Today in History

1844 – Brigham Young is chosen as head of the Mormon Church after the death of Joseph Smith.

1894 – John Harvey Kellogg and his brother Will Keith Kellogg invent corn flakes.

1915 – The Wellington Battalion captures Chunuk Bair, the high point of New Zealand’s effort at Gallipoli in World War I.

1942 – Six German saboteurs who secretly entered the US on a mission to attack its civil infrastructure are executed for spying.

1945 – The Soviet Union officially declares war on Japan.

1956 – A coalmine fire kills 262 workers in Marcinelle, Belgium.

1963 – The gang in England’s Great Train Robbery, including Ronnie

Biggs, left, escape in a truck and stolen Land Rovers.

1967 – Foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand sign a declaration leading to the formation of the Association of South East Asian Nations.

1974 – US President Richard Nixon announces he will resign at 12pm the next day.

1988 – Iran and Iraq agree to a ceasefire after eight years of war.

1992 – Metallica band member James Hetfield suffers burns in a pyrotechnics explosion on stage in Montreal.

2001 – Actor Tom Cruise and actress Nicole Kidman divorce after 10 years of marriage.

2015 – Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke announces he will retire from international cricket.

Birthdays

Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary (1879-1919); Dustin Hoffman, US actor (1937-); Louis van Gaal, Dutch football coach (1951-); Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian politician (1951-2019); The Edge (Dave Howell Evans), Irish guitarist of U2 (1961-); Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player (1981-); Princess Beatrice of York (1988-); Kane Williamson, NZ cricketer (1990-).