Today in History

1496 – England’s King Henry VII commissions John and Sebastian Cabot to discover new lands.

1558 – Smoking tobacco is introduced into Europe by Spanish physician Francisco Fernandes.

1836 – Samuel Colt manufactures the first pistol, a 34-calibre "Texas" model. 1908 – First ascent of Mt Erebus, Antarctica, by five members of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expedition.

1946 – Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivers his famous ‘‘Iron Curtain’’ speech at Fulton, Missouri.

1949 – Don Bradman, left, plays his last innings in first-class cricket, scoring 30 for South Australia against Victoria.

1953 – Soviet dictator Josef Stalin dies. Some 2000 people are crushed to death in the crowd during the funeral.

1970 – Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty goes into effect after 43 nations confirm ratification.

1983 – Bob Hawke leads Labor to victory in the Australian general election, defeating the Liberals, led by Malcolm Fraser.

1997 – Representatives of North Korea and South Korea meet for the first time in 25 years, for peace talks in New York.

2001 – A stampede at the annual hajj pilgrimage in Medina, Saudi Arabia, kills 35 people.

2005 – A team of US and Ethiopian scientists discovers the fossilised remains of what they believe is humankind’s first walking ancestor,

who lived nearly 4 million years ago.

2015 – Actor Harrison Ford crashlands his 1942 Ryan Aeronautical plane in California.

Birthdays

King Henry II of England (1133-89); Gerardus Mercator, Flemish geographer (1512-94); Rosa Luxemburg, German revolutionary (1871-1919); Sir Rex Harrison, UK actor (1908-90); Eva Mendes, US actress (1975-); Daniel Carter, All Black (1982-).