TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY is Saturday, May 8, the 128th day of 2021. There are 237 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1794 — AntoineLaurent Lavoisier, the French chemist who identified oxygen, is guillotined in Paris by the Revolutionary Convention.
1835 — The first instalment of Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales is published by C.A. Reitzel in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1886 — Atlanta pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invents the flavour syrup for CocaCola.
1902 — Dubbed the worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century, Mt Pelee on the Caribbean island of Martinique erupts, destroying the city of St Pierre and killing an estimated 30,000 residents.
1915 — Two desperate charges across the ‘‘Daisy Patch’’ at Gallipoli by the New Zealand Brigade end in 835 casualties.
1916 — Forces from Australia and New Zealand arrive in France during World War 1.
1926 — Originally intended as a monthly journal for New Zealand Railways’ 18,000 staff and its major customers, the New Zealand Railways Magazine is published for the first time. By the mid1930s its circulation had reached 26,000. While surviving the Depression, it ceased publication suddenly in June 1940 — a victim of wartime economies.
1928 — The Otago Daily Times opens its new offices in Lower High St.
1940 — The Taieri area is seriously affected when widespread flooding occurs throughout Otago.
1945 — British prime minister Winston Churchill broadcasts to the nation as part of VE (Victory in Europe) Day celebrations.
1951 — New Zealand’s first Writers Conference begins in Christchurch. In attendance is James K. Baxter, who presents a paper on poetry, and Denis Glover, who claims there is no such thing as a New Zealand school of writers.
1955 — Dunedin’s last tram service to the Gardens is marred by violence. The ‘‘last trippers’’ vied with each other to smash windows, rip down bell cords, slash canvas shutters and remove notices and light fittings; Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd in Princes St is gutted by fire, and mass looting of firedamaged stock follows.
1958 — US vicepresident Richard Nixon is shoved, stoned, booed and spat upon by antiAmerican protesters in Lima, Peru.
1979 — Popular New Zealand gameshow host Selwyn Toogood makes his final appearance as host of It’s In The Bag when it is filmed at the Dunedin Town Hall in front of an audience of more than 2800 people.
1984 — The Soviet Union announces it will not compete at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. This follows the US boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
1996 — South Africa’s Constitutional Assembly adopts the country’s permanent postapartheid constitution.
2007 — Protestant leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Fein deputy leader Martin McGuinness are elected to the top posts of the new powersharing government for Northern Ireland.
2008 — A Chinese mountaineering team takes the Olympic flame to the top of Mt Everest, on its journey to the
Beijing games.
Today’s birthdays:
Henri Dunant, Swiss founder of International Red Cross (18281910); Milford (Curly) Page, New Zealand double representative in cricket and rugby (190287); David Attenborough, British naturalist/ broadcaster (1926); Gordon Ogilvie, New Zealand historian (19342017); John Carter, New Zealand politician (1950); Melissa Gilbert, US actress (1964); John Timu, All Black (1969); Enrique Iglesias, Spanishborn pop star (1975).
Quote of the day:
‘‘You come to the planet with nothing and you leave with nothing, so you’d better do some good while you are here.’’ — Alex Van Halen, DutchAmerican musician, who was born on this day in 1953.
ODT and agencies