Today in History

1485 – England’s King Richard III is killed fighting against overwhelming odds at the Battle of Bosworth, ending the War of the Roses. 1642 – English Civil War begins when King Charles I brands Parliament and its soldiers as traitors. The war lasts until 1651. 1851 – The United States-built America beats a fleet of Britain’s finest boats in a race around England’s Isle of Wight. The ornate silver trophy, the America’s Cup, left, was later donated to the New York Yacht Club on condition it be forever placed in international competition.

1864 – First Geneva Convention adopted ‘‘for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded in armies in the field’’.

1922 – Irish revolutionary Michael Collins is killed in an ambush in Co Cork, by republican extremists.

1968 – Czechs protest against the Soviet invasion of their nation.

1969 – The first Young Farmer of the Year competition is won by Gary Frazer, of Canterbury. 2004 – Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Madonna, are stolen at gunpoint from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.

2007 – Fourteen US soldiers are killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashes in northern Iraq.

2010 – All 33 Chilean miners trapped deep underground for 17 days are found alive. A probe sent 688 metres into the collapsed mine early in the morning comes back with a handwritten note: ‘‘All 33 of us are fine in the shelter.’’

2017 – India’s highest court outlaws instant divorce for Muslim men.

Birthdays

Claude Debussy, French composer (1862-1918); Dorothy Parker, US writer (1893-1967); Deng Xiaoping, Chinese politician (1904-97); Maurice Gee, NZ novelist (1931-); E Annie Proulx, US novelist (1935-); Steve Davis, English snooker player (1957-); Mats Wilander, Swedish tennis player (1964-); Kristen Wiig, US actress (1973-).