Today in history
Today is Wednesday, June 28, the 179th day of 2017. There are 186 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1389 — The Serb army is defeated by the Turks at Kosovo Polje. The remainder of Serbia is conquered by the Turks, who rule for almost 500 years.
1838 — The coronation of Queen Victoria takes place in Westminster Abbey, a year after she had ascended the throne.
1869 — William Fox replaces Edward William Stafford, to begin a third term as New Zealand premier, serving until being replaced by Stafford in September 1872. Fox served a monthlong fourth term in 1873.
1870 — A huge public works programme is announced by Julius Vogel. Over the next decade, 100,000 immigrants will settle in New Zealand and £20 million will be borrowed to assist with their settlement, as well as the construction of roads, railways, telegraph lines and numerous public buildings.
1892 — Death of Henry (Harry) Albert Atkinson, fourtime New Zealand prime minister, aged 60.
1902 — The United States buys the concession to build a Panama canal from a French company for $US40 million.
1911 — Gore High School is officially opened by Acting Prime Minister Sir James Carroll.
1914 — A Serbian nationalist assassinates the heir to the AustroHungarian throne,
Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and his wife in Sarajevo, an incident that sparked World War 1.
1917 — Having served as governor since December 1912, the Earl of Liverpool is appointed New Zealand’s first GovernorGeneral, serving until July 1920.
1919 — New Zealand prime minister
William Massey signs the Treaty of Versailles at the Paris peace conference, as a member of a separate and independent country. The treaty brings a formal end to World War 1.
1920 — The Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington opens to the public.
1922 — The new Parliament buildings in Wellington are officially handed over. The buildings have been in use since 1919 while still being constructed.
1932 — The final issue of the Otago Witness is produced.
1935 — US president Franklin Roosevelt orders a federal gold vault to be built at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
1939 — The first regular transatlantic commercial air service is undertaken by the Dixie Clipper of Pan American Airways, leaving Port Washington, New York, for Marseilles, France.
1942 — In World War 2, the New Zealand Division is transferred from Syria to Egypt.
1958 — As a development in a closer trade relationship with the US, the first live beef exports leave from Tauranga.
1973 — The New Zealand frigate Otago leaves Auckland on an official protest voyage to the French nucleartesting area at Mururoa Atoll. Its crew witnesses a 15kiloton explosion on July 21.
1982 — After completion at a cost of $9 million, the Dunedin Civic Centre is opened by Mayor Cliff Skeggs.
1997 — Evander Holyfield retains the WBA heavyweight boxing crown after Mike Tyson is disqualified for biting Holyfield’s ear during the third round of the fight in Las Vegas; forensic experts uncover six skeletons near the Bolivian town of Vallegrande. It is later determined one is Guevara.the remains of guerrilla leader Ernesto ‘‘Che’’
2000 — Seven months after he was cast adrift in the Florida Straits, 6yearold Elian Gonzalez returns to his native Cuba, bringing to a close an international custody battle laced with Cold War passions.
Today’s birthdays: Pope Paul IV (14761559); Henry VIII, king of England (14911547);
Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish artist (15771640); Mel Brooks, US actordirector (1926); Hans Blix, Swedish diplomat and politician (1928); John Inman, English actor (19352007); Bruce Davison, US actor (1946); Kathy Bates, US actress (1948); Alice Krige, South African actress (1954); Bernie McCahill, All Black (1964); Jessica Hecht, US actress (1965); John Cusack, US actor (1966).
Quote from history: ‘‘I return with feelings of misgiving from my third war — I was the first American commander to put his signature to a paper ending a war when we did not win it.’’ — US general Mark W. Clark, on retiring as commander of UN forces in Korea in October 1953. North Korean troops captured Seoul in the south on June 28, 1950.