Otago Daily Times

Today in history

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Today is Thursday, March 30, the 89th day of 2017. There are 276 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:

1406 — On his way to France, James I of Scotland is captured at Flamboroug­h Head and imprisoned by King Henry IV of England.

1806 — Joseph Bonaparte becomes king of Naples. 1820 — The Duc de Richelieu reestablis­hes censorship of the French press.

1822 — Florida becomes a United States territory. 1842 — Ether is reputedly used as an anaestheti­c for the first time, by Dr Crawford Long in the US. 1855 — End of the Taiping rebellion in China.

1856 — The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War and guaranteei­ng the integrity of Ottoman Turkey.

1863 — Denmark incorporat­es Schleswig; Poland is divided into provinces by Russia.

1867 — US Secretary of State William Seward reaches agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $US7.2 million, a deal ridiculed in the US as Seward’s Folly.

1870 — The 15th amendment to the US Constituti­on, giving black men the right to vote, is ratified; the US Congress readmits Texas to the Union after it had seceded in 1861 to join the Confederat­e States.

1874 — Nelson becomes New Zealand’s fifth city. 1885 — The Russian occupation of Penjdeh, Afghanista­n, provokes a crisis in AngloRussi­an relations.

1903 — Dunedin inventor Robert Miller demonstrat­es his method of generating power from wave movement near St Clair.

1912 — The Sultan of Morocco signs a treaty making Morocco a French protectora­te.

1949 — Syrian General Hosni alZaim seizes power in a CIAbacked coup.

1957 — Following the demise of Dunedin’s tram service five cable cars and five trailer bodies are sold by public auction at the Mornington tram sheds.

1966 — Lebanese Prime Minister Rashid Karami resigns because of protests that he was the only member of the Government in Parliament.

1967 — The North Atlantic Treaty Organisati­on (Nato) formally closes its military headquarte­rs in France.

1972 — The Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act comes into force, decreeing direct rule from London. The prime minister of Northern Ireland, Brian Faulkner, resigns.

1974 — A Chinese jetliner arrives in New York in what is described as the first civilian flight from the Chinese mainland to the US.

1978 — Two lions which escaped from Carlos’ Circus while in Lawrence are shot because of safety concerns after a 6yearold boy was clawed.

1981 — US President Ronald Reagan and his press secretary James Brady are shot and wounded outside the Washington Hilton.

1987 — Sunflowers, by Vincent van Gogh is sold at auction in London for £24.75 million.

1989 — Rebel inmates agree to end their fiveday mutiny in Guatemala’s largest prison.

1991 — Albania’s communist leaders free more than 250 political prisoners on the eve of multiparty elections.

1998 — RollsRoyce is purchased by German carmaker BMW in a $US570 million deal.

1999 — A jury in Portland, Oregon, orders Philip Morris to pay $US81 million to the family of a man who died of lung cancer after smoking Marlboros for four decades.

2008 — A fire deliberate­ly set in the basement of the Stavely Building on the corner of Bond and Jetty Sts, home to the Dunedin School of Ballet, causes substantia­l damage to the 130yearold central Dunedin building.

2013 — The chief executive of telecommun­ications company 2 degrees, Eric Hertz (58) and his wife, are killed when the light aircraft he was flying crashes into the sea off the Waikato coast.

Today’s birthdays: Francisco Goya, Spanish artist (17461828); Vincent van Gogh, Dutch artist (18531890); Jack Cowie, New Zealand cricketer (19121994); Frankie Laine, US singer (19132007); Warren Beatty, US actor (1937); Tane Norton, All Black captain (1942); Eric Clapton, English musician (1945); Robbie Coltrane, Scottish actor (1950); Paul Reiser, US actor (1957); MC Hammer, US rapper (1963); Tracy Chapman, US singer (1964); Ian Ziering, US actor (1964); Celine Dion, Canadian singer (1968).

Thought for today: All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are moveable, and those that move. — Arab proverb.

 ??  ?? Nelson
Nelson
 ??  ?? Robert Miller demonstrat­ion
Robert Miller demonstrat­ion
 ??  ?? William Seward
William Seward
 ??  ?? Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty

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