Today in History
1621 – King James I of England grants a royal charter for colonisation of Nova Scotia.
1745 – The Jacobite army of just over 3000 under Bonnie Prince Charlie, above, defeats the Crown forces at the Battle of Prestonpans in Scotland.
1792 – France’s Legislative Assembly votes to abolish the monarchy and establish the First Republic.
1834 – Nga¯ti Ruanui chief Oaoiti is bayoneted and captured as a Pa¯keha¯ rescue mission begins for captives in Taranaki. In 1835, a committee of Britain’s House of Commons condemns the level of force used.
1915 – English lawyer Cecil Chubb becomes the last private owner of Stonehenge, buying it at auction for £6600. He gifts it to the nation three years later.
1936 – The Spanish fascist junta names Francisco Franco as generalissimo and supreme commander.
1937 – J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is published by George Allen and Unwin in London.
1938 – A hurricane hits Long Island and southern New England in the United States, causing more than 600 deaths.
1939 – Premier Armand Calinescu of Romania is assassinated by the Iron Guard fascist movement, with German assistance.
1944 – The last British paratroopers at Arnhem surrender.
1949 – Chinese Communist leaders proclaim the People’s Republic of China.
1956 – Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza Garcia is shot by a poet. He dies eight days later. 1964 – Malta becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1966 – US musician Jimmy Hendrix, above, changes the spelling of his name to Jimi. 1973 – Jackson Pollock’s painting Blue Poles sells for US$2,000,000.
1985 – A little-known actor named George Clooney makes his first appearance as a handyman on the television sitcom The Facts of Life.
1999 – An earthquake in Taiwan kills thousands of people, and leaves an estimated 100,000 homeless.
2002 – Nils Bohlin, Swedish inventor of the three-point seatbelt, dies aged 82. 2004 – Construction of the Burj Dubai
begins.
2016 – Three genetic studies published in Nature conclude that all non-Africans descended from one migration out of Africa 50-80,000 years ago.
Birthdays
HG Wells, UK author (1866-1946); Charles Upham, NZ soldier (1908-94); Larry Hagman, US actor (1931-2012); Leonard Cohen, Canadian singer-songwriter (1934-2016); Stephen King, US author (1947-); Bill Murray, US actor (1950-); Shinzo Abe, Japanese prime minister (1954-); Ethan Coen, US film-maker (1957-); Kevin Rudd, Australian prime minister (1957-); Kelly Evernden, NZ tennis player (1961-); Curtly Ambrose, West Indies cricketer (1963-); Belinda Cordwell, NZ tennis player (1965-); Liam Gallagher, UK singer (1972-); Doug Howlett, NZ rugby player (1978-); Chris Gayle, West Indies cricketer (1979-).