Today in History

1437 – Scotland’s King James I is murdered by would-be usurpers in Perth.

1472 – Orkney and Shetland given to Scotland by Norway, in lieu of an agreed dowry payment.

1547 – Edward VI crowned king of England after the death of his father, Henry VIII.

1792 – US postal service created, costing between 6 and 12 cents, depending on distance. 1816 – Gioacchino Rossini’s Barber

of Seville premieres in Rome. 1914 – James Scotland completes the first cross-country flight in New Zealand, piloting a Caudron biplane from Invercargill to Gore.

1938 – UK Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden resigns, saying Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain has appeased Nazi Germany.

1947 – Earl Mountbatten of Burma appointed last viceroy of India to oversee independence. 1954 – Yvette Williams, left, sets a new world long jump record of 20ft 71⁄2in (6.29m) at an athletics meeting in Gisborne.

1985 – Ireland approves the sale of contraceptives.

1986 – Russia launches the Mir space station; Britain and France announce plans to build a channel tunnel.

2013 – Estonia becomes the first country to establish a national system of fast chargers for electric cars. 2016 – British Prime Minister David Cameron announces the date of a June referendum on whether to leave the European Union.

Birthdays

Lucien Pissarro, French artist (1863-1944); Enzo Ferrari, Italian racing driver/entrepreneur (1898-1988); Johnny Checketts, NZ World War II flying ace (1912-2006); Robert Altman, US director (1925-2006); Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-US actor (1927-); Gordon Brown, UK prime minister (1951-); Cindy Crawford, US model (1966-); Kurt Cobain, US musician (1967-94); Rihanna, Barbadian singer (1988-).