Today in history
Today is Friday, December 14, the 348th day of 2018. There are 17 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1417 — Sir John Oldcastle, a leader of the Lollards religious sect, is hanged and burned in Britain. He was considered to be the model for Shakespeare’s character Falstaff.
1542 — Following the battle of Solway Moss, James V of Scotland has a mental breakdown and dies. His daughter Mary Stuart accedes to the throne at 6 days old.
1873 — The southern trunk railway to Green Island
is opened.
1900 — Max Planck first publishes his Quantum Theory: that radiant energy comes in small indivisible packets and was not continuous as previously thought.
1907 — Canterbury, which had been presented a shield for cricket competition by GovernorGeneral Lord Plunket, begins a threeday match against Auckland in the first defence of what became known as the Plunket Shield. Auckland won by an innings and 135 runs.
1911 — Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen
becomes the first man to reach the South Pole.
1916 — The people of Denmark vote to sell the Danish West Indies to the United States for $US25 million.
1918 — Irish nationalist Constance Markievicz of Sinn Fein becomes the first woman elected to the British House of Commons, but she cannot take her seat as she is in prison; Sidonio Paes, president of Portugal, is assassinated. 1920 — The Roslyn tramways in Dunedin are municipalised; the first fatalities on a scheduled passenger flight occur when an aircraft crashes into a house, killing the twoperson crew and two passengers at Cricklewood, London.
1947 — Death of threetime British prime minister Stanley Baldwin; he headed the Government during the General Strike of 1926 and the abdication crisis of 1936.
1959 — Archbishop Makarios becomes the first
president of the Republic of Cyprus.
1962 — North Rhodesia’s first Africandominated government is formed under Kenneth Kaunda; the Mariner II space probe begins sending back to Earth man’s first information from another planet, Venus.
1968 — The new Alexandra clock, high on a rock face overlooking the town, is started at midday. The $3000 clock is believed to be the secondlargest in the world, with its face diameter being about 10m.
1982 — The Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement issigned, allowing for freetrade access between New Zealand and Australia.
— skippered by Chris Dickson, qualifies for the semifinals of the challenger series in the America’s Cup in Fremantle.
1990 — The founder of the publicly listed New Zealand company Equiticorp, Allan Hawkins , is charged with fraud in relation to the $440million collapse of the investment bank in 1989.
1991 — The summit of Mt Cook is put off limits to climbers for at least a season when a huge fall of rock and ice dramatically alters the mountain’s profile; former East German leader
Erich Honecker, facing extradition to Germany and trial on manslaughter charges, is offered asylum in North Korea.
2011 — A state of emergency is declared in the Nelson and Tasman area as swollen rivers and landslips cut off roads and towns, and more than 100 people are evacuated when their homes are flooded. Described as a more than onein100year event, 423mm of rain fell near Takaka in 24 hours, 368mm at Anatoki, 329mm at Brook, 205mm at Richmond and 323mm at Roding.
Today’s birthdays:
Nostradamus, French astrologer and prophet (150366); Harry Atmore, New Zealand politician (18701946); Sir Thomas MacDonald, New Zealand politician (18981980); Alan Rowe, New Zealandborn English actor (19262000); Ron Jarden, All Black (192977); George Furth, US actordirector (19322008); Hal Williams, US actor (1938); Barry Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer (1941); Cliff Williams, Australian musician (1949); Lindsay Perigo, New Zealand television and radio personality (1951); Alan Boath, New Zealand football international (1958);
Rebecca Gibney, New Zealandborn Australian actress (1964); Glenn Aitken, New Zealand singer/songwriter (1970); Sophie Monk, Australian actress, singer and model (1979); Lauren Boyle, New Zealand international swimmer (1987); Vanessa Hudgens, American singer and actress (1988).
Thought for today:
You can close your eyes to reality but not to memories. — Stanislaw J. Lec, Polish author (190966).