Today in history
1040 — King Duncan of Scotland is murdered by Macbeth, who then becomes king and rules for 17 years.
1863 — First Kanakas arrive in Brisbane for employment on cotton plantation.
1893 — France becomes the first country to introduce motor vehicle registration plates.
1917 — China declares war on Germany and Austria during World War I.
1945 — Japan surrenders to United States, ending World War II.
1947 — Pakistan is founded after British rule ends.
1949 — West Germans vote for the first time since the end of World War II.
1951 — Death of William Randolph Hearst, US newspaper owner and publisher.
1958 — Death of Gladys Presley, Elvis’s mother.
1973 — US bombing in Cambodia ends, marking official halt to 12 years of combat activity in Indochina.
1974 — Greece withdraws troops from North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) after breakdown of Geneva peace talks and new fighting on Cyprus.
1991 — Scientists report that worldwide band of volcanic dust from eruption of Mount Pinatubo in Philippines could be cooling the world’s climate.
1996 — Ian Macfarlane is appointed new head of Australia’s Reserve Bank.
1997 — Timothy Mcveigh is formally sentenced to death in the US for the Oklahoma City bombing.
2005 — All 21 people are killed onboard a Cypriot airliner when it crashes into mountains north of Athens.
2010 — The deadly waterborne disease cholera surfaces in floodravaged Pakistan adding to the misery of an estimated 20 million people made homeless by the disaster.
2011 — At least 25 people are killed when Syria uses gunboats for the first time to crush the uprising against Bashar al-assad’s regime.
2014 — Iraq’s prime minister Nourial-malaki ends a political deadlock by relinquishing his post to his nominated successor the Iranianbacked Haider Al- Abadi.
2015 — US Secretary of State John Kerry officially reopens the American embassy in Havana, Cuba. Today’s Birthdays: Richard von Krafft-ebing, German physician (1840-1902); John Galsworthy, British novelist and Nobel laureate (1867-1933); Danielle Steel, US author (1947-); Magic Johnson, US basketball player (1959-); Susan Olsen, US actress (The Brady Bunch) (1961-); Halle Berry, US actress (1966-); Kieren Perkins, Australian swimmer (1973-); Kate Ritchie, Australian actress (1978-); Mila Kunis, US actress (1983-); Montaigne, Australian singer (1995-).