Today in History

193 – Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman emperor.

641 – Arab leader Amr Ibn al-As conquers Egypt.

837 – Halley’s Comet makes its closest known passage to Earth, at 5 million kilometres.

1483 – Edward V succeeds his father, Edward IV, as king of England. He is never crowned, and is presumed murdered in the Tower of London.

1731 – Spanish forces in the Caribbean cut off the ear of British sailor Robert

Jenkins, prompting the eventual War of Jenkins’ Ear with Spain.

1850 – Sisters of Mercy arrive in New Zealand.

1865 – Confederate general Robert E Lee surrenders his army, effectively ending American Civil War.

1932 – Unemployed workers in Dunedin break into shops and try to storm the Hospital Board offices during the ‘‘angry autumn’’ in the depths of the Depression.

1940 – Germany invades Denmark and neutral Norway.

1959 – Renowned US architect Frank Lloyd Wright dies, aged 91.

1960 – South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd survives an assassination attempt, despite being twice shot in the face.

1972 – Glenn Turner and Terry Jarvis put on an opening stand of 387 for New Zealand against the West Indies in Guyana. It remains the fourthhighest in test cricket.

2002 – More than 1m people line the streets of London for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

2003 – Baghdad falls to US forces, just three weeks after they invaded.

2005 – Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, right, wed.

Birthdays

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, UK engineer (1806-59); Charles Baudelaire, French poet (1821-67); Paul Robeson, US singer (1898-1976); Joern Utzon, Danish architect (1918-2008); Hugh Hefner, Playboy creator (1926-2017); Tom Lehrer, US songwriter and mathematician (1928-); Fred Hollows, NZ ophthalmologist (1929-93); Sir Bill Birch, NZ politician (1934-); Bruce Robertson, All Black (1952-); Paula Bennett, NZ politician (1965-); Jenny-May Clarkson, NZ netballer, TV presenter (1974-); Kristen Stewart, US actor (1990-).