Today in history
Today is Saturday, May 27, the 147th day of 2017. There are 218 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1647 — The first recorded American execution of a witch takes place in Massachusetts.
1679 — The English Parliament passes the Habeas Corpus Act, protecting citizens against false arrest and imprisonment. The main principles of the Act were later incorporated into the United States Constitution.
1703 — Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of St Petersburg as Russia’s new capital.
1883 — Alexander III is crowned amid great ceremony in Moscow.
1896 — Some 255 people are killed when a tornado strikes St Louis, Missouri, and East St Louis, Illinois.
1914 — A Wellington to Auckland express train rearends a northbound freight train after it passes a faulty semaphore signal at Whangamarino in the Waikato. Three people are killed and five seriously injured.
1936 — Britain’s luxury liner Queen Mary begins her maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.
1937 — The Golden Gate Bridge, connecting San Francisco and Marin County, California, is opened to the public.
1941 — The German battleship Bismarck is sunk by the British navy off France in World War 2, with the loss of 2300 lives.
1950 — Otago’s Ron Elvidge captains the All Blacks to a hardfought 9all draw in the first test of the series against the touring Lions at Carisbrook, before a crowd of 35,000. The referee was double All Black Eric Tindall.
1951 — Sergeant William Shore Hughes is fatally shot by Noema Raana Rika, while trying to protect the female occupants within a house at Otaki. A short time later Rika gained access to the premises and killed all the occupants before turning the gun upon himself.
1965 — Prime Minister Keith Holyoake announces New Zealand will send an artillery unit to Vietnam. The commitment will eventually extend to include infantry brigades, SAS and medical teams.
1973 — New Zealand becomes a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
1990 — In Ranfurly, Senior Constable Peter Umbers is bashed to death with his own PR24 baton after he stopped robbery suspect Richard Thomas Lakich. Lakich later pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. For his bravery in the execution of his duty, Umbers was posthumously awarded the George Medal.
1992 — The Clyde hydro powerhouse begins generating electricity continuously for the national grid.
1993 — British Prime Minister John Major sacks Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont after he is blamed for a bitter twoyear recession and a humiliating currency crisis.
1995 — Actor Christopher Reeve is left paralysed when thrown from his horse during a jumping event in Charlottesville, Virginia.
1999 — The UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, the Netherlands, announces the indictment of Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic and four of his aides for war crimes in Kosovo. It is the first time a sitting head of state has been indicted for war crimes.
2004 — Dunedin’s Greg Henderson wins the 15km scratch race at the World Cycling Championships in Melbourne.
2006 — Thick fog descends over Jade Stadium, Christchurch, for the Super 14 rugby final between the Crusaders and the Hurricanes. The match proceeds but television coverage is a virtual whiteout and commentary for both television and radio is restricted to halfguesses and admissions of complete ignorance as to what is taking place on the field of play.