Today in history
1534 – Elizabeth Barton, the Maid of Kent, is executed in England for criticising the matrimonial practices of Henry VIII.
1657 – Jews in New Amsterdam, now New York City in the United States, are granted the rights and privileges of citizens.
1657 – In the English-spanish Wars, the English navy under Admiral Robert Blake destroys all 16 ships of the Spanish fleet in Santa Cruz harbour, Tenerife, and then razes the city.
1792 – France declares war on Austria, marking the start of the French Revolutionary wars.
1887 – The first motor race is scheduled in Paris. It results in a walkover for Georges Bouton, the only competitor.
1902 – Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie, pioneers in their field, isolate the radioactive element radium.
1908 – Forty-four die when trains collide at Sunshine, Victoria, Australia.
1919 – King Nicholas is dethroned in Montenegro, which votes for union with Serbo-slovene-croat State (Yugoslavia).
1943 – The massacre of Jews in the Warsaw ghetto begins.
1945 – Soviet forces penetrate Berlin defences and allies take control of the German cities of Nuremberg and Stuttgart.
1949 – Scientists at the Mayo Clinic announce they have synthesised a hormone, forming a substance called cortisone.
1972 – US Apollo 16 astronauts land safely on Moon.
1981 – New Zealand runner Allison Roe wins the Boston Marathon, running the 42.2 kilometres in 2 hours, 26 minutes and 46 seconds, nearly eight minutes ahead of the second woman across the line.
1984 – Britain announces its administration of Hong Kong will cease in 1997, after 156 years.
1999 – Two US teenage pupils go on a rampage at Columbine High School in a suburb of Denver, Colorado, shooting 13 dead before taking their own lives.
2005 – Ecuador’s congress removes President Lucio Gutierrez from office after a week of escalating street protests, and swears in Vice-president Alfredo Palacio as the new president.
2009 – Dozens of Western diplomats walk out of a UN conference in Geneva when Iran’s hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls Israel a cruel and racist state and the US denounces his remarks as hateful.
Today’s birthdays
Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon III), French statesman (1808-1873); Adolf Hitler, German Nazi leader (1889-1945); Sebastian Faulks, British novelist (1953-); Andy Serkis, British actor (1964-); Carmen Electra, US actor (1972-); Miranda Kerr, Australian model (1983-).