Today in History

1307 – King Edward I of England dies of dysentery on his way north to subdue a rebellion in Scotland. 1718 – Alexis, heir to Russia’s Peter the Great, is murdered at the instigation of his father.

1815 – Allied forces enter Paris, after Napoleon’s abdication.

1865 – Four people are hanged for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate US President Abraham Lincoln.

1900 – Wild West gunslinger Wyatt Earp is shot dead in Arizona.

1916 – The New Zealand Labour Party is founded.

1924 – Arthur Porritt, left, later NZ governor-general, wins bronze in the 100m at the Paris Olympics.

1928 – Sliced bread is sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company, of Missouri.

1930 – Death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, British novelist and creator of Sherlock Holmes.

1978 – The Solomon Islands become independent from Britain.

1985 – Boris Becker wins Wimbledon, aged 17.

1997 – Britain’s House of Lords backs a bill to give princesses equal rights with princes in succession to the throne.

2005 – Four bomb blasts on London transport during morning rush hour kill 56 people and injure 700.

2011 – Rupert Murdoch’s News International closes Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper, News of

the World, amid mounting accusations of phone-hacking.

2019 – The US team wins its fourth consecutive Fifa Women’s World Cup football title.

Birthdays:

Gustav Mahler, Czech composer (1860-1911); Marc Chagall, Belarusian/French artist (1887-1985); Sir Murray Halberg, NZ athlete (1933-); Ringo Starr, UK musician (1940-); MS Dhoni, Indian cricketer (1981-); Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladesh cricketer (1984-); Jack Whitehall, UK comedian (1988-).