Today in History

1607 – About 100 colonists form the first permanent English settlement in North America, at Jamestown, Virginia.

1787 – Eleven ships, later known as the First Fleet, set sail from Portsmouth, England, carrying criminals to Botany Bay, Australia.

1846 – US Congress declares war on Mexico in a dispute over Texas.

1917 – Three children near Fatima, Portugal, report seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary at what has since become a sacred site.

1936 – The New Zealand National Party is formed.

1940 – In his first speech as British prime minister, Winston Churchill tells the House of Commons: ‘‘I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.’’

1947 – New Zealand artist Frances Hodgkins dies in Britain aged 78.

1968 – More than a million people march through Paris as part of a wave of ‘‘May 68’’ protests.

1981 – Pope John Paul II is shot and seriously wounded in Rome by a Turkish gunman.

1989 – Students begin a hunger strike in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.

1991 – A South African judge convicts Winnie Mandela of kidnapping four young men and being an accessory in their beating.

1995 – New Zealand wins the America’s Cup for the first time, left, in San Diego.

2006 – Six people drown when the fishing boat Kotuku capsizes in Foveaux Strait while returning from a muttonbirding trip. 2020 – Every African country is affected by Covid-19, as Lesotho records its first case.

Birthdays

Daphne du Maurier, UK writer (1907-89); Joe Louis, US boxer (1914-81); Bea Arthur, actress (1922-2009); Harvey Keitel, US actor (1939-); Stevie Wonder, US musician (1950-); Jacqui Dean, NZ politician (1957-); Scott Morrison, Australian politician (1968-); Lena Dunham, US actor/director (1986-); Robert Pattinson, UK actor (1986-).