Today in History

1594 – Henry IV, having renounced Protestantism, is crowned king of France.

1706 – Death of English writer John Evelyn, right, who kept a diary throughout most of his life that is now considered an invaluable record of the period.

1788 – Convicted thief Thomas Barrett becomes the first person to be sentenced to death in NSW colony.

1861 – Warsaw Massacre, in which a crowd demonstrating against Russian rule is fired upon by Russian troops.

1900 – A meeting in London of the Trades Union Congress and the Independent Labour Party results in the eventual creation of the modern Labour Party.

1933 – The Reichstag, German parliament building, is burned, and Nazis blame Communists.

1940 – Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14 (radiocarbon dating) at the University of California Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley.

1951 – Troops are sent onto the Auckland and Wellington wharves to load and unload ships during a strike by waterfront workers.

1973 – Native Americans begin an occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in a siege that lasts until May.

1980 – First election giving black majority full voting powers in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).

2001 – Veteran New Zealand broadcaster Selwyn Toogood dies.

2010 – One of the largest earthquakes on record, in central Chile, kills more than 500 people.

Birthdays

John Steinbeck, US novelist (1902-68); Peter Whittle, NZ mathematician (1927-); Joanne Woodward, US actress (1930-); Elizabeth Taylor, UK-born actress (1932-2011); Ralph Nader, US consumer advocate (1934-); Timothy Spall, UK actor (1957-); Chelsea Clinton, former US president’s daughter (1980-).