Today in history
Today is Wednesday, September 25, the 268th day of 2019. There are 97 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1066 — Harold II, king of England, defeats the Norwegians under King Harald the Ruthless at the battle of Stamford Bridge, near York, but falls against the Normans three weeks later.
1396 — Forces under Ottoman Sultan Bajezid I rout an allied crusader army of Hungarian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, French, English, Burgundian and German troops (assisted by the Venetian navy) at the Battle of Nicopolis, leading to the end of the Second Bulgarian Empire.
1513 — Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa becomes the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean after crossing the Isthmus of Panama.
1555 — The Peace of Augsburg is declared by the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, granting the first permanent legal basis for the existence of Lutheranism as well as Catholicism in Germany.
1819 — The first grapevines to be grown in New
Zealand are planted at Kerikeri.
1844 — The New Zealand Gazette, the first newspaper published in New Zealand, ceases publication.
1852 — Prominent Dunedin businessman and founder of Dunedin suburbs Forbury and Caversham William Valpy dies, aged 59. Valpy St, in St Clair, was named after him.
1883 — Harry Albert Atkinson takes office as New Zealand premier for a second term, which lasts until August 1884. 1918 — The Anzac Mounted Division captures
Amman in Palestine.
1940 — The Nazi collaborationist Quisling Government is established in Norway during World War 2.
1946 — The air force stores at Rongotai are destroyed by fire, with heavy losses of equipment and wool stored in the Centennial Exhibition buildings.
1951 — The Maori Women’s Welfare League is established in Wellington. Led by Whina Cooper, the league will tackle a number of health and social issues among Maori.
1956 — The first transatlantic telephone cable is put into service, from Oban, Scotland, to Clarenville, Newfoundland.
1957 — United States National Guardsmen escort nine black children into Little Rock Central High School, Arkansas, as whites protest outside.
1962 — Sonny Liston wins the world heavyweight boxing title after knocking out fellow American Floyd Patterson in the first round in Chicago.
1970 — Jordan’s King Hussein and Palestinian guerrilla leaders agree on a ceasefire to end the weeklong Black September civil war in Jordan, which leaves thousands dead.
1972 — Japan’s Premier Kakuei Tanaka arrives in Beijing, becoming the first Japanese premier to set foot in China since World War 2.
1976 — Constable Peter Murphy is fatally shot while attending a breakin at an Invercargill sports shop; Prime Minister Ian Smith accepts a proposal for eventual black rule in Rhodesia in a broadcast to the nation.
1977 — South African black civilrights leader Steve Biko is buried in King William’s Town after dying in police custody.
1981 — Sandra Day O’Connor is sworn in as the
first female justice of the US Supreme Court.
1983 — Thirtyeight prisoners, most of them Irish Republican Army members, escape from the highsecurity Maze prison in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1996 — Ireland’s last Magdalene laundry closes. Begun as asylums to rehabilitate ‘‘fallen women’’, they increasingly took on prisonlike qualities.
1997 — The British Thrust supersonic car sets a
land speed record in Nevada of 1149.1kmh. 2002 — Recent publicity surrounding leaky homes prompts a flurry of calls to the Dunedin City Council. It is estimated more than 4600 Otago homes may be affected.
Today’s birthdays:
Herbert Dudley Purves, New Zealand scientist (19081993); Barbara Walters, US journalist/commentator (1929);
Peter Petherick, New Zealand cricketer (1942); Michael Douglas, US actor/producer (1944); Felicity Kendall, British actress (1946); Anson Williams, US actor/director (1949); Heather Locklear, US actress (1961); Catherine ZetaJones, Welshborn actress (1969); Gerard Davis, New Zealand football international (1977).
Quote of the day:
‘‘New Zealanders who leave for Australia raise the IQ of both countries’’. — Sir Robert Muldoon, 31st New Zealand prime minister, who was born on this day in 1921; he died in 1992, aged 70.
ODT and agencies