TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY is Wednesday, July 1, the 183rd day of 2020. There are 183 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1543 — England and Scotland sign the Treaty of Greenwich, in which the Scots agreed to a marriage between 5yearold Prince Edward Tudor and 6monthold Mary, Queen of Scots, an event which would have united the kingdoms.
1845 — British forces under the command of Lieutenantcolonel Henry Despard storm the defences at Ohaeawai pa, only to be repulsed, suffering heavy losses. Maori fighting alongside the British describe Despard as a ‘‘very stupid person’’.
1863 — Dunedin High School (later Otago Boys’ High School) opens; in the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg begins.
1867 — The Dominion of Canada is formed, comprising the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec, with John A. Macdonald serving as the first prime minister.
1875 — The Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand is formed under James Mills. The company later became the country’s biggest employer, apart from the Government.
1880 — The railway between Te Awamutu and Auckland is officially opened. Construction of a line passing through the King Country will be delayed for five years while negotiations with Ngati Maniapoto take place.
1916 — The Battle of the Somme begins, with British troops attacking German lines in France and gaining just three square miles of ground. The 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 fatalities, is the highest toll sustained in one day by the British army.
1937 — The world’s first telephone emergency service comes into operation in Britain.
1941 — The Bulova Watch Company pays $US9 for the first ever network television commercial.
1944 — After 38 years of temperance, Invercargill welcomes the return of licensed hotel bars, as four premises, the Kelvin, the Clyde, the Appleby and the Brown Owl, open for business.
1971 — The first major step in New Zealand’s full conversion to metric measurement takes place with the introduction of the Celsius scale for measuring temperature.
1974 — Milan Brych is dismissed by the Auckland Hospital Board following an inquiry highly critical of his controversial cancer treatment.
1978 — New Zealand astronomer and cosmologist Beatrice Tinsley becomes the first woman to be appointed Professor of Astronomy at Yale University, in the US.
1981 — Passports are required again when travelling between New Zealand and Australia.
1988 — The Government agrees with the Waitangi Tribunal’s recommendation that Bastion Point, Auckland, be returned to Maori ownership.
1997 — The Dictionary of New Zealand English ,a comprehensive volume of the New Zealand lexicon, is published by Oxford University Press; Hong Kong awakens to its first day as part of China, and Prince Charles and former governor Chris Patten leave aboard the royal yacht Britannia.
1999 — Queen Elizabeth II opens Scotland’s first Parliament in nearly 300 years. An 18thcentury Scottish ballad by poet Robert Burns is sung instead of the traditional British anthem God Save The Queen.
2013 — The Otago Daily Times publishes a report stating that Dunedin is among the world’s worst cruiseship destinations. The region’s tour operators are immediately banned from the wharf area at Port Chalmers as a result.
2014 — International cricketer Lou Vincent becomes the first professional sportsman in New Zealand to be banned for life, after pleading guilty to matchfixing.
Today’s birthdays:
Eric Arthur, New Zealandborn writer/architect (18981982); Olivia de Havilland, American actress (1916); Leslie Caron, FrenchAmerican actress (1931); Jamie Farr, US actor (1934); David Prowse, English bodybuilder, weightlifter and character actor (1935); Deborah Harry, US singer/songwriter (1945); Sue Bradford, New Zealand politician (1952); Dan Aykroyd, Canadian actor (1952); Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales (19611997); Carl Lewis, former US Olympic and world trackandfield champion (1961); Pamela Anderson, US actress (1967); Missy Elliott, US singer/songwriter (1971); Kellie Bright, English actress (1976); Liv Tyler, US actress (1977); Katrina Devine, New Zealand actress (1980); James Pritchett, New Zealand footballer (1982); Hilarie Burton, US actress (1982).
Quote of the day:
‘‘I used to like doing karaoke until cellphone cameras came along.’’ — Fred Schneider (The B52’s), US singer/songwriter, who was born on this day in 1951.