TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2018

1858 - A telegraphed message from Britain’s Queen Victoria to U.S. President Buchanan was transmitted over the recently laid trans-Atlantic cable. 1861 - John McKinlay departs Adelaide to search for the missing Burke and Wills expedition.

1896 - Gold found in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada sets off the Klondike Gold Rush.

1906 - An estimated 8.2 MW earthquake hits Valparaiso, Chile, killing 3886 people. 1923 - The United Kingdom gives the name Ross Dependency to part of its claimed Antarctic territory and makes the Governor-General of New Zealand its administrator. 1927 - The Dole Air Race leaves Oakland, California for Honolulu, Hawaii, during which six of the eight planes crash or disappear.

1930 - The first British Empire Games open in Ontario, Canada. The event became the Commonwealth Games. 1942 - World War II: The two-person crew of the US Navy blimp L-8 disappears without a trace on a routine anti-submarine patrol over the Pacific Ocean. The blimp drifts without crew and crash lands in Daly City, California. 1946 - Mass riots in Kolkata begin – more than 4000 people are killed in 72 hours. 1960 - Cyprus gains independence from Britain. 1960 - Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at 31,300m, setting three records that held until 2012: High-altitude jump, free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft. 1972 - In an unsuccessful coup attempt, the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires on King Hassan II of Morocco’s plane.

1977 - Elvis Presley dies. 1989 - A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto’s stock market. 1999 - Vladimir Putin confirmed as Russian PM 2012 - South African police fatally shoot 34 miners and wound 78 during an industrial dispute near Rustenburg. 2013 - The ferry St Thomas Aquinas collides with a cargo ship and sinks at Cebu, Philippines, killing 61 people and 59 others missing.