Today in History

1715 – A hurricane strikes Florida, sinking 10 Spanish treasure ships and killing nearly 1000 people. 1786 – Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect ,by Robert Burns, right, is published.

1902 – An explosion at a mine in Wollongong, Australia, results in the deaths of 96 men and boys.

1945 – Pierre Laval, leader of Nazioccupied Vichy France, surrenders in Austria to American authorities, who extradite him to France to stand trial.

1951 – French Brigadier General Charles Marie Chanson and Governor Thai Lap Thanh, of French-backed South Vietnam, are killed south of Saigon by a Communist suicide bomber.

1954 – First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio.

1971 – Two United States Apollo 15 astronauts begin three days of Moon exploration in an electric car.

1976 – New Zealand runner John Walker wins gold in the 1500 metres at the Montreal Olympics. 1988 – A pier jammed with thousands of travellers collapses at a ferry terminal in Malaysia, killing at least 30 people and injuring about 370.

1992 – A Thai Airways jet crashes into a Himalayan mountain minutes after the pilot reports a technical problem, killing all 113 people on board.

2007 – The deployment of British troops to support Northern Ireland police officially ends after 38 years.

Birthdays

Milton Friedman, US economist (1912-2006); Louise Smith, US racing driver (1916-2006); Brian Turner, New Zealand footballer (1949-); Ruth Aitken, NZ netball coach (1956-); Wesley Snipes, US actor (1962-); JK Rowling, English author (1965-); Emilia Fox, English actress (1974-); Mils Muliaina, NZ rugby player (1980-); Paul Whatuira, NZ rugby league player (1981-); Alex Glenn, NZ rugby league player (1988-); Victoria Azarenka, Belarusian tennis player (1989-).