TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY is Monday, November 16, the 321st day of 2020. There are 45 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1840 — New Zealand separates from New South Wales to become a colony in its own right.
1848 — The first meeting of the
Legislative Council of New Zealand is held in Auckland.
1869 — Rangatira docks at the Rattray St jetty with 74 Maori prisoners convicted in Wellington of high treason and sentenced to death. Their sentences had been commuted to various terms of imprisonment at Dunedin Jail. One prisoner died within hours of his arrival; Hamiora Pere is hanged at the Terrace Gaol, Wellington. He is the only New Zealander to have been executed after being convicted of treason.
1901 — An estimated magnitude 67.5 earthquake centred near Cheviot, in North Canterbury, causes liquefaction, mainly in the Kaiapoi area. Striking at 7.45am, it causes widespread damage, especially to brick buildings, windows and chimneys. One child is killed by a falling building.
1914 — The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States officially opens.
1916 — The first ballot of 4140 men under the New Zealand Military Service Act is held.
1920 — Australian pilots Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness register the company Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd (Qantas).
11941 — Nazi Germany launches an assault, which fails, on Moscow in World War 2.
1945 — Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) is founded.
1948 — Operation Magic Carpet begins with the first aircraft from Yemen transporting Jews to Israel.
1952 — Field Marshal Papagos forms a ministry in Greece.
1959 — Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music premieres in New York, starring Mary Martin.
1965 — More than 1000 people gather at Knight Pt in pouring rain to see Prime
Minister Keith Holyoake officially open the new Haast Pass highway.
1968 — The Soviet Union announces it has launched the world’s largest spaceship to date, Proton 4.
1971 — Made in 1956, J 1274, the last steam locomotive to be built at Dunedin’s Hillside Workshops, is withdrawn from service. It is now on display at Toitu Otago Settlers Museum.
1973 — US President Richard Nixon signs the TransAlaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorising the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.
1988 — Voters in Pakistan cast ballots in their first open election in more than a decade, resulting in victory for populist candidate Benazir Bhutto.
1989 — South African president F.W. de Klerk announces the scrapping of the Separate Amenities Act, opening up the country’s beaches to all races.
1991 — Boris Yeltsin issues a series of decrees that effectively transfer control of his republic’s economy from the Soviet central government to the Russian Federation.
1992 — The Hoxne Hoard is discovered by metal detectorist Eric Lawes in Hoxne, Suffolk.
1999 — Lake Wakatipu waters spill into central Queenstown during atrocious weather. The area from Queenstown Gardens through to the lower end of Beach St across Earnslaw Park is covered by 10cm of water. Wanaka is also threatened by flooding and all roads out of the town are closed. The Haast Pass highway and some Central Otago roads are affected by slips and swollen creeks.
Today’s birthdays:
James Mackay, New Zealand explorer/ public servant/interpreter (18311912); Hugh Fraser Ayson, New Zealand lawyer/ judge/public administrator (18841948); Gwen Somerset, New Zealand educationalist/writer (18941988); Viola Macmillan Brown, New Zealand artist (18971981); Leonard John Cronin, New Zealand journalist/editor/publisher (190076); Harold Baigent, New Zealand actor (191696); Herb Green, New Zealand obstetrician/gynaecologist (19162001); Frank Newhook, New Zealand botanist (191899); Sir Ronald Davison, 10th chief justice of New Zealand (19202015); John Cyprian Phipps Williams, New Zealand cardiologist (1922); Joanna Pettet, British actress (1942); Chris Laidlaw, All Black (1943); Dame Mary Anne Salmond, New Zealand anthropologist/writer (1945); David Leisure, US actor (1950); Andy Dalton, All Black (1951); Helen Bowater, New Zealand composer (1952); Diana Krall, Canadian jazz singer (1964); Lisa Bonet, US actress (1967); James Coleman, New Zealand broadcaster/actor (1968); Craig Barrett, New Zealand racewalker (1971);Maggie Gyllenhaal, US actress (1977); Jeff Bell, New Zealand cartoonist (1978); Kimberly J. Brown, US actress (1984); Gemma Atkinson, British actress/model (1984).
Quote of the day:
‘‘Some people like going to the pub; I enjoy going to the gym’’. — British heavyweight professional boxer Frank Bruno, who was born on this day in 1961.