Today in History

122 – Building begins on Hadrian’s Wall, in northern England.

335 – The Church of Holy Sepulchre is consecrated in Jerusalem.

1586 – Anthony Babington and fellow conspirators go on trial for attempting to seize the throne of England for Mary Queen of Scots by plotting to murder Elizabeth I. 1933 – Labour’s Elizabeth McCombs, right, becomes New Zealand’s first woman member of Parliament, winning Lyttelton in a by-election caused by the death of her MP husband James.

1940 – Italy invades Egypt. 1971 – Twenty-nine prisoners and 10 guards are killed in an attempt to end a four-day revolt at Attica prison near Buffalo, New York.

1982 – Lindy and Michael Chamberlain go on trial for allegedly murdering their baby Azaria, who they say was killed by a dingo at Uluru, Australia.

1989 – Archbishop Desmond Tutu leads the biggest anti-apartheid protest march in South Africa for 30 years, through Cape Town.

2001 – The government bails out Air New Zealand with $550m loan.

2004 – Television talk-show host Oprah Winfrey gives away 276 free cars to audience members.

2015 – 18-year-old Lydia Ko wins the Evian Championship in France, becoming the youngest winner of a women’s golf major.

2017 – Australian actress Rebel Wilson is awarded a record A$4.56 million in libel damages against Bauer Media. The award is later cut to A$600,000.

Birthdays

Daniel Defoe, UK author (1660-1731); Roald Dahl, UK author (1916-90); Annette King, NZ politician (1947-); Michael Johnson, US athlete (1967-); Shane Warne, Australian cricketer/commentator (1969-); Stella McCartney, UK fashion designer (1971-); Goran Ivanisevic, Croatian tennis player (1971-); Craig McMillan, NZ cricketer/ coach (1976-).