Today in History

1066 – Death of Edward the Confessor, king of England.

1886 – The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, is first published.

1896 – German newspaper Die Presse announces Wilhelm Roentgen’s discovery of X-rays.

1916 – The first military conscription bill in British history is introduced to Parliament.

1919 – The German Workers’ Party, forerunner of the Nazi Party, is formed in Munich.

1933 – Construction begins on the

Golden Gate Bridge, left, at the mouth of San Francisco Bay.

1968 – Alexander Dubcek becomes leader of the Czech Communist Party, initiating the ‘‘Prague Spring’’.

1971 – Australia beat England in cricket’s first one-day international, in Melbourne.

1972 – US President Richard Nixon signs a bill authorising US$5.5 million to develop a space shuttle.

1976 – Cambodian Communist leader Pol Pot announces a new constitution, changing the country’s name to Kampuchea.

1977 – The occupation of Takaparawha¯ (Bastion Point reserve) in Auckland begins. Nga¯ti Wha¯tua maintained the land had been unjustly taken, and were angered by plans to subdivide it for a private housing development.

2016 – Pranav Dhanawade, 15, of Mumbai, becomes the first to score more than 1000 runs in one innings in an officially recognised cricket match. He hit 1009 not out.

Birthdays

Shah Jahan, Indian emperor (1592-1666); Gottfried Lindauer, Czech-born NZ artist (1839-1926); Jack Lovelock, NZ athlete (1910-49); Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani politician (1928-1979); Walter Mondale, US politician (1928-); Robert Duvall, US actor (1931-); Umberto Eco, Italian author (1932-2016); King Juan Carlos I of Spain (1938-); Diane Keaton, US actor (1946-); David Clark, NZ politician (1973-); Bradley Cooper, US actor (1975-).