Today in history
Today is Thursday, May 31, the 151st day of 2018. There are 214 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1669 — English diarist and British admiralty official
Samuel Pepys stops writing his diary due to failing eyesight. His celebrated diary ran from January 1, 1660, to May 31, 1669.
1871 — The New Zealand University Council holds
its first meeting.
1879 — New York’s Madison Square Garden opens
its doors for the first time.
1886 — In what is claimed to be an omen of the
Tarawera eruption almost two weeks later, a phantom canoe is seen by tourists on Lake Tarawera.
1902 — The Boer War ends with the surrender of the Boers at Potchefstroom. The war was not without cost to the New Zealand contingents which served, with 71 being killed in combat, while 133 died from illness and 30 in accidents. 1911 — In Belfast, the White Star liner RMS Titanic is launched as one of the largest vessels afloat. It sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912.
1915 — German Zeppelin dirigibles bomb London
for the first time.
1925 — Te Haahi Ratana separates from the conventional church to form his own. As a result, the Anglican Church excommunicates any Anglicans who join it.
1926 — The Imperial Cricket Conference confirms membership of the governing bodies of India, New Zealand and the West Indies, opening the way for these countries to play test cricket.
— Aviator sets off from Oakland, California, to fly across the Pacific to Australia (he arrives on June 9).
1932 — Having set out from Spirits Bay in the far north, to walk the length of the country promoting New Zealand products, Esther James arrives in Dunedin, having walked 2253km since December 3. Her arrival coincides with ‘‘Come to Dunedin Week’’, a forerunner to Dunedin’s illfated Festival Week. She arrived in Bluff on June 18.
1942 — Three Japanese midget submarines enter Sydney Harbour; the ferry Kuttabul is sunk, killing 21 sailors.
1961 — South Africa becomes an independent republic outside the British Commonwealth, with C. R. Swart as president.
1973 — New Zealand cricketer Glenn Turner completes the rare feat of scoring 1000 runs before the end of May in English county cricket.
1974 — Measuring just 3m by 2m, the Waitaki
Bridge Post Office, believed to be New Zealand’s smallest, is closed after trading since August 1, 1896, originally being called Waitaki South. The first postmaster was James Kennedy, who received wages of £5 a year.
1975 — Eighteenyearold Mona Blades disappears while hitchhiking between Hamilton and
Hastings. Her body is never found and her disappearance remains a mystery.
1989 — A 6.6magnitude earthquake centred in eastern Fiordland is felt throughout Southland and Otago and causes minor damage.
2002 — The 15 European Union nations ratify the Kyoto Protocol against global warming as a bloc and use the occasion to criticise the United
States for failing to do its part.
2005 — The Washington Post reveals that ‘‘Deep Throat’’, the legendary source who leaked Watergate scandal secrets to its reporters, was former FBI deputy director Mark Felt.
2008 — It’s better late than never for 1000 New Zealand Vietnam veterans, who are cheered by onlookers as they parade from Wellington’s Civic Square to Parliament, to be finally welcomed home, more than 30 years after their return from active service.