1993 American Jim Courier melted the resistance of Stefan Edberg beneath a blazing sun to win the Australian Open men’s title for the second successive year. The world number one defied court surface temperatures of 65 degrees Celsius (150 Fahrenheit) and a dogged fightback by the Swedish second seed to win 6-2, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 in two hours 32 minutes of fluctuating tennis.
Courier was irresistible in the opening two sets, only to allow his surprised opponent back into the match in the third. At 5-5 in the fourth set there was every chance Edberg could square the contest at 2-2, but he then disappointed his noisy fans with two double faults that gave Courier just the edge he needed. The top seed served out for the match, winning on his third match point when Edberg netted a service return. It was Courier’s fourth Grand Slam title. Courier headed out of the stadium after the presentations to the adjoining Yarra river for a swim.
Other important events
1865 US House of Representatives passes a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery.
1884 Russians take Merv from Amir of Afghanistan.
1891 Civil war begins in Chile.
1928 Russian revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Union.
1943 German troops surrender at Stalingrad in the Second World War.
1944 US forces invade the Japanese-held Marshall Islands during the Second World War.
1946 Yugoslavia becomes a federal republic.
1950 US President Harry Truman announces he ordered the development of the hydrogen bomb.
1957 Trans-Iranian pipeline, from Abadan to Tehran, is completed.
1958 US enter the Space Age with its first successful launch of a satellite into orbit.
1962 Foreign ministers of Organisation of American States vote to exclude Cuba from participating in the Inter-American system.
1966 The Soviet Union launches its spacecraft Luna 9 to the Moon.
1968 Nauru declares independence from Australia.
1971 US launches Apollo 14, piloted by astronauts Alan Shepard Jr., Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa.
1977 The Pompidou Centre is officially opened in Paris, France
1980 Queen Juliana of Netherlands abdicates her throne.
1984 UAE and Morocco sign economic agreement for trade exchange
1988 Greek and Turkish premiers agree on “no war” policy.
1993 South Africa’s Wayne Westner lands his first PGA European Tour victory when he won the Dubai Desert Classic.
1996 Comet Hyakutake is discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake.
1997 Mexican drug kingpin Juan Garcia Abrego is sentenced to 11 concurrent life prison terms.
2003 A rush-hour commuter train derails in rugged Australian bushland south of Sydney, killing nine people.
2005 Dubai buys $1 billion stake in Daimler.
2007 India’s Tata Steel acquires Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus Group for $12 billion.
2008 An explosion at an unlicensed fireworks factory in Istanbul kills 17 people and injures 68 others.
2009 An oil spill from a crashed truck erupts into flames in Molo, Kenya, killing at least 115 people.
2011 Myanmar opens its first parliament in more than two decades.
2015 Two pilots in helium-filled balloon land in Mexico after 137-hour record flight over Pacific Ocean.
2017 Morocco returns to African Union after 33 years.
