Today in history
Today is Wednesday, September 20, the 263rd day of 2017. There are 102 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1440 — Eton public school is founded by
King Henry VI.
1519 — Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Spain on a global voyage to find a western passage to the Indies, but is killed en route. The expedition flagship,
Nau Victoria, commanded by Juan Sebastian Elcano, circles the world.
1746 — With the help of Flora McDonald, the young pretender Bonnie Prince Charlie
(Charles Edward Stuart) flees to France from Scotland following his unsuccessful attempt to capture the British throne.
1839 — William Wakefield and the New Zealand Company arrive at Port Nicholson to establish a settlement.
1853 — Elisha Graves Otis demonstrates the world’s first lift.
1854 — In the Crimean War, a combined BritishFrench force of 26,000 under Lord Raglan defeats a Russian force of 40,000 under Prince Menshikov at the Battle of Alma.
1871 — Mosgiel Woollen Mill begins operations. The mill is the first commercial operation to produce wool cloth in New Zealand.
1883 — The foundation stone for the new bridge across the Molyneux (Clutha) River at Roxburgh is laid. The old bridge was washed away in 1878 and the new bridge was opened to traffic in 1887.
1895 — The Family Homes Protection Act comes into force in New Zealand. Its objective is to prevent homes from being mortgaged or sold to recoup debt.
1912 — Tapanui Hospital is opened by
Mr J. H. Walker, chairman of the Dunedin Hospital and Charitable Aid Board.
1916 — Sir Henry Wigram registers the Canterbury (New Zealand) Aviation Co.
1949 — In line with other Commonwealth countries, the New Zealand pound is devalued against the US dollar by 30%.
1954 — The Oswald Mazengarb special report on juvenile and moral delinquency is released and a copy sent to every home in New Zealand.
1957 — Keith Jacka Holyoake takes over as prime minister following the retirement of Sidney Holland because of ill health. Holyoake serves until the National Government is ousted at the general election in December by the Walter Nashled Labour Party. Holyoake retains leadership of the National Party, which is returned to power in December 1960.
1958 — United States civil rights activist Martin Luther King jun is seriously wounded at a New York City department store when an apparently deranged black woman stabs him in the chest.
1963 — The first baby in the world to be born following prenatal blood transfusions is born in Auckland; US president John F. Kennedy goes before the United Nations General Assembly and proposes a joint USSoviet expedition to the moon.
1967 — The British liner RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 is launched at Clydebank, Scotland.
1979 — A procession of workers in Queen St, Auckland, marks the first nationwide general strike called by the Federation of Labour.
2000 — Britain’s MI6 spy headquarters are hit by a small missile fired from a rocketlauncher in a highprofile strike at the intelligence services.
2014 — New Zealand goes to the polls and returns the John Keyled National Party in a landslide victory. The party gaining a third term with an increased vote count, the first time a party has won a third term with an increased majority in 90 years. Labour’s fortunes continue to decline, with its support of 25.1% the lowest since 1922.