Today in History - June 9: Who was behind the deadly Australian fairground ride fire?
A fire that consumed the ghost train ride at Sydney's Luna Park on June 9, 1979, killed one adult and six children.
There were believed to be more than 30 people on board the ghost train when it burst into flames.
The ride was engulfed in flames and destroyed.
The blaze was written off as an electrical fault by police, but evidence emerged that arson was a factor.
Soon after the blaze, the families of victims, witnesses and a former police prosecutor at the original inquest led calls for a fresh inquiry.
In 2021, the NSW government offered a $1 million reward for new information about the tragedy.
British explorer Captain Matthew Flinders sailed into Sydney Harbour on June 9, 1803, becoming the first colonial-era figure to circumnavigate Australia.
Flinders commanded the HMS Investigator on the two-year voyage, and is credited by historians with mapping and naming the continent "Australia".
Australian flying great Charles Kingsford-Smith and his crew on June 9, 1928, completed the first trans-Pacific flight from California to Brisbane.
When he landed at Eagle Farm airfield after the 83-hour flight, Kingsford-Smith was greeted by thousands of supporters. He went on to make other record-breaking flights, including around Australia and across the Atlantic.
British novelist and social critic Charles Dickens, considered one of the finest writers of the 19th century, died in southern England on June 9, 1870.
His works dealing with the state of the impoverished working classes during the Industrial Revolution were widely read by both rich and poor.
Among Dickens' best known books were A Christmas Carol, Illustrated here, David Copperfield and Great Expectations.
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