- 1923 – Lindsay Thompson, Liberal Premier of Victoria from 1981 to 1982, is born in Warburton.
- 1940 – Peter Doherty, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996, and Australian of the Year in 1997, was born in Brisbane.
- 1953 – The first of two nuclear tests in Operation Totem was conducted at Woomera, South Australia.
- 1954 – Peter Bakowski, Australian poet, was born in Melbourne.
- 1970 – A portion of the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses, killing 35.
- 1997 – Cheryl Kernot, leader of the Australian Democrats defected to the Australian Labor Party.