Today in History

1877 – George Grey, twice a governor of New Zealand, becomes the country’s premier.

1917 – Mata Hari, right, a Dutch dancer who spied for the Germans, is executed by a firing squad outside Paris.

1942 – Seventeen New Zealand coastwatchers and five civilians captured in the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati) are beheaded by the Japanese in World War II. 1945 – Pierre Laval, the puppet leader of Nazi-occupied Vichy France, is executed for treason against France.

1951 – The situation comedy I Love Lucy, with Lucille Ball, premieres. 1990 – Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending Cold War tensions.

1992 – Russian Andrei Chikatilo is sentenced to death after committing at least 52 sadistic murders. 2007 – Police arrest 18 people in ‘‘anti-terror’’ raids in Bay of Plenty. Police claimed activist Tame Iti was involved in running military-style training camps in the Urewera Ranges. Four offenders, including Iti, were found guilty of firearms offences. In 2013, the Independent Police Conduct Authority found police had ‘‘unnecessarily frightened and intimidated’’ people during the raids.

Birthdays

Evangelista Torricelli, Italian inventor of the barometer (1608-1647); Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher (1844-1900); Lee Iacocca, US businessman (1924-); Michel Foucault, French philosopher (1926-1984); Abdul Kalam, scientist and 11th Indian president (1931-2015); Penny Marshall, US actress and director (1943-); Richard Carpenter, US musician (1946-); Sarah Ferguson, British royal (1959-); Didier Deschamps, French footballer and coach (1968-); Susy Pryde, New Zealand cyclist (1973-); Wendy Frew, NZ netball player (1984-); Mesut Ozil, German footballer (1988-).