Today in History

14AD – Augustus, first Roman emperor and adopted son of Julius Caesar, dies at age 75.

1561 – 18-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots returns to Scotland to take the throne, having lived in France since she was 5.

1692 – Five people are hanged for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. A total of 20 were executed.

1853 – Edward Gibbon Wakefield, originator of the New Zealand Company, is elected to Parliament as the member for Hutt, six months after arriving in the colony.

1909 – The first race is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, now the home of the world-renowned Indianapolis 500.

1934 – Adolf Hitler, already chancellor, is elected president of Germany.

1942 – A raid by British and Canadian troops on Dieppe, France, is repulsed, with heavy casualties.

1944 – Kiwi pilot James Stellin, left, avoids crashing his stricken Hawker Typhoon into French village SaintMaclou-la-briere, at the cost of his own life. The villagers have honoured his memory since.

1953 – The nationalist government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq collapses in a Us-backed military coup.

1960 – Captured US U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is jailed for 10 years in the Soviet Union for spying.

2012 – New Zealand soldiers Corporal Luke Tamatea, Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker and Private Richard Harris are killed by an improvised explosive device in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.

Birthdays

Orville Wright, US aviator (1871-1948); Gabrielle ‘‘Coco’’ Chanel, French designer (1883-1971); Frank Mccourt, Irish/us writer (1930-2009); Ginger Baker, UK drummer (1939-2019); Sid Going, All Black (1943-); Dinah Lee, NZ singer (1943-); Bill Clinton, US president (1946-); Paul Callaghan, NZ physicist (1947-2012); Matthew Perry, US actor (1969-).