Today in History

1759 – The French formally surrender Quebec to the British. 1810 – Chile declares its independence from Spain.

1812 – The Great Fire of Moscow burns out after five days, leaving 75 per cent of the city destroyed and 12,000 dead.

1850 – US Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act, allowing slave owners to reclaim escapees.

1851 – The New York Times publishes its first issue, left.

1906 – A typhoon and tsunami kill an estimated 10,000 people in Hong Kong.

1911 – Russian Premier Pyotr Stolypin dies four days after being shot at the Kiev Opera House.

1937 – The first state house opens in Miramar, Wellington. Most of the Labour Cabinet helped the first tenants move in.

1947 – The Central Intelligence Agency officially comes into existence.

1961 – Swedish UN SecretaryGeneral Dag Hammarskjold, 56, is killed in an air crash in northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, while on a peace mission to the Congo.

1975 – Newspaper heiress Patty Hearst is captured in San Francisco and arrested for armed robbery, 18 months after she was kidnapped by small leftist group the Symbionese Liberation Army.

1988 – Burma’s military commander San Maung overthrows civilian President Maung Maung in a coup.

2014 – Scotland votes against independence from the United Kingdom, by 55.3 per cent to 44.7.

2018 – South Africa’s Constitutional Court legalises cannabis use by adults in private places.

Birthdays

Samuel Johnson, UK lexicographer (1709-84); Greta Garbo, US-Swedish actress (1905-90); Lloyd Morrison, NZ businessman (1957-2012); James Gandolfini, US actor (1961-2013); Darren Gough, UK cricketer (1970-); Lance Armstrong, US cyclist (1971-); Ronaldo, Brazilian footballer (1976-).