Today in History

1642 – Death of Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, under house arrest, aged 77.

1679 – French explorer Robert de la Salle reaches Niagara Falls.

1790 – US President George Washington delivers the first state of the union address.

1863 – Geologist Julius von Haast begins an expedition in search of an overland route from the east to the west coast of the South Island. The route he takes is now known as Haast Pass.

1916 – Allied forces begin a full retreat from the shores of the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey.

1918 – Mississippi is the first state to ratify the 18th amendment to the US constitution, banning the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol. The amendment goes into effect the following year.

1959 – Fidel Castro enters Havana, Cuba, having deposed the American-backed regime of General Fulgencio Batista.

1996 – A cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in Kinshasa, Zaire, killing 255 people by the official count. Many more are believed to have died on the ground.

2011 – Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is critically injured in a shooting spree that leaves six people dead during a constituents’ meeting in Tucson.

2020 – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, left, announce they are stepping back from royal duties and ‘‘will work to become financially independent’’.

Birthdays

John Curtin, Australian politician (1885-1945); Georgy Malenkov, Soviet politician (1902-88); Elvis Presley, US singer (1935-77); Shirley Bassey, UK singer (1937-); Graham Chapman, UK actor/writer (1941-89); Stephen Hawking, UK physicist (1942-2018); David Bowie, UK musician (1947-2016); Garry Moore, NZ politician (1951-); Paul McDonald, NZ canoeist (1960-); Kim Jong Un, North Korean leader (1983-); Aaron Cruden, All Black (1989-); Sophie Pascoe, NZ swimmer (1993-).