Today in history
Today is Thursday, October 11, the 284th day of 2018. There are 81 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1521 — Pope Leo X gives King Henry VIII of England the title of Defender of the Faith following the publication of his book denouncing Martin Luther.
1689 — Peter the Great becomes Tsar of Russia.
1727 — The coronation of King George II takes
place in London.
1769 — Uninspired by the land he has discovered, Captain Cook issues orders for the Endeavour to sail south from an area he named Poverty Bay.
1797 — The British navy defeats a Dutch fleet at the Battle of Camperdown. The battle was the most significant action between British and Dutch forces during the French Revolutionary Wars and resulted in a complete victory for the British, who captured 11 Dutch ships without losing any of their own.
1831 — In the first European wedding in New Zealand, William Puckey marries Matilda Davis in the Bay of Islands.
1861 — The first Cobb and Co coach service to the Otago goldfields begins on a route between Dunedin and Gabriels Gully. The journey took a day, slicing the usual travelling time to the area in half.
1868 — A youthful Thomas Edison files his first
patent application, for an electric vote recorder.
1871 — The Great Fire of Chicago is finally extinguished after three days. At least 300 people were killed and 90,000 made homeless.
1872 — George Marsden Waterhouse takes office as premier, becoming the only man to head two British colonies, South Australia and New Zealand. His New Zealand term ends after little less than five months, when he is replaced by William Fox on March 3; Wiremu Tako Ngatata becomes the first Maori appointed to the Legislative Council.
1890 — John Owens becomes the first man to run a recorded 100yard dash in under 10 seconds, achieving the feat in 9.8 seconds.
1892 — The Land Act becomes law, giving New Zealanders the right of public access to rivers, lakes, coasts, forests and mountains.
1899 — The Boer War begins in South Africa between the British Empire and Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State; New Zealand declares war against the South African Republic (Transvaal) in the second Boer War.
1905 — During its rugby tour of the United Kingdom, New Zealand defeats Hartlepool 630. The Daily Mail newspaper in its report misspelt the word ‘‘backs’’ when referring to its style of play, stating instead that the team played as if ‘‘they were all blacks’’. The national team has been known as the ‘‘All Blacks’’ since, in keeping with its playing attire.
1915 — The Discharged Soldiers Settlement Act becomes law, allowing the Government to buy land and sell it to returned servicemen with state loans. It sparks a real estate boom, but the poor quality of some of the land causes resentment and many soldierfarmers walk off their land within 20 years.
1930 — The Unemployment Act, providing relief payments to those registered as unemployed, passes into New Zealand law.
1939 — Albert Einstein and other scientists inform US president Franklin Roosevelt of the possibility of developing an atomic bomb.
1948 — The majority of New Zealand’s JForce
returns from Japan.
1958 — The lunar probe Pioneer 1 is launched but fails to go as far as planned, falling back to Earth and burning up in the atmosphere.
1968 — Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, is launched, with US astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard.
1976 — In China, Mao Tsetung’s widow, Jiang Qing, and three others, the Gang of Four, are arrested and charged with plotting a coup.
1982 — Mary Rose, once Henry VIII’s flagship, is raised from the Solent, off southern England.