Today in History

1536 – Sir Francis Weston, Mark Smeaton and other alleged lovers of Anne Boleyn go on trial in London for treason.

1926 – Norwegian Roald Amundsen, Italian Umberto Nobile and American Lincoln Ellsworth cross the North Pole in an airship. 1932 – The body of aviatior Charles Lindbergh’s baby son is found, more than twomonths after he was kidnapped.

1937 – King George VI, left, is crowned at Westminster Abbey.

1943 – Battle of North Africa ends in Worldwar II with German surrender of Cap Bon in Tunisia.

1965 – West Germany establishes diplomatic relations with Israel, prompting Arab states to break off relations with Bonn government.

1969 – The voting age in the United Kingdom is lowered from 21 to 18.

1971 – Anti-vietnamwar protests in Auckland disrupt a civic reception for soldiers. Several paint-covered protesters break from the crowd and sit on the road before being removed by police.

1978 – The US announces that hurricanes will no longer be named exclusively after women.

1988 – World Health Organisation says more than 34,000 Aids cases have been reported worldwide.

1994 – British Labour Party leader John Smith dies of a heart attack.

2006 – Up to 200 people are killed in Nigeria when petrol gushing from a ruptured pipeline explodes as villagers scavenge for fuel, setting off an inferno.

2010 – A 10-year-old Dutch boy is the lone survivor of an airline crash that kills 103 people in Libya.

Birthdays

Florence Nightingale, UK nurse (1820-1910); Gabriel Faure, French composer (1845-1924); Katharine Hepburn, US actress (1907-2003); Burt Bacharach, US songwriter (1928-); Gabriel Byrne, Irish actor (1950-); Emilio Estevez, US actor (1962-); Jonah Lomu, All Black (1975-2015).