Today in History

1520 – Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reaches Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic after passing through a South American strait now bearing his name.

1821 – Panama declares itself independent of Spain and joins the Republic of Colombia.

1893 – New Zealand women vote in a general election for the first time.

1905 – Sinn Fein, the party of the Irish republican movement, is founded in Dublin.

1916 – German planes make their first raid on London, already subject to Zeppelin bombardments.

1919 – Lady (Nancy) Astor, left, is elected as Britain’s first female member of Parliament.

1937 – General Francisco Franco begins naval blockade of Spanish coast. 1943 – United States President Franklin D Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin meet in

Tehran, Iran, during World War II.

1953 – New Zealand’s first family planning clinic opens in Remuera, Auckland.

1979 – Air NZ Flight TE901 crashes on Mt Erebus, killing all 257 on board.

2001 – Enron Corp, the largest US energy-trading concern, collapses after its credit is downgraded to junk-bond status.

2008 – Five Kiwis and two German pilots die when an Air NZ Airbus crashes into the Mediterranean off France while on a test flight. Birthdays John Bunyan, British author (1628-88); Friedrich Engels, German-born economist (1820-95); Jose Iturbi, Spanish pianist-conductor (1895-1980); Berry Gordy Jr, US Motown Records founder (1929-); Randy Newman, US songwriter (1943-); Ed Harris, US actor (1950-); John Galliano, Gibraltarborn British fashion designer (1960-); Martin Clunes, British actor (1961-); Jon Stewart, US television host (1962-); Andrew Bogut, Australian basketball player (1984-).