Today in history
Today is Tuesday, July 10, the 191st day of 2018. There are 174 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1559 — Mary, Queen of Scots, claims the title of
Queen of England in opposition to Elizabeth I.
1584 — Francis Throgmorton, under arrest for plotting a Spanish invasion of England, is executed for treason; William of Orange is assassinated at the instigation of Spain.
1645 — Oliver Cromwell’s army defeats British Royalists at Naseby and Langport, where the last two field armies of King Charles I were destroyed. 1860 — Governor Thomas Gore Browne convenes a meeting of Maori at Auckland, known as the Kohimarama Conference.
1912 — William Massey assumes office as prime
minister, remaining in office until his death in 1925.
1925 — The official news agency of the Soviet
Union, Tass, is established.
1940 — The 114day Battle of Britain starts as Nazi
forces begin attacking Southern England by air.
1947 — The New Zealand State Literary Fund is established to assist writers and publishers alike. One of the first to benefit is Landfall, Charles Brasch’s literary journal.
1957 — Following a successful trial in Hastings, a royal commission reports favourably on adding fluoride to water supplies in New Zealand, in an attempt to reduce tooth decay.
1962 — The Telstar satellite is launched from Cape Canaveral, bringing live television from the United States to Europe for the first time.
1967 — New Zealand changes from pounds, shillings and pence to decimal currency. Despite promotional material using a character called Mr Dollar, it is some time before most people get used to the new currency. The only hiccup in an otherwise smooth transition was the mistake by the Royal Mint in producing 100,000 2c coins with ‘‘Bahama Islands’’ instead of New Zealand stamped next to the Queen’s head.
1973 — The Bahamas gains independence after
three centuries of British rule.
1985 — Two bomb explosions rip through the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior while it is docked in Waitemata Harbour, Auckland, killing a crew member. Investigations reveal French secretservice agents were responsible.
1986 — An extensive $2.5million redevelopment of Queenstown’s Skyline gondola is announced, lifting its carrying capacity of 300 people an hour to 750.
1990 — New Zealand cricket great Sir Richard Hadlee plays his last day of test cricket in the third test against England at Edgbaston. Fittingly, his last ball produced a wicket. England won the match by 114 runs.
1991 — Boris Yeltsin takes the oath of office as the
first elected president of Russia.
1992 — The Warsaw Parliament approves the first woman prime minister in Poland,
Hanna Suchocka.
1997 — Some 100,000 people demonstrate in London against a proposed ban on foxhunting; scientists in London say DNA from a Neanderthal skeleton supports a theory that all humanity descended from an ‘‘African Eve’’ 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.
1999 — The All Blacks, captained by Otago’s Taine Randell, one of eight Otago players in the side, beat South Africa 28nil at Carisbrook before a crowd of 41,000.
2002 — Marine archaeologists discover the PT109 patrol boat helmed by the late US president John F. Kennedy during WW2, off the Solomon Islands.
2014 — Winds in excess of 100kmh and heavy rain
begin to hit the upper North Island, causing widespread damage and flooding, and cutting power to many areas. The storm results in a woman being swept to her death while attempting to evade raging floodwaters.
2016 — The subject of a massive public fundraising campaign earlier in the year, an Awaroa Inlet beach is officially gifted into Abel Tasman National Park.
Today’s birthdays:
Meynell Strathmore (Lofty) Blomfield, New Zealand professional wrestler (19081971); Jerry Herman, US composer (1933); Wilson Whineray, All Black captain (19352012); Arthur Ashe, US tennis player (19431993); Neil Tennant, English singer (1954); Gina Bellman, New Zealand actress (1966); Chris Drum, New Zealand cricket international (1974); Scott Styris, New Zealand cricket international (1975); Iain O’Brien, New Zealand cricket international (1976); Sarah Walker, New Zealand BMX international (1988).
Thought for today:
There are only two distinct classes of people on this earth: those who espouse enthusiasm and those who despise it. — Germaine de Stael, French author (17661817).