TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2017

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:

1718 - Hundreds of colonists from France arrived in Louisiana. Some settled in present-day New Orleans.

1814 - The US Library of Congress was destroyed by British forces.

1825 - Uruguay declared independence from Brazil. 1828 - Explorer Allan Cunningham discovers Cunningham’s Gap.

1853 - Francis Cadell launches Australia’s first paddlesteamer, the ‘Lady Augusta’, from Goolwa.

1875 - Captain Matthew Webb swam from Dover, England, to Calais, France making him the first person to swim the English Channel. The feat took about 22 hours.

1909 - Long Bay Gaol in Sydney is opened.

1940 - Arno Rudolphi and Ann Hayward were married while suspended in parachutes at the World’s Fair in New York City.

1941 - Soviet and British troops invaded Iran. This was in reaction to the Shah’s refusal to reduce the number of German residents.

1941 - Allied forces invaded Iran. Within four days the Soviet Union and England controlled Iran.

1944 - Paris, France, was liberated by Allied forces ending four years of German occupation.

1944 - Romania declared war on Germany.

1972 - In Great Britain, computerised axial tomography (CAT scan) was introduced.

1978 - The Turin shroud believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ went on display for the first time in 45 years. 1987 - Saudi Arabia denounced the “group of terrorists” that ran the Iranian government. 1988 - Iran and Iraq began talks in Geneva after ending their eight years of war. 1990 - Military action was authorised by the United Nations to enforce the trade embargo that had been placed on Iraq after their invasion of Kuwait.

1991 - Byelorussia declared independence from the Soviet Union.

1992 - It was reported by researchers that cigarette smoking significantly increased the risk of developing cataracts.