Today in history
Today is Tuesday, November 13, the 317th day of 2018. There are 48 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1093 — Malcolm III of Scotland, son of King
Duncan, dies during his fifth attempt to invade England at Alnwick, Northumberland.
1553 — Lady Jane Grey and others are tried for
treason in England.
1789 — Benjamin Franklin writes a letter to a friend in which he says: ‘‘In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.’’
1849 — The Canterbury Association is given a royal charter to organise the settlement of Christchurch.
1863 — The New Zealand Herald begins publication
in Auckland.
1887 — A march in London protesting unemployment and coercion in Ireland becomes known as ‘‘Bloody Sunday’’ when the protesters are attacked by Metropolitan Police and the British Army. It was reported 400 people were arrested and 75 badly injured, including many police.
1907 — Designed by Paul Cornu, the first helicopter to achieve free flight carrying a man rises 1.5m off the ground, holding him there for 20sec, at Coquainvilliers, near Lisieux, in France.
1918 — During the height of the influenza outbreak the district health officer for Otago, Dr Faris, calls for the Public Health Act of 1908 to be enacted, and the board to close all schools throughout the region.
— Walt Disney’s animated movie has its world premiere in New York.
— The British aircraft carrier is hit by a torpedo off Gibraltar in World War 2 and sinks early the following day.
1945 — Sukarno becomes president of Indonesia; General Charles de Gaulle is elected president of the French provisional government.
1956 — The US Supreme Court rules that segregation of the races on public buses is unconstitutional.
1962 — The Glenorchy to Queenstown road is opened, ending a century of isolation for the Lake Wakatipu community and opening up a vast new scenic area to tourists.
1970 — Hafez alAssad seizes power in a bloodless
coup in Syria.
1973 — A state of emergency is declared in Britain after power workers and coalminers begin industrial action; the ‘‘Cod War’’ between Britain and Iceland subsides when the Icelandic Parliament approves the terms of a settlement.
— Karen Silkwood, a technician and union activist at the KerrMcGee Cimarron plutonium plant near Crescent, Oklahoma, is killed in a car crash in suspicious circumstances.
1975 — The World Health Organisation announces
that Asia is free of smallpox for the first time.
1978 — The New Zealand Film Commission is created, its role being to fund and promote a national film industry.
1985 — The Nevado de Ruiz volcano in Colombia erupts, sending an avalanche of mud and rock slamming into the town of Armero. About 25,000 people die.
1990 — David Gray begins a 22hour shooting rampage at Aramoana, killing 13 people and maiming a further three. He is killed in an exchange of gunfire with police the following day.
1999 — Lennox Lewis becomes the first Britishborn undisputed heavyweight boxing champion of the 20th century, when he defeats Evander Holyfield.
2003 — Residents of the remote village of Nubutautau, on the Fijian island of Viti Levu, apologise to the descendants of British missionary the Rev Thomas Baker. He was killed and eaten by their ancestors 136 years earlier, in 1867.
2005 — The former frigate HMNZS Wellington is sunk off the coast of Island Bay, Wellington, to become a living reef for divers.
Today’s birthdays:
Edward III of England (131277); Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish writer (185094); Peter Arnett, New Zealandborn journalist (1934); Kamahl, Australian singer (1934); Alexander (Lockwood) Smith, New Zealand politician and diplomat (1948); Chris Noth, US actor (1954); Whoopi Goldberg, US actress (1955); Leslie King, New Zealand football international (1963); Gerard Butler, Scottish actor (1969);
Aaron Hopa, All Black (197198); Noah Hathaway, US actor (1971); Carl Hoeft, All Black (1974); David Vaealiki, New Zealand rugby league international (1980).
Thought for today:
History is simply a piece of paper covered with print; the main thing is still to make history, not to write it. — Otto von Bismarck, German statesman (181598).
ODT