TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY is Friday, April 9, the 99th day of 2021. There are 266 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1731 — British mariner Robert Jenkins’ ear is cut off by the Spanish guardacosta in the Caribbean. The incident is later a catalyst for war between Britain and Spain.
1850 — Nine Irish Sisters of Mercy arrived in Auckland on Oceanie with Bishop Pompallier and some priests. The sisters immediately took in orphans and took over St Patrick’s Girls’ School in Wyndham St. A convent was built in New St, Ponsonby, in 1862. Its kauri Gothic Revival chapel still stands, and remains the oldest of its kind in the country.
1865 — Confederate general Robert E. Lee and 26,765 troops surrender at Appomattox Court House to US Lieutenantgeneral Ulysses S. Grant, signalling the end of the Civil War.
1866 — The US Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1866 over the veto of president Andrew Johnson. It gave blacks the rights of citizenship and was the basis for the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
1939 — AfricanAmerican singer Marian Anderson performs a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC after being denied use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
1959 — Nasa announces the selection of its first seven US astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton.
1960 — South African prime minister Dr Hendrik Verwoerd is wounded in an assassination attempt.
1963 — British statesman Winston Churchill is made an honorary US citizen.
1968 — Cyclone Giselle hits the northern part of New Zealand. As it travels south over the country, it joins a storm travelling up the west coast of the South Island, becoming one of the most damaging storms in New Zealand history.
1970 — Paul McCartney seeks a High Court writ to wind up the Beatles’ business partnership, effectively ending the group’s career.
1972 — New Zealand opening batsmen Glenn Turner and Terry Jarvis compile the secondhighest opening partnership in test history, when they share 387 runs in the fourth test against the West Indies in Guyana. Turner scored 259 and Jarvis 182. Turner’s score remained a New Zealand test record until Martin Crowe’s 299 almost 20 years later.
1974 — A magnitude5 earthquake centred 10km south of the city at a depth of 20km strikes Dunedin, causing minor damage, mostly to the South Dunedin, St Clair and St Kilda areas.
1976 — Subscriber toll dialling (STD) is introduced in New Zealand. Upper Hutt is the first area to bypass the operator service when making toll calls.
1981 — More than 2000 people attend a graduation ceremony in the Dunedin Town Hall at which Prince Charles receives an honorary doctor of literature degree from the University of Otago chancellor, the Very Rev Dr J.S. Somerville; IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands wins a seat in the British Parliament in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone byelection in Northern Ireland.
2003 — Baghdad falls to US forces, ending the invasion of Iraq but resulting in widespread looting.
2012 — The Lion King becomes the highestgrossing Broadway show after overtaking The Phantom of the Opera.
2018 — Fleetwood Mac announces new members New Zealander Neil Finn and Mike Campbell after firing longstanding member Lindsey Buckingham.
2020 — Dunedin’s Baldwin St is reinstated as the world’s steepest street. A street in Harlech, Wales, was briefly awarded the title but Guinness World Records reversed its decision to strip Baldwin St of its claim to fame, admitting its measuring method had been wrong.
Today’s birthdays:
Jane Mander, New Zealand novelist and journalist (18771920); Fred Hollows, New Zealand ophthalmologist (192993); Bill Birch, New Zealand politician (1934); Bruce Robertson, All Black (1952); Dennis Quaid, US actor (1954); Cynthia Nixon, US actress (1966); JennyMay Coffin, New Zealand netballer/commentator (1974); Kristen Stewart, US actress, (1990); Elle Fanning, US actress (1998).
Quote of the day:
‘‘The strangest part about being famous is you don’t get to give first impressions anymore. Everyone already has an impression of you before you meet them.’’— Kristen Stewart, US actor. (1990)