Today in History

1265 – England’s Parliament other than by royal command meets for the first time.

1841 – Hong Kong island is ceded to the British.

1887 – New Zealand annexes the Kermadec Islands in Pacific.

1892 – First official game of basketball is played in the United States.

1936 – Britain’s George V dies and is succeeded by Edward VIII, right.

1942 – Nazi officials hold the notorious Wannsee conference, during which they arrive at their ‘‘final solution’’, calling for the extermination of Europe’s Jews.

1944 – British air force drops some 2300 tonnes of bombs during an air raid on Berlin.

1957 – Scott Base opens in Antarctica.

1958 – The Commonwealth TransAntarctic expedition, led by Vivian Fuchs, arrives at the South Pole, the halfway point of its journey.

1981 – 52 US captives held at the

US embassy in Tehran are released, after 444 days.

1986 – First federal holiday in the US honouring Martin Luther King, though not observed by all states.

1987 – Terry Waite, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s special envoy in Lebanon, is kidnapped.

1993 – Actress Audrey Hepburn dies in Switzerland.

2012 – New Zealand police raid the mansion of internet millionaire Kim Dotcom and shut down his filesharing business, Megaupload, on the request of US authorities.

2013 – Dotcom launches a new filesharing business.

Birthdays

George Burns, US comedian (1896-1996); Joy Adamson, naturalist (1910-80); Federico Fellini, Italian film director (1920-93); DeForest Kelley, US actor (1920-99); Patricia Neal, US actor (1926-2010); Edwin ‘‘Buzz’’ Aldrin, US astronaut (1930-); Tom Baker, UK actor (1934-); David Lynch, US film director (1946-); Bill Maher, US talk show host (1956-).