Today in History

1888 – American inventor William Burroughs patents a ‘‘calculating machine’’, an early calculator.

1911 – Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, right, is stolen from the Louvre in Paris. Italian Vincenzo Perugia hid in a cupboard, removed the painting, and escaped while the museum was closed for cleaning. He was arrested more than two years later.

1915 – New Zealanders attack Hill 60 during the ill-conceived Gallipoli campaign.

1940 – Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky dies after being attacked by an assassin the previous day.

1958 – Auckland becomes the first city in New Zealand to introduce the ‘‘Barnes Dance’’ street-crossing system, with traffic lights allowing pedestrians to cross in all directions at the same time.

1959 – Hawaii becomes the 50th state of the United States.

1983 – Philippines opposition leader Benigno Aquino is assassinated as he steps from a plane in Manila after three years of self-imposed exile in the US.

1987 – Dirty Dancing, starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, premieres.

1991 – Just three days after it began, a coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev collapses amid public opposition led by Boris Yeltsin. Gorbachev later resigned.

2013 – The Government Communications Security Bureau is given explicit powers by Parliament to spy on New Zealanders.

Birthdays

Princess Margaret, British royal (1930-2002); Wilt Chamberlain, US basketball player (1936-1999); Kenny Rogers, US singer (1938-); Kim Cattrall, English-Canadian actress (1956-); Nanaia Mahuta, New Zealand politician (1970-); Sergey Brin, Russian-US co-founder of Google (1973-); Scott Robertson, NZ rugby player and coach (1974-); Simon Katich, Australian cricketer (1975-); Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter (1986-); Hayden Panettiere, US actress (1989-).