Today in History

42BC – Marcus Junius Brutus, right, a leading conspirator in the assassination of Julius Caesar, dies by suicide after his defeat at the second battle of Philippi.

1915 – The transport ship Marquette is sunk off Greece by a German torpedo. Among the 167 dead were 32 New Zealanders, including 10 from the NZ Army Nursing Service.

1942 – British Eighth Army attacks

Axis forces to begin Battle of El Alamein in Egypt.

1948 – A National Airways Corporation Lockheed Electra crashes on Mt Ruapehu, killing all 11 passengers and two pilots.

1954 – Britain, France, United States and Soviet Union agree to end occupation of Germany.

1962 – Soviet Union warns that a US blockade of arms shipments to Cuba may risk a nuclear war.

1996 – A historian reveals the Swiss bank accounts of presumed Holocaust victims were used to settle Switzerland’s postwar compensation disputes with Poland and Hungary.

2002 – Chechen rebels take up to 700 people hostage in a Moscow theatre. The standoff ends six days later, with Russian special forces killing most of the 50 rebels, along with about 120 hostages.

2011 – The All Blacks win their second Rugby World Cup, beating France 8-7 at Eden Park in Auckland.

2013 – German Chancellor Angela Merkel complains to US President

Barack Obama after learning that US intelligence may have targeted her mobile phone.

Birthdays

Johnny Carson, US TV host (1925-2005); Diana Dors, UK actress (1931-84); Pele, Brazilian footballer (1940-); Michael Crichton, US author (1942-2008); Graeme Revell, NZ composer (1955-); Beatrice Faumuina, NZ discus champion (1974-); Glen Jackson, NZ rugby referee (1975-); Ryan Reynolds, Canadian actor (1976-).