Today in History
1265 – England’s Parliament other than by royal command meets for the first time.
1841 – Hong Kong island is ceded to the British.
1887 – New Zealand annexes the Kermadec Islands in Pacific.
1892 – First official game of basketball is played in the United States.
1936 – Britain’s George V dies and is succeeded by Edward VIII, right. 1942 – Nazi officials hold the notorious Wannsee conference, during which they arrive at their ‘‘final solution’’, calling for the extermination of Europe’s Jews.
1944 – British air force drops some 2300 tonnes of bombs during an air raid on Berlin.
1957 – Scott Base opens in Antarctica.
1958 – The Commonwealth TransAntarctic expedition, led by Vivian Fuchs, arrives at the South Pole, the halfway point of its journey.
1981 – 52 US captives held at the US embassy in Tehran are released, after 444 days.
1986 – First federal holiday in the US honouring Martin Luther King, though not observed by all states.
1987 – Terry Waite, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s special envoy in Lebanon, is kidnapped.
1993 – Actress Audrey Hepburn dies in Switzerland.
2012 – New Zealand police raid the mansion of internet millionaire Kim Dotcom and shut down his filesharing business, Megaupload, on the request of US authorities. 2013 – Dotcom launches a new filesharing business.
Birthdays
George Burns, US comedian (1896-1996); Joy Adamson, naturalist (1910-80); Federico Fellini, Italian film director (1920-93); DeForest Kelley, US actor (1920-99); Patricia Neal, US actor (1926-2010); Edwin ‘‘Buzz’’ Aldrin, US astronaut (1930-); Tom Baker, UK actor (1934-); David Lynch, US film director (1946-); Bill Maher, US talk show host (1956-).