Today in History
1833 – The British Parliament bans slavery throughout the British Empire.
1916 – Italy’s declaration of war against Germany takes effect during World War I.
1917 – Ten suffragists are arrested as they picket the White House.
1941 – More than 23,000 Hungarian Jews are murdered in occupied Ukraine.
1954 – Pauline Parker, 16, left, and Juliet Hulme, 15, are convicted of the murder of Pauline’s mother Honora. The story about the Christchurch teenagers
was later turned into a film, Heavenly Creatures.
1963 – Martin Luther King Jr speaks to about 250,000 people at a march in Washington. He delivers what became known as the ‘‘I have a dream’’ speech.
1971 – Twenty-five people die and 1150 are rescued when the Greek ferry Haleanna catches fire.
1988 – Three jets collide at an air show in Germany. Sixty-nine spectators die and hundreds more are injured.
1992 – Canterbury is covered in snow, closing Christchurch airport and many roads and schools. An estimated 1 million sheep die.
1996 – Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorce.
2009 – A coroner rules pop star Michael Jackson’s death was a homicide caused primarily by a powerful anaesthetic and another sedative. His doctor is later jailed for involuntary manslaughter.
2016 – Twenty-three inmates escape from a Philippines prison after about 50 heavily armed Muslim extremists break them free.