Today in History

1792 – French king Louis XVI goes on trial, accused of high treason and crimes against the state.

1907 – Fire destroys much of New Zealand’s Parliament buildings, although the parliamentary library survives.

1931 – Statute of Westminster gives complete legislative independence to NZ and other former British colonies.

1936 – Edward VIII announces his abdication in a radio broadcast. 1941 – Germany declares war on the United States.

1946 – UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) created. 1964 – US singer SamCooke dies from gunshot wounds in a Los Angelesmotel.

1967 – A prototype of supersonic aircraft Concorde is shown for the first time at Toulouse, France. 1978 – Robbers raid Lufthansa Airlines cargo building at JFK Airport in New York, stealing $5m in cash and $1m in jewellery. 1997 – The Kyoto Protocol is signed, committing signatories to cutting greenhouse gas emissions. 2003 – A presidential panel concludes that France should ban headscarves in public schools. 2006 – Former Fijian military leader and prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka is found not guilty of two charges of inciting a 2000 mutiny. 2008 – Financier BernieMadoff is arrested and charged withmasterminding a US$65b Ponzi scheme. 2009 – Tiger Woods, left, announces an indefinite break from golf after his infidelity is revealed. 2015 – The last issue of Playboy to feature naked women is published.

Birthdays

Hector Berlioz, French composer (1803-69); Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Russian author (1918-2008); John Kerry, US politician (1943-); Teri Garr, US actor (1944-); Marco Pierre White, UK chef (1961-); Mark Greatbatch, NZ cricketer/coach (1963-); TimSouthee, NZ cricketer (1988-); ElizaMcCartney, NZ athlete (1996-).