Today in history

1602 – Dutch East India Company is established. During its 96-year history it becomes one of the world’s most powerful companies.

1616 – Sir Walter Raleigh is released from the Tower of London to seek gold in Guiana.

1815 – Napoleon arrives back in Paris from Elba to reclaim power at the start of ‘‘The Hundred Days’’ before defeat atwaterloo.

1846 – The foundation stone of Melbourne’s Princes Bridge is laid.

1916 – Allies agree on partition of Turkey.

1933 – First concentration camp is opened in Germany, at Dachau.

1956 – France recognises independence of Tunisia, with Habib Bourguiba as first president.

1964 – Death of Irish writer Brendan Behan.

1969 – Beatle John Lennon weds Japanese artist Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.

1987 – Italian air force General Livio Giorgieri is shot dead by two youths on motorcycle, an attack attributed to the Red Brigades terrorist group; The US Food and Drug Administration approves the sale of AZT, a drug shown to prolong the lives of some AIDS patients.

1997 – The Swiss National Bank confirms it helped other neutral European countries buy millions of dollars worth of Nazi gold during Worldwar II.

2000 – Germany’s scandal- scarred Christian Democrats nominate Angela Merkel as the country’s first woman leader.

2006 – Cyclone Larry lashes the Queensland town of Innisfail and surrounds; Alexander Lukashenko is declared the overwhelming winner of Belarus’s presidential election.

2009 – France submits a formal request to rejoin NATO’S command structure after a 43-year absence.

2010 – Pope Benedict XVI sends an unprecedented letter to Ireland apologising for chronic child abuse within the Roman Catholic church.

2011 – Japanese officials report progress in their battle to gain control over a leaking, tsunami-stricken nuclear complex, though the crisis is far from over; Muammar Gaddafi vows a ‘‘long war’’ as allied forces launch a second night of strikes on Libya.

2016 – Spanish driver Fernando Alonso walks away unhurt from a spectacular crash in the Australian Formula I Grand Prix.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:

Ovid, Latin poet (43 BC-17 AD); Louis Sachar, US children’s author (1954-); Theresa Russell,

US actress (1957-);

Spike Lee, US filmmaker (1957-);

Holly Hunter, US actor (1958-); Ruby

Rose Langenheim, Australian DJ and model (1986-); Catherine Mcneil, Australian model (1989-).