On this Day in rugby league history, the game's greatest try-scorer is born, one of the great NRL anthems is unveiled and the NRL makes history at the Sydney Mardi Gras.

1940

Legendary try-scorer Ken Irvine was born. The 61st inductee into rugby league's Hall of Fame, Irvine was a lightning quick winger who still holds the record for the most first-grade tries in the sport's history in Australia, with 212. No other player has hit 200 tries, with Billy Slater's 190 the next best.

He played 13 seasons for the North Sydney Bears and scored 171 tries in 176 games, then joined Manly where he won back-to-back premierships in 1972 and 1973. He was named in the NRL Team of the 1950s and the NRL Team of the 1960s, as well as the NSW Team of the Century.

2000

The Panthers' coach Royce Simmons reacted badly to his team's error-prone performance in their 22-10 loss to the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval, describing his players as "the dumbest mob of poor simple fools I've ever met in my life". Penrith would recover to finish fifth that season, but Simmons was sacked the following year after the club finished with the wooden spoon.

2003

"That's my team" is unveiled as the NRL's theme song for the upcoming season, with ARIA Hall of Fame inductees the Hoodoo Gurus reworking their song "What's My Scene?" It would remain a key part of the game's promotion until 2007, when they performed it for the last time at the 2007 grand final.

2012

Another chapter was written in the long-standing rivalry between the Sydney Roosters and South Sydney Rabbitohs when Anthony Minichiello scored with 19 seconds left on the clock to give the Roosters a stunning 24-20 win in the opening round of the season. The Tricolours looked out of the contest when Souths led 20-12 with three minutes remaining but Jared Warea-Hargreaves carried four defenders over the tryline to narrow the gap before Minichiello capped a superb 80-minute sweeping play to score the match-winner. Teenage forward and future captain Boyd Cordner made a break upfield and kicked ahead for his skipper to score.

2016

The NRL made history by being the first sporting code to have a float at Sydney's Mardi Gras. It was the second year the NRL had been part of the parade but the first it had operated a float.

"It was honestly one of the best experiences of my life to be part of all the fun and festival atmosphere last year and to take it one step further and have our own rugby league float in 2016 is fantastic!" said three-time premiership-winner Paul Langmack, who took part of the previous year's parade.

"We want everyone to feel that they can be themselves, no matter what their background or choice. We are not here to pressure anyone to reveal their sexuality; that is entirely their choice. But we want people to know that as a game, we support and stand by our mates, no matter what their sexual orientation is."

This article contains information from the official records of NRL historian David Middleton