TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY is Monday, September 5, the 249th day of 2022. There are 117 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:

1590 — The Duke of Parma, advancing from the Netherlands, forces France’s King Henry IV to lift his siege of Paris in the Catholic League War.

1698 — Peter the Great executes the Streltzy rebels in Russia and imposes a tax on beards.

1793 — The revolutionary government in France starts the 10month Reign of Terror, during which 17,000 people are executed.

1800 — Malta is surrendered to the British under Admiral Nelson after a blockade of French troops occupying the island.

1932 — A large crowd of youngsters becomes unmanageable and several boys were pushed through a plateglass window when the Dunedin business

Barton’s Butchery in Manse St began distributing free kites.

1939 — Ailing New Zealand prime minister Michael Joseph Savage addresses the country in a radio broadcast from his bed, famously saying of Britain: ‘‘Where she goes, we go; where she stands, we stand’’.

1957 — Viscount Cobham assumes office as GovernorGeneral, quickly becoming a popular figure throughout New Zealand.

1969 — Negotiations are completed between the New Zealand Government and Comalco Industries, of Australia, for the construction of a planned $100 million aluminium smelter at Bluff.

1974 — The burial service for New Zealand prime minister Norman Kirk is held at Waimate.

1975 — Lynette ‘‘Squeaky’’ Fromme, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson, attempts to assassinate US president Gerald Ford.

1980 — The 16km Gotthard road tunnel in Switzerland, the longest in the world, opens.

1990 — An Angel at My Table screens at the Venice Film Festival. Based on the autobiographies of Janet Frame, the film had cinematic releases in 35 countries and won multiple awards, including a Grand Special Jury prize in Venice. The film launched the career of New Zealand actress Kerry Fox and encouraged a wider readership of Frame’s work. Three years later, the film’s New Zealand director, Jane Campion, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for her next film, The Piano, making her the first woman to receive this award.

1991 — After seven decades of certainty, the Soviet Union destroys its old power structures and virtually abolishes the constitution. An interim government ushers in a new confederation of sovereign states.

1998 — North Korea’s Parliament elects Kim Jongil to the presidency, completing the communist world’s first hereditary succession.

2012 — A shallow 5.2magnitude earthquake strikes the western area of the lower South Island, forcing road closures on SH6 between Hawea and Haast because of slips.

2018 — During an exchange with National Party MP Melissa Lee, Dunedin South MP Clare Curran struggles to answer questions put to her in her role as Communications Minister, floundering during an answer riddled with ums, ahs and a ‘‘you know’’.

Today’s birthdays:

Emily Hill, New Zealand teacher/ temperance worker/suffragist (18471930); Wilhelmina Sherriff Bain, New Zealand librarian/peace activist/ writer (18481944); Sir Worley Edwards, New Zealand lawyer/judge (18501927); John Rangihau, New Zealand academic and Maori leader (191987); Thomas (Nick) Carter, New Zealand road cycling representative (19242003); Bob Newhart, US comedian/actor (1929); William (Bill) Bell, New Zealand cricketer (19312002); George Lazenby, Australian actor (1939); Raquel Welch, US actress (1940); Alma De Groen, New ZealandAustralian playwright (1941); Anthony Whitaker, New Zealand herpetologist (19442014); Michael Keaton, US actor (1951); Murray Mexted, All Black (1953); Genesis Potini, New Zealand speed chess player (19632011); Rebecca Taylor, New Zealand fashion designer (1969); Rose McGowan, US actress (1973); Paddy Considine, English actor (1973); Carice van Houten, Dutch actress/singer (1976); Emily Gillam, New Zealand field hockey player (1977); Chris Jack, All Black (1978); Chris Hipkins, New Zealand politician (1978); Annabelle Wallis, English actress (1984); Mitch Cunningham, New Zealand racingcar driver (1986); Pierre Casiraghi, son of Princess Caroline of Monaco (1987); Kat Graham, Swissborn American actress (1989); Skandar Keynes, English actor (1991); Sione Molia, New Zealand rugby sevens player (1993).