English navigator Captain James Cook discovered the islands of what is today Hawaii on this day in 1778, he named them the Sandwich Islands in recognition of one of his benefactors of his expedition, Lord Sandwich.

The first British settlers arrived in Botany Bay, Australia in 1788 to begin the setting up of a penal colony. The first shipment contained 736 convicts expelled from Britain.

In 1803, Thomas Jefferson sought funding from the US Congress for an expedition by Lewis and Clark into exploring vast undiscovered areas of the Continent.

Wilhelm, the King of Prussia from 1861, was on this day in 1871 proclaimed as the first German Emperor. The Hockey Association was formed in Great Britain on this day in 1886 and began the birth of modern field hockey.

On this day in 1911, for the first time an aircraft deliberately landed on a ship, the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Harbour.

The Peace Congress after the conclusion of the First World War opened in Versailles, France on this day in 1919. On this day in 1943, the Soviets announced that they had broken the siege by the German army of Leningrad. The Nazi’s had held the city since September, 1941.

On the same day in the US, commercial bakers stopped selling sliced bread, the ban continued until the end of the War with only whole unsliced bread being available during the course of the ban. The federal tax on oleomargarine was repealed on this day in 1950.

The first, non stop, around the world flight took place in 1957, ending on this day in California. The plane was refuelled in mid flight by strategically placed refuelling aircraft.

Willie O’Ree made his NHL debut in 1958, he was the first black player to play in the NHL.

In 1967, Albert DeSalvo, who claimed he was the Boston Strangler was sentenced to life in prison in Cambridge, Massachusetts for armed robbery, assault and sex offenses. He was killed in 1973 by another inmate.

Former Rhodesian prime minister Garfield Todd and his daughter were placed under house arrest in 1972 for leading a campaign against the country’s independence.

The European Court of Human Rights in 1978, cleared the British government of torture but found it guilty of treating prisoners in Northern Ireland in an inhuman way and in degrading conditions.

In Los Angeles, California a jury found preschool operators Raymond Buckey and his mother Peggy not guilty of 52 child molestation charges in 1990. On the same day in Washington DC in an FBI sting the city’s mayor Marion Barry was arrested on charges on drug possession, he was later convicted of a misdemeanour.

Eastern Airlines ceased trading on this day in 1991 due to financial problems, it had been in operation for 62 years. The holiday, Martin Luther King Day was observed by all 50 US states for the first time in 1993.

Three Spanish aid workers and three soldiers were killed by Hutu militiamen on this day in 1997 in north western Rwanda, one American aid worker was seriously wounded in the attack.

Famous birthdays on this day include Sir Edmund Barton in 1849, the first Prime Minister of Australia. A. A. Milne was born in 1882, Oliver Hardy in 1892 and Cary Grant in 1904. Irish film director John Boorman in 1933 and the 24th Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating in 1944.

Canadian racing driver Gilles Villeneuve was born in 1950 and Kevin Costner in 1955.

As you can see over the years this has been quite an eventful day for a number of very different reasons. Check back to see what the next day in the calendar year has to offer tomorrow.