Today in History

1805 – The British fleet under Lord Nelson defeats Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar, off Spain. Nelson is fatally wounded.

1854 – Florence Nightingale is sent to the Crimean War, with a staff of 38 nurses.

1944 – US troops capture Aachen, the first large German city to fall to the Allies.

1950 – Chinese forces begin occupation of Tibet.

1964 – Peter Snell, left, of New Zealand, wins the 1500m at the Tokyo Olympics, to go with his earlier gold in the 800m.

1988 – A federal grand jury in New York indicts former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, on charges of fraud and racketeering.

1993 – Burundi President Melchior Ndadaye is assassinated in a failed coup that ultimately sparked a decade-long civil war, in which up to 100,000 civilians may have been killed.

1995 – Presidents and premiers from around the world gather in New York City for the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.

2005 – The body of a defence lawyer in Saddam Hussein’s mass murder trial is found dumped in the street with two bullet wounds in the head.

2008 – 96 medals, including nine Victoria Crosses, two George Crosses and an Albert Medal, stolen from the Waio¯uru army museum in 2007, are returned.

2014 – Gough Whitlam, Australian prime minister 1972-75, dies at 98.

Birthdays

Samuel Coleridge, UK poet (1772-1834); Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor (1833-96); Hone Tuwhare, NZ poet (1922-2008); Manfred Mann, South African/UK musician (1940-); Sir Geoffrey Boycott, UK cricketer (1940-); Judith Sheindlin (Judge Judy), US lawyer (1942-); Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli PM (1949-); David Campese, Australian rugby player (1962-); Kim Kardashian, US reality TV star, (1980-).