Today in history
Today is Friday, April 3, the 94th day of 2020. There are 272 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1559 — A peace treaty between France and Spain is signed at Cateau-Cambresis, France, leaving Spain the dominant power in Italy for the next 150 years.
1612 — The Protestant Union of Germany signs a defensive alliance with England.
1721 — Sir Robert Walpole is appointed first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer, effectively Britain’s first prime minister.
1860 — The Pony Express begins a mail service between St Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California.
1867 — The steamer South Australian runs aground and is wrecked near Coal Point, South Otago, with, it is believed, no lives lost.
1882 — After more than 15 years of robbing banks and trains, United States outlaw Jesse James is shot in the back at St Joseph, Missouri, by Robert Ford.
1908 — The University of Otago Dental School is officially opened; the foundation stone for the training college for teachers is laid by Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward.
1913 — English suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst is found guilty of encouraging supporters to arson and sentenced to three years in prison.
1922 — Joseph Stalin is appointed general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.
1930 — Ras Tafari becomes Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia (Ethiopia). 1933 —The first flights over Mt Everest in the Himalayas are made by four Britons in two biplanes.
1936 — Bruno Hauptmann is electrocuted for the kidnapmurder of US aviator Charles Lindbergh’s infant son.
1943 — Hundreds of US and New Zealand servicemen clash in the ‘‘Battle of Manners Street’’ in Wellington. Fighting between the two service groups began when US troops attempted to stop Maori entering a public bar.
1948 — The US creates the Marshall Plan, allocating $US5.33 billion in aid to 16 European nations for rebuilding after WW2.
1973 — The New Zealand Government agrees in principle to a joint venture with Shell, BP and Todd Services to develop the Maui gas field; the first mobile phone call is made in downtown Manhattan, New York, by Motorola employee Martin Cooper to the Bell Labs headquarters in New Jersey.
1975 — Russian Anatoly Karpov (23) becomes world chess champion when American Bobby Fischer fails to show up for their match in Manila.
1982 — Britain dispatches a naval task force to the South Atlantic to reclaim the disputed Falkland Islands from Argentina.
1989 — On the first night of a new currentaffairs show, New Zealand broadcaster Paul Holmes asks America’s Cup skipper Dennis Conner to apologise to the country for a derogatory remark concerning yacht designer Bruce Farr. Conner then storms out of the studio.
1996 — A US Air Force military plane carrying US commerce secretary Ron Brown and 34 others crashes in stormy weather on a hillside outside Dubrovnik, Croatia, killing all aboard.
1998 — The Dow Jones industrial average of the New York Stock Exchange reaches 9000 for the first time, five months after the Dow’s biggest oneday drop had many thinking the market was going into a recession.
2000 — A federal judge in Washington rules that
Microsoft Corp has violated US antitrust laws by keeping ‘‘an oppressive thumb’’ on competitors during the race to link Americans to the internet. 2007 — A French V150, a specially configured TGV highspeed train with a 25,000hp engine and special wheels, breaks the world speed record for conventional rail trains, reaching 574.8kmh in the French countryside.
Today’s birthdays
Jane Goodall, English primatologist (1934); Marsha Mason, US actress (1942); Wayne Newton, US singer (1942); Tony Orlando, US singer (1944); David Carter, New Zealand politician (1952); Alec Baldwin, US actor (1958); Eddie Murphy, US actor (1961); Mellody Hobson, US businesswoman (1969); Jennie Garth, US actress (1972); LeighAllyn Baker, US actress (1972); Tommy Haas, German tennis player (1978); Ben Falconer, New Zealand crosscountry skier (1980); Sofia Boutella, AlgerianFrench model/actress (1982); Byron Wells, New Zealand Olympic skiing representative (1992); Sarah Jeffert, Canadian singer/actress (1996).
Quote of the day:
‘‘There are two completely different Britains. There’s London, and there’s the rest of Britain. Attitudes are very different.’’ — Nigel Farage, British politician, who was born on this day in 1964.