Today in History

1534 - Elizabeth Barton, the Maid of Kent, is executed in England for criticising the matrimonial practices of Henry VIII.

1657 - Jews in New Amsterdam, now New York City in the United States, are granted the rights and privileges of citizens; In the English-Spanish Wars, the English navy under Admiral Robert Blake destroys all 16 ships of the Spanish fleet in Santa Cruz harbour, Tenerife, and then razes the city.

1792 - France declares war on Austria, marking the start of the French Revolutionary wars.

1902 - Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie, pioneers in their field, isolate the radioactive element radium.

1908 - Forty-four die when trains collide at Sunshine, Victoria, Australia.

1918 – Manfred von Richthofen, aka The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims, his final victories before his death the following day.

1919 - King Nicholas is dethroned in Montenegro, which votes for union with Serbo-Slovene-Croat State (Yugoslavia).

1943 - The massacre of Jews in the Warsaw ghetto begins.

1945 - Soviet forces penetrate Berlin defences and allies take control of the German cities of Nuremberg and Stuttgart.

1949 - Scientists at the Mayo Clinic announce they have synthesised a hormone, forming a substance called cortisone.

1972 - US Apollo 16 astronauts land safely on Moon.

1981 - New Zealand runner Allison Roe wins the Boston Marathon, running the 42.2 kilometres in 2 hours, 26 minutes and 46 seconds, nearly eight minutes ahead of the second woman across the line.

1984 - Britain announces its administration of Hong Kong will cease in 1997, after 156 years.

1999 - Two US teenage pupils go on a rampage at Columbine High School in a suburb of Denver, Colorado, shooting 13 dead before taking their own lives.

2005 - Ecuador's congress removes President Lucio Gutierrez from office after a week of escalating street protests, and swears in Vice-President Alfredo Palacio as the new president.

2008 – Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300, becoming the first female driver in history to win an IndyCar race.

2009 - Dozens of Western diplomats walk out of a UN conference in Geneva when Iran's hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calls Israel a cruel and racist state and the US denounces his remarks as hateful.

2010 – The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and beginning an oil spill that would last six months.

Birthdays

Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon III), French statesman (18081873); Adolf Hitler, German Nazi leader (1889-1945); Sebastian Faulks, British novelist (1953-); Andy Serkis, British actor (1964-); Carmen Electra, US actor (1972-); Miranda Kerr, Australian model (1983-).