Today in history
Today is Thursday, June 28, the 179th day of 2018. 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.
1902 — The United States buys a concession to build the Panama canal from the French 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 Franz Ferdinand, and his wife in Sarajevo. The 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 being completed 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 their title fight in Las Vegas; forensic experts uncover six skeletons near the Bolivian town of Vallegrande. It is later determined one is the remains of guerrilla leader Ernesto ‘‘Che’’ Guevara.
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:
Henry VIII, king of England (149147); Mel Brooks, US actordirector (1926); Hans Blix, Swedish diplomat and politician (1928); Bruce Davison, US actor (1946); Alice Krige, South African actress (1954); Bernie McCahill, All Black (1964); Duane Mann, New Zealand and Tongan rugby league international (1965); Jessica Hecht, US actress (1965); John Cusack, US actor (1966); Jason Donnelly, New Zealand rugby league international (1970); Bill Henry (Willie) Apiata, New Zealand serviceman and Victoria Cross recipient (1972); Evarn Tuimavave, New Zealand rugby league international (1984).
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.