Today in History

1648 – The Peace of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years’ War.

1861 – West Virginia secedes from the Confederate state of Virginia at the start of the American Civil War. 1913 – Violent clashes erupt in Wellington’s streets between unionised waterside workers and non-union labour. It marks the start of the Great Strike, which lasted two months and involved 16,000 unionists nationwide.

1915 – 25,000 women march in New York City, demanding the right to vote.

1929 – Black Thursday: the New York Stock Exchange loses 12.8 per cent of its value in one day.

1945 – The United Nations officially comes into existence as its charter takes effect.

1951 – US President Harry Truman formally ends the state of war with Germany.

1957 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer, dies aged 52.

1978 – Keith Richards, left, of the

Rolling Stones, is convicted of heroin possession in Toronto.

1989 – US television evangelist Jim Bakker is jailed for 45 years for swindling his followers.

1992 – The Toronto Blue Jays become the first baseball team based outside the US to win the World Series as they defeat the Atlanta Braves.

2003 – Concorde makes its final flight, from New York to London.

2008 – Bloody Friday sees many of the world’s stock exchanges experience their worst declines in history, with drops of about 10 per cent in most indices.

2015 – The World Health Organisation warns that processed meats such as bacon pose a significant cancer risk.

Birthdays

Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch scientist (1632-1723); Bill Wyman, UK musician (1936-); Malcolm Turnbull, Australian politician (1954-); Jeff Wilson, All Black (1973-); Clarke Gayford, NZ TV host (1977-); Wayne Rooney, UK footballer (1985-).