- 1915 – Alexander Burton died at Lone Pine, Gallipoli, Turkey. He was awarded the Victoria Cross.
- 1942 – HMAS Canberra is sunk in the Battle of Savo Island.
- 1962 – The Federal Government bans the drug, thalidomide.
- 1968 – Actor Eric Bana is born.
- 1987 – Julian Knight commits the Hoddle Street massacre in Melbourne, claiming seven lives and injuring nineteen others.
- 1990 – Joan Kirner becomes Victoria's first female Premier after John Cain II retires from Parliament.
- 2004 – Richard Butler, the controversial governor of Tasmania, resigns.