Today in history
Today is Thursday, April 5, the 95th day of 2018. There are 270 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1355 — Charles IV is crowned in Rome as king of
Italy and Holy Roman Emperor.
1594 — Jean Chastel, a pupil of the Jesuits,
attempts to assassinate France’s King Henry IV. 1614 — American Indian princess Pocahontas
marries English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia.
1654 — The Peace Treaty of Westminster ends
the first AngloDutch War.
1818 — Chilean and Argentine troops defeat the Spaniards in the Battle of Maipu, sealing Chilean independence.
1881 — Britain concludes the Treaty of Pretoria with the Boers, recognising the independence of the South African Republic of Transvaal.
1887 — In Tuscumbia, Alabama, Anne Sullivan teaches her blind and deaf pupil Helen Keller the meaning of the word ‘‘water’’ as spelled out in the Manual Alphabet; British historian Lord Acton writes the famous maxim: ‘‘Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely’’.
1895 — Irish writer Oscar Wilde loses his criminal libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, who accused the writer of homosexual practices.
1902 — During a British Home Championship match between Scotland and England at Ibrox Park (now Ibrox Stadium), Glasgow, the rear of the newly built West Tribune Stand collapses, leading to the deaths of 25 people, with a further 517 injured. The tragedy occurred 51min into the match, which was allowed to finish to avoid the obstruction of rescue work.
1923 — British archaeologist Lord Carnarvon, who had discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt a few months earlier, dies of an unknown illness and thus begins the legend of The Curse of the Pharaoh.
1932 — Phar Lap dies in mysterious circumstances in California. At the time, the horse was the greatest stakes winner in New Zealand and Australian history and his death sparked an outcry over suspicions he had been poisoned.
1943 — Dunedin’s Carlton Hotel and three surrounding buildings facing High St are destroyed by fire.
1951 — Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are sentenced to death in the United States for spying for the Soviet Union.
1955 — Sir Winston Churchill resigns as British
prime minister.
1958 — Fidel Castro begins ‘‘total war’’ against the Batista government in Cuba.
1960 — English publisher Peter Llewellyn Davies commits suicide at age 68. As a child, he had served as the inspiration for author James Barrie’s character Peter Pan.
1974 — The World Trade Centre, then the world’s
tallest building, opens in New York City.
1975 — Death of Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kaishek after 47 years in power, first in China and later in Taiwan.
1989 — The Polish Government legalises the Solidarity union, and introduces democratic measures into the political system.
1997 — Britain’s Grand National horse race is postponed after a bomb alert, for which the IRA claims responsibility.
1998 — The world’s longest suspension bridge, 3911m, opens in Japan, linking Shikoku with the main island of Honshu.
1999 — Libya hands over to the UN two former
government agents to stand trial for the bombing of a Pan Am aircraft over Lockerbiein 1988. The UN lifts sanctions against Libya the next day.
Today’s birthdays:
Joseph Lister, English surgeon, discoverer of antiseptic (18271912); Bette Davis, US actress (19081989); Gregory Peck, US actor (19162003); Colin Powell, US secretary of state (1937); Max Gail, US actor (1943); Jane Asher, English actress (1946); Agnetha Faltskog, member of Swedish pop group ABBA (1950); Maryan Street, New Zealand politician (1955); Anthony Horowitz, English author (1956); Fred de Jong, New Zealand football representative (1964); Pharrell Williams, American rapper and producer (1973);
Ismay Johnston, New Zealand actress (1976); Quade Cooper, New Zealandborn Australian rugby union player (1988).
Quote from history:
‘‘We have had our last chance. If we do not devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door’’. — US general Douglas MacArthur in a speech made in 1945, after Japan’s surrender in World War 2. MacArthur, who was Pacific commander in World War 2, died on April 5,1964.