Today in History

1469 – Ferdinand of Aragon weds Isabella of Castile in Valladolid, uniting the dominions of Spain.

1767 – The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Mason-dixon line, which divides America’s south from the north, is agreed upon.

1867 – US takes possession of Alaska, after buying it from Russia.

1922 – The British Broadcasting Company, as the BBC was originally called, is formed.

1924 – Otago sheep farmer and amateur radio enthusiast Frank Bell sends the first trans-global radio transmission, a Morse code message received in London.

1931 – Prolific inventor Thomas Edison dies, aged 84. 1968 – Beatles singer John

Lennon, left, and his partner Yoko Ono are arrested for drug possession at their London home.

1988 – Television sitcom Roseanne premieres.

1998 – A pipeline explosion in Nigeria kills 700 people.

2000 – Actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore file for divorce.

2007 – Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto returns to Karachi after eight years of exile. A suspected suicide bomber strikes near the truck carrying her, killing 108 people, but Bhutto escapes unhurt. She would be killed just months later.

Birthdays

Sidney Holland, 25th New Zealand prime minister (1893-1961); Pierre Trudeau, 15th Canadian prime minister (1919-2000); Chuck Berry, US singer (1926-2017); Chuck Swindoll, US preacher (1934-); Lee Harvey Oswald, US former marine blamed for President John F Kennedy assassination (1939-1963); Martina Navratilova, Czech tennis player (1956-); Jean-claude Van Damme, Belgian actor (1960-); Waimarama Taumaunu, NZ netball player and coach (1962-); Lisa Chappell, NZ actress (1968-); Ryan Nelsen, NZ footballer (1977-); Mike Tindall, English rugby player (1978).