Attacking in pairs, the E-boats burst past the escorts and attacked the landing ships. LSTs 507 and 531 were sunk with the loss of 202 and 424 men, respectively. LST 289 was damaged, resulting in the loss of 13 men. LST 511 was hit by fire from LST 496, resulting in 18 wounded.

The German force did not suffer any losses. This was the costliest training exercise in all of the Second World War. Eventually, the death count reached 749 men.

1945: "Il Duce," Benito Mussolini, and his mistress, Clara Petacci, are shot by Italian partisans who had captured the couple as they attempted to flee to Switzerland

1982: Great Britain Britain announced a Total Exclusion Zone (TEZ) around the Falkland Islands, to include ships and aircraft of all nations. The 200 mile exclusion zone aimed to draw Argentine aircraft out into the open. In this, it certainly succeeded.