Today in History

1840 - The New Zealand Gazette is the first newspaper to be published in the colony, rolling off Samuel Revans’ printing press in Port Nicholson (Wellington).

1906 - A giant earthquake strikes San Francisco. The quake and resulting fires devastate the city, leaving up to 3000 dead and 200,000 people homeless.

1924 - Simon and Schuster publishes the first crossword puzzle book in the United States.

1956 - American actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier in a spectacular ceremony in Monaco.

1978 - The US Senate votes 68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on December 31, 1999.

1980 - Former Rhodesia becomes independent Zimbabwe.

1996 - A passenger train collides with a stopped freight train at a railroad station in central India, killing at least 60 people.

2010 - Major airlines that sent test flights into European air space find no damage from the volcanic ash from Eyjafjallajkull that has paralysed aviation over the continent, raising pressure on governments to ease restrictions that have thrown global travel and commerce into chaos.

2013 - Pope Francis, known for his frugal ways, decides Vatican employees will not be getting the bonus that traditionally comes with the election of a new pope.

2014 - An avalanche sweeps down a climbing route on Mt Everest, killing 16 Nepalese Sherpa guides in the deadliest disaster on the world’s highest peak.

Birthdays

Lucrezia Borgia, Italian aristocrat (14801519); Hayley Mills, British actress (1946); James Woods, US actor (1947-); Niall Ferguson, UK historian (1964-); David Tennant, UK actor (1971-); Dean Barker, NZ sailor (1972-); Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian athlete (1973-).