Today in History

1742 – Death of English astronomer Edmond Halley, discoverer of the comet named after him.

1784 – United States ratifies peace treaty with Britain, formally ending AmericanWar of Independence. 1891 – New Zealander Bob Fitzsimmons wins the world middleweight boxing title, in New Orleans. He went on to win the world heavyweight title in 1897. 1898 – Death of Lewis Carroll,

British author of Alice in Wonderland, from pneumonia. 1943 – US President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill open a wartime conference in Casablanca. 1948 – 14-year-old Nelson boy Malcolm Simpson unearths the oldest fossils yet found in New Zealand, in Cobb Valley, near Motueka. The trilobites were from the Paleozoic era, 542-251 million years ago.

1954 – Actress Marilyn Monroe and baseball star Joe DiMaggio, both left, marry in San Francisco. 1963 – GeorgeWallace is inaugurated as the governor of Alabama, promising his followers, ‘‘Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!’’ 1998 – An international treaty comes into effect protecting the entire continent of Antarctica as a global wilderness preserve. 2009 – A French court acquits six doctors and pharmacists in the deaths of at least 114 people who contracted a brain-destroying disease after being treated with tainted human growth hormones.

Birthdays

Mark Antony, Roman general (83BC-30BC); Benedict Arnold, US general (1741-1801); Thomas Hocken, NZ collector/bibliographer (1836-1910); Albert Schweitzer, German doctor (1875-1965); Sir Cecil Beaton, UK photographer/stage designer (1904-80); Richard Briers, UK actor (1934-2013); Faye Dunaway, US actor (1941-); Rob Hall, NZ mountaineer (1961-96); Dave Grohl, USmusician (1969-).