Today in history
Today is Tuesday, August 7, the 219th day of 2018. There are 146 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1888 — Theophilus Van Kannel, of Philadelphia,
receives a patent for the revolving door.
1908 — The ‘‘Parliament Special’’ departs Wellington for Auckland with VIPs to greet the American fleet. It will travel over makeshift track in some sections of the yettobecompleted main trunk line.
1914 — With New Zealand’s official entry into World War 1, John Quinn Adamson, of Alexandra, enlists as Otago’s first volunteer for the Otago Infantry Battalion.
1926 — The first of four governmentcontrolled local radio stations, 1YA, is officially launched in Auckland; the fourth race of the 1926 World Manufacturers’ Championship season, the inaugural British Grand Prix, is held at Brooklands. Robert Senechal wins in just over four hours at an average speed of almost 72mph (116kmh).
1942 — Codenamed Operation Watchtower,
United States forces land on Guadalcanal in the Pacific during World War 2.
1945 — Popular wartime entertainer Gracie Fields arrives in Dunedin to an accompaniment of cheers and greetings from a crowd of approximately 5000 outside her hotel.
1947 — The balsawood raft KonTiki, which had carried a sixman crew 6919km across the
Pacific Ocean from South America, completes a 101day journey when it crashes on to a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands. The crew all made a successful landfall and returned home safely. The original KonTiki raft is now on display in the KonTiki Museum at Bygdoy, Oslo.
1958 — The US submarine Nautilus arrives in Iceland after the first voyage by a vessel under the polar ice cap. It passed under the North Pole on August 3.
1959 — The US launches Explorer 6, which sends
back the first pictures of Earth from orbit.
1974 — French stuntman Philippe Petit walks a tightrope strung between the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Centre.
1984 — One person is killed when a shunter travelling from Invercargill to Balclutha derails at Edendale after a section of track is washed out.
1989 — New Zealand prime minister David Lange (Labour) resigns, after becoming disillusioned with the direction his party was taking. He is replaced the following day by Geoffrey Palmer.
1990 — Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress suspends a 29year guerrilla campaign against white rule in a dramatic concession that clears the way for formal talks on ending South Africa’s apartheid system.
1991 — A locomotive engineer is killed and two 4000hp EF class electric locomotives are written off after striking a washout north of the Raurimu Spiral, in the central North Island.
1996 — Double Olympic gold medallist Danyon Loader is moved to tears when he is greeted by a crowd of more than 20,000, who packed the Octagon to congratulate him.
2000 — A group of American and Swiss scientists announce the discovery of nine new planets that orbit stars outside our solar system. Scientists say the findings boost the potential for life elsewhere in the universe.
2011 — The first representative rugby match is played at Dunedin’s new covered stadium. North Otago beats West Coast 2919 in a Heartland Championship match.
2013 — Early blossom around Dunedin is explained when figures released show that July was the warmest on record for Otago. They indicate that Dunedin Airport was an average 2.3degC warmer, Musselburgh 2.5, Queenstown 2.9, Cromwell 3.6, Wanaka 3.3 and Alexandra 3.5. 2016 — In the second test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, New Zealand cricket captain Kane Williamson joins elite company when he becomes the first New Zealander and the 13th international player to score a century against all other testplaying nations. At age 25 he is also the youngest player by four years to do so.