Today in History

1687 – English mathematician Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica is published, outlining his laws of motion and universal gravitation. 1811 – Venezuela becomes the first South American country to declare its independence from Spain.

1830 – The French launch an invasion of Algeria and take Algiers. 1865 – In the East End of London, revivalist preacher William Booth, right, and his wife Catherine establish the Christian Mission, later known as the Salvation Army.

1881 – NZ Parliament introduces a poll tax of £10 on Chinese migrants and restricts the number allowed to land from each ship arriving in New Zealand.

1943 – A German offensive on the Soviet front begins with the Battle of Kursk in World War II.

1946 – Bikini swimsuits are modelled for the first time in Paris – designer Louis Reard named them after Bikini Atoll, where US nuclear tests were being held. 1954 – Elvis Presley records That’s

All Right (Mama) in his first commercial recording session, at Sun Records in Memphis. 1967 – Israel annexes Gaza. 1969 – The Rolling Stones give a free concert in Hyde Park, London, in memory of Brian Jones, who died two days before.

1973 – Rwanda’s government is overthrown in a military coup.

1994 – Up to 150 Haitians drown when an overcrowded boat capsizes and spills 200 refugees trying to flee to the US.

2011 – The News of the World faces claims it hacked into a missing teen’s phone messages, possibly hampering a police inquiry into her disappearance.

Cecil Rhodes, UK statesman and explorer (1853-1902); Jean Cocteau, French author film-maker (1889-1963); Len Lye, NZ kinetic artist (1901-1980); Maurice Shadbolt, NZ author (1932-2004); John Wright, NZ coach and former Black Caps captain (1954-).