On This Day: The night Bali changed Australia forever

It was a Saturday night in Bali, and Australian holidaymakers were enjoying themselves in the bars and clubs of Kuta when, shortly after 11pm, everything changed.

On October 12, 2002, terrorist bombs killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Twenty-four years later, the date remains etched in Australia’s memory.

The night Australia will never forget

The attacks targeted Paddy’s Bar and the nearby Sari Club, two popular nightspots in Kuta. A third bomb exploded near the United States consulate in Denpasar.

Among the victims were holidaymakers, local Balinese workers and members of Australian sporting clubs enjoying end-of-season trips.

In Australia, families waited desperately for news as television screens filled with images of the devastation. Some survivors returned home with terrible injuries, while others carried the emotional scars for years.

The bombings became Australia’s deadliest terrorist attack, leaving families and communities grieving across the country.

Memorials now stand in Bali and throughout Australia, honouring those who never came home.

The day music lost John Denver

On October 12, 1997, American singer-songwriter John Denver died when the experimental aircraft he was piloting crashed off the California coast. He was 53.

His songs, including Take Me Home, Country Roads, Annie’s Song and Leaving on a Jet Plane, had provided the soundtrack to countless lives.

Nearly three decades later, those familiar melodies still bring back memories of the 1970s.

A woman makes Olympic history

On October 12, 1968, Mexican hurdler Enriqueta Basilio became the first woman to light the cauldron at a Summer Olympic Games.

The historic moment came during the opening ceremony of the Mexico City Olympics, the first Summer Games held in Latin America.

Born on this day

Australian actor Hugh Jackman turns 58 today.

Born in Sydney on October 12, 1968, Jackman became internationally famous as Wolverine in the X-Men films, while also winning audiences over with The Boy from Oz, Les Misérables and The Greatest Showman.

Opera legend Luciano Pavarotti was born on October 12, 1935. He would have turned 91.

Do you remember?

Where were you when you first heard about the Bali bombings? Twenty-four years on, we remember the 202 lives lost and the families whose lives were changed forever.