Today in History

1057 – King Macbeth of Scotland is slain by Malcolm Canmore, whose father, Duncan I, was murdered by Macbeth 17 years earlier.

1881 – Helen Connon, the second woman in the British Empire awarded a bachelor of arts, becomes the first to graduate with an MA, after studying in Dunedin and Christchurch.

1899 – Henry Ford, right, resigns as chief engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company’s main plant in order to concentrate on automobile production.

1914 – The Panama Canal, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, opens to traffic.

1945 – News of Japan’s World War II surrender reaches New Zealand. Revelry gets out of hand when 51 people are taken to hospital, and glass litters Auckland streets.

1947 – The Indian Independence Act comes into force.

1951 – The troopship Wahine is wrecked en route to Korea. Not to be confused with its namesake that sank in Wellington Harbour in 1968, the ship ran aground on Masela Island in the Arafura Sea, east of Timor. There were no fatalities.

1969 – The Woodstock Musical Festival opens on a patch of farmland in Bethel, New York.

1979 – Apocalypse Now, the acclaimed Vietnam War film, opens.

Birthdays

Napoleon Bonaparte, French emperor (1769-1821); Walter Scott, Scottish novelist-poet (1771-1832); Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and computing pioneer (1893-1950); Julia Child, US author-cook (1912-2004); Princess Anne, British royal (1950-); Stieg Larsson, Swedish author (1954-2004); Melinda Gates, US businesswoman and philanthropist (1964-); Mark Labbett, English quiz expert on game show The Chase (1965-); Ben Affleck, US actor (1972-); Natalia Kills, English pop singer (1986-); Joe Jonas, US pop singer (1989-); Jennifer Lawrence, US actress (1990-).