Today in History

1516 – First Jewish ghetto is established as Venice compels Jews to live in a specific area.

1633 – Bananas go on sale in England for the first time.

1815 – Mt Tambora in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, erupts, killing about 10,000 people directly and tens of thousands more from disease and starvation.

1849 – American Walter Hunt patents the safety pin. Unable to see its possibilities, he later sells all rights for a few hundred dollars.

1912 – The Titanic sets sail from Southampton on its ill-fated maiden voyage.

1916 – The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) holds its first championship tournament.

1919 – Revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapatais killed in an army ambush in Chinameca, Mexico; NZ votes for prohibition by a majority of 13,000. But when soldiers’ votes are counted, continuance wins by

264,189 votes to 253,827.

1925 – The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald, is published.

1932 – Paul von Hindenburg is re-elected German president, with Adolf Hitler finishing second.

1941 – Siege of Tobruk begins in WWII.

1953 – House of Wax, first colour 3-D movie, premieres in New York.

1963 – 129 people died when the nuclearpowered submarine USS Thresher fails to surface off Cape Cod.

1968 – Wa¯hine ferry sinks in severe weather in Wellington harbour, killing 51 people.

1970 – Paul McCartney officially announces the breakup of the Beatles, left.

1972 – Earthquake strikes southern Iran, killing more than 5000; more than 50 countries sign a treaty outlawing the stockpiling of biological weapons.

1973 – Norm Kirk-led Labour government cancels Springbok rugby tour, after police warnings of civil strife.

1984 - Susan Devoy becomes first Kiwi to win the women’s title at British squash Open; rally to demand free presidential elections in Brazil after 20 years of dictatorship draws a million people in Rio de Janeiro.

1995 – Top UN weapons inspector reports that Iraq seems to be developing biological weapons.

1996 – Fastest wind speed ever recorded (not a tornado) – 408 kmh during tropical cyclone Olivia on Barrow Island, Australia.

1998 – The Good Friday Agreement for Northern Ireland is signed by the British and Irish governments.

2003 – British Airways and Air France announce they will mothball their Concorde fleets, ending 27 years of supersonic commercial air travel after a deadly crash.

Birthdays

Lewis Wallace, US novelist (Ben-Hur), soldier and diplomat (1827-1905); William Booth, UK founder of Salvation Army (1829-1912); Joseph Pulitzer, US publisher (1847-1911); Omar Sharif, Egyptian actor (1932-2015); Paul Theroux, US writer (1941-); Bunny Wailer (Neville Livingston), Jamaican musician

(1947-2021); Ricki Herbert, NZ football coach

(1961-); Hayley Westenra, NZ singer (1987-); Daisy Ridley, UK actor (1992-).