Today in History - February 3 | Australian judge forced to hang man he thinks is innocent
On February 3, 1967, Ronald Ryan became the last person to be executed in Australia when he was hanged at Pentridge Prison, in Melbourne.
The prolific burglar received the mandatory death sentence after being convicted of shooting and killing a prison guard when he and an accomplice broke out of Pentridge Prison two years earlier.
But doubts have been raised over the past decades about whether it was Ryan who pulled the trigger.
Among the man people who opposed imposing the death sentence on Ryan was the judge overseeing his trial, Victorian Supreme Court judge Sir John Stark.
He had doubts about the prosecution of Ryan and also opposed capital punishment, but had to impose the mandatory death sentence for murder.
Widespread opposition failed to convince then Victorian premier Sir Henry Bolte to commute the death sentence, after an earlier execution was stopped at the eleventh hour.
Ryan's hanging ignited debate about capital punishment in Australia. By 1985 it was scrapped in all states and territories.
The luxurious Ghan train arrived in Darwin from Adelaide on February 3, 2004, marking he first time a passenger rail service linked the two cities.
Today it remains a popular long rail trip for train enthusiasts and tourists, completing the 3000km journey in 53 hours.
American actress Lana Clarkson was shot and killed by legendary music producer Phil Spector at his Los Angeles house on February 3, 2003.
The case was fraught with mystery, and it took authorities a year to file charges.
After a trial in 2009, Spector was sentenced to 19 years to life.
British monarch Queen Elizabeth II visited Australia for the first time on February 3, 1954.
When the 27-year-old sailed into Sydney Harbour, crowds clamoured to see her and her husband Prince Philip.
During two-month tour around the country, it's estimated that more than seven million Australians – 70 per cent of the population – attempted to see the royal visitors for themselves.
(State Library NSW)
On February 3, 2019, wreckage from a light aircraft carrying football star Emiliano Sala was discovered on the seabed of the English Channel.
Sala, 28, was flying from his western France to Wales to join English Premier League club Cardiff City when the Piper aircraft disappeared.
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