Today in history
1580 - Francis Drake brings his ship, the Golden Hind, laden with gold and spices, into Plymouth harbour, England, becoming the first captain to circumnavigate the globe.
1777 - British troops occupy Philadelphia during the American Revolution.
1789 - Thomas Jefferson is appointed America’s first Secretary of State and John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States.
1865 - New Zealand passes the Native Rights Act, declaring all Ma¯ori to be British subjects.
1907 - New Zealand becomes a self-governing dominion within the British Commonwealth.
1918 - Allies launch offensive that eventually breaks Germany’s Hindenburg Line in World War I.
1950 - United Nations forces recapture Seoul, capital of South Korea.
1976 - Leaders of five black African nations decline to accept plan presented by Rhodesia’s Prime Minister Ian Smith to achieve black majority rule in Rhodesia.
1983 - Australia II wins America’s Cup yachting series off Newport, Rhode Island, the first US loss in 132 years.
1984 - Britain and China initial agreement that will return Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997.
1989 - Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze tells UN General Assembly that Moscow will join United States in reducing or destroying all chemical weapons.
1992 - South African President FW de Klerk and African National Congress President Nelson Mandela end a four-month stalemate over political violence and the structure of a post-apartheid government.
2003 - The Katsina State Sharia Court of Appeals in northern Nigeria overturns the conviction of Amina Lawal, who had been sentenced to death by stoning under Islamic law after she was accused of having a child out of wedlock.
2005 - The Irish Republican Army announces it has fully disarmed, a breakthrough verified by international weapons inspectors who say they watched the secret disarmament. Some hail the move as lifting the last obstacle to peace in the region, but others demand proof.
2007 - Mounting pro-democracy protests against Myanmar’s military government erupt into bloodshed for the first time, as security forces shoot dead at least one man and wound more in chaotic confrontations.
2013 - The American Oracle syndicate beats Team New Zealand 9-8 in the America’s Cup series, after coming back from an 8-1 deficit. Today’s Birthdays: TS Eliot, British writer and Nobel laureate (1888-1965); George Gershwin, US songwriter (1898-1937); Olivia Newton-john, Britishaustralian singer/actress (1948-).