Today in history
Today is Friday, July 13, the 194th day of 2018. There are 171 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1787 — The Northwest Ordinance is enacted by the United States Congress. It outlines how the territory north of the Ohio River will be governed and evolve into states.
1841 — In a bid to strengthen the Ottoman Empire, the London Straits Convention is concluded, reestablishing an ancient rule of the Ottoman Empire by closing the Turkish Straits (the Bosporus and Dardanelles) to all warships barring those of the Sultan’s allies.
1854 — Abbas I, Viceroy of Egypt, is murdered, and
succeeded by Mohammed Said.
1861 — The first guarded coach, the Escort, arrives in Dunedin from Lawrence with 500 ounces of gold.
1863 — Rioting against US Civil War military conscription breaks out in New York City, and approximately 1000 people are killed in three days of disorder.
1882 — News reaches Dunedin from London of the success of the first frozenmeat shipment from Otago.
1909 — Mysterious bright objects appear in the night skies over New Zealand. A ‘‘phantom ship’’ phenomenon intensifies, notably in southern districts, where several residents in Stirling report witnessing what they think was an airship moving in the sky.
1916 — Vivian Walsh becomes the first person in
New Zealand to obtain an aviator’s certificate. 1919 — The British airship R34 lands back in Norfolk, England, after making the first Atlantic aerial roundtrip. It set out from Scotland for the US on July 2.
1922 — The France II, the world’s largest sailing
vessel, is wrecked off the coast of New Caledonia.
1930 — The first Soccer World Cup competition begins in Montevideo, Uruguay, with 13 teams taking part.
1943 — HMNZS Leander is torpedoed during an
assault on the Japaneseheld Solomon Islands.
1955 — Ruth Ellis becomes the last woman to be
hanged in Britain (for the murder of her lover).
1960 — John F. Kennedy wins the Democratic presidential nomination at his party’s convention in Los Angeles.
1963 — New Zealand golfer Bob Charles wins a playoff to take the British Open championship at Lytham. He is the first lefthander and first New Zealander to win the prestigious title.
1971 — Firing squads in Morocco execute 10 army officers accused of trying to overthrow King
Hassan.
1977 — A massive power failure at 9.34pm causes a huge blackout over New York City. Looting and rioting break out and police arrest at least 3000 looters.
1985 — A Live Aid concert watched by 1.5 billion around the world raises $US100 million for African famine relief.
1990 — The mayors of Moscow and Leningrad show solidarity with populist Boris Yeltsin by resigning from the Communist Party on the last day of the Party Congress.
1999 — In Peru, President Alberto Fujimori personally supervises the military operation to capture Oscar Ramirez Durand, the last leader still at large of the Maoist Shining Path guerrillas, one of Latin America’s most violent rebel movements. He is caught the next day.
2000 — Vietnam signs a landmark trade deal with the US, which clears the way for normal trade relations between the former enemies for the first time since the Vietnam War.
2005 — Bernard Ebbers, the folksy entrepreneur who built WorldCom Inc into a telecommunications giant, is sentenced to25 years in prison for the business fraud that led to the largest US corporate bankruptcy.
Today’s birthdays
Mark Nicholls, All Black (19011972); Garfield Todd, New Zealandborn prime minister of Southern Rhodesia (19082002); Patrick Stewart, British actor (1940); Harrison Ford, US actor (1942); Roger McGuinn, US musician (1942); Erno Rubik, Hungarian inventor (1944); Cheech Marin, US comedian/actor (1946); Rod Dixon, New Zealand international middledistance and marathon runner (1950); Mark Hammett, All Black (1972); Deborah Cox, Canadian singer (1973); Xavier Rush, All Black (1977); Ladyhawke (Phillipa Margaret Brown), New Zealand singer/songwriter (1979);
Ali Lauiti’iti, New Zealand rugby league international (1979); Scott TalbotCameron, New Zealand international swimming representative (1981); Kieran Foran, New Zealand rugby league international (1990).
Thought for today
Life is like a landscape. You live in the midst of it, but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance. — Charles A. Lindbergh (19021974).
ODT and agencies