TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY is Wednesday, July 8, the 190th day of 2020. There are 176 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1497 — Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama departs on his first voyage, becoming the first European to reach India by sea.
1709 — Russian forces under Peter the Great defeat Swedish forces under Charles XII at Poltava, Ukraine.
1776 — Colonel John Nixon gives the first public reading of the United States Declaration of Independence to a crowd in Philadelphia.
1800 — Dr Benjamin Waterhouse gives the first cowpox vaccination in the United States to his son to prevent smallpox.
1843 — A 7.5magnitude earthquake strikes the Whanganui area, causing a large portion of Shakespeare Cliff to fall into the river.
1844 — On the instruction of Nga Puhi chief Hone Heke, Te Haratua cuts down and burns the flagstaff at Russell, as a protest against what Heke considers the loss of the sovereignty promised by the Treaty of Waitangi.
1852 — A fire begins in Montreal that will destroy almost half of the city’s housing and leave as many as 10,000 people homeless (at the time the city’s population was only 57,000).
1862 — The first recorded professional boxing match in New Zealand is staged in an improvised ring on the banks of the Waimakariri River near Kaiapoi after police were ejected from the scene. London prizefighter Harry Jones defeated ‘‘Navvie’’ George Barton over 30 bloody bareknuckle rounds for a purse of £100; Over 19 years after first being granted a patent for his revolving battery gun tower, Theodore R. Timby is granted a new patent incorporating the improvements made during those 19 years, four months after his turret was used to good effect in a decisive American Civil War naval battle between the USS
Monitor and the CSS Virginia. Timby is also credited with inventing (as a 16yearold) the floating drydock.
1889 — John L. Sullivan takes 75 rounds to defeat Jake Kilrain in the last bareknuckle world title heavyweight boxing match (a sporting event deemed illegal in all 38 states), in the US state of Mississippi; US newspaper The
Wall Street Journal begins publication. 1893 — The formation of the New Zealand Jockey Club is approved by the New Zealand Racing Conference.
1907 — Florenz Ziegfeld stages his first Follies at the roof theatre Jardin de Paris, New York.
1908 — Two weeks of continuous rain begin to take their toll around the Dunedin area, as widespread flooding and slips isolate the city. Inland Otago is not spared, as a massive snowfall causes considerable disruption.
1911 — Nan J. Aspinwall enters New York City after becoming the first woman to cross the US on horseback, taking 301 days to cover the 7500km journey from San Francisco.
1912 — Anthony Wilding makes it three straight Wimbledon singles crowns when he defeats Arthur Gore 64, 64, 46, 64.
1913 — Alfred Carlton Gilbert’s patent for the Erector Set is issued. It becomes one of the most popular toys of all time.
1930 — Just six weeks after resigning from a second term as prime minister due to poor health, Sir Joseph Ward dies, aged 74.
1970 — The legendary status of All Black Colin Meads is taken to another level when early in a tour match against South African provincial side Eastern Transvaal he breaks his arm. Determined not to let his team down, he has it strapped and plays the remaining 74min. 1976 — Former US president
Richard Nixon is disbarred by a New York court for his obstruction of justice during the Watergate scandal.
2008 — Dunedin’s Chinese Garden opens.
2010 — Feilding farmer Scott Guy is shot in his driveway, sparking a murder inquiry and the murder trial of his brotherinlaw, Ewen Macdonald, which will disrupt the lives of the families and divide the tightknit rural community.
2011 — Minister of Education Anne Tolley announces the merger and closure of four Dunedin primary schools. Forbury School is to merge with Macandrew Intermediate, while College Street and Calton Hill will merge with Caversham; the space shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the US Space Shuttle programme.
Today’s birthdays:
John A. Millar, New Zealand politician (18551915); Bill Cunningham, All Black (18741927); Walter McKinnon, New Zealand army officer/chairman of New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (19101998);
John Money, New Zealandborn psychologist/author (19212006); Margaret di Menna, New Zealand microbiologist and first woman to gain a Doctor of Philosophy from a New Zealand university (19232014); Elwyn Richardson, New Zealand educator (19252012); Waka Nathan, All Black (1940); Anjelica Huston, US actress (1951); Kevin Bacon, US actor (1958); Pauline Quirke, British actress (1959); Steve Gurney, New Zealand multisport athlete (1963); Rhys Dacre, New Zealand Winter Olympic bobsledder (1965); Shane Howarth, All Black (1968); Llorne Howell, New Zealand cricketer (1972); Jesse Sergent, New Zealand professional racing cyclist (1988).
Quote of the day:
‘‘What value does cryptocurrency actually add? Noone's been able to answer that question for me.’’ — Steve Eisman, US businessmaninvestor, who was born on this day in 1962.
ODT and agencies