Today in history
1346 - English archers defeat French knights at Battle of Crecy in northern France.
1894 - The second Maori King, Tukaroto Matutaera Potatau Te Wherowhero Tawhiao, dies.
1911 - The New Zealand coat of arms is formally warranted by King George V.
1936 - Treaty ends British occupation of Egypt, except Suez Canal zone, and Britain and Egypt form alliance for 20 years.
1942 - German army reaches Stalingrad in Soviet Union during World War II.
1957 - The Soviet Union announces it successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.
1970 - North Vietnam sends its chief negotiator back to Vietnam peace talks in Paris after 8 1/2 month boycott of negotiations.
1988 - Nationwide strike paralyses government and transportation in Myanmar and anti-government rallies spread.
1992 - Serb militiamen pound Sarajevo with rockets and mortars, setting fire to medieval Turkish baths and the main library in the Bosnian capital.
1996 - Former military strongman Chun Doo-hwan is sentenced to death after being convicted of mutiny and treason in South Korea. His successor, Roh Tae-woo, is also found guilty and sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison. They are pardoned a year later.
2000 - Somalis celebrate the election of Abdiqasim Salad Hassan, their first president in nearly a decade.
2003 - Rwandan President Paul Kagame is the overwhelming winner of presidential elections. The election was the first since the 1994 genocide.
2007 - Massive fires consume large areas of southern Greece for a third day and race toward the site of the ancient Olympics. At least 57 people have been killed in the country’s worst wildfires in decades.
2010 - The Taliban hints they may launch attacks against foreigners helping Pakistan respond to the worst floods in the country’s history, saying their presence was ‘‘unacceptable’’. The UN says it will not be deterred by violent threats.
2013 - Survivors say hundreds of Central Americans riding atop a cargo train in hopes of getting to the US were being threatened and extorted by armed men before the train derailed and killed at least six. Today’s Birthdays: Sir Robert Walpole, first prime minister of Britain (1676-1745); Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, French scientist (1743-1794); Guillame Apollinaire, French poet (1880-1918); Albert Sabin, Polish microbiologist (1906-1993); Julio Cortazar, Argentinian writer (1914-1984); Branford Marsalis, US jazz musician (1960-).