Today in History

1863 – HMS Orpheus, right, is wrecked near NZ, killing 190 people.

1959 – Daniel Francois Malan, South African politician and creator of the apartheid policy, dies.

1979 – Nazi Dr Josef Mengele, who performed medical experiments at the Auschwitz death camps, dies.

1990 – Central Committee approves end of Soviet Communist Party’s constitutional guarantee of power.

1991 – Irish republican guerrillas fire a mortar bomb at No 10 Downing St, official residence of Prime Minister John Major.

1992 – Maastricht Treaty signed by 12 countries from the European Community to create the EU; Pakistan for the first time acknowledges its ability to make nuclear weapons.

1997 – Swiss government offers to set up a fund to compensate victims of Holocaust with money from unclaimed bank accounts.

2005 – Britain’s Ellen MacArthur becomes the fastest person to sail solo around the world, in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes, 33 seconds. 2006 – Summer Day, a canvas by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, fetches US$10.8m at a London auction, a record for the artist.

2009 – ‘‘Black Saturday’’ bushfires sweep Victoria, killing 173 people and destroying 2000 homes.

2013 – Australian Crime Commission inquiry finds widespread use of banned drugs in sport, including links with organised crime.

2016 – Two people die, 10 others are injured in a shooting outside an Orlando, Florida, nightclub.

Birthdays

Sir Thomas More, English Lord Chancellor and writer (1478-1535); James Busby, co-author of Treaty of Waitangi (1802-1871); Charles Dickens, English novelist (1812-1870); Laura Ingalls Wilder, author (1867-1957); Arnold Nordmeyer, NZ politician (1901-1989); Witi Ihimaera, NZ writer (1944-); Richard Prebble, NZ politician (1948-); Simon Upton, NZ politician (1958-); James Spader, US actor (1960-); Chris Rock, US comedian and actor (1966-); Ashton Kutcher, US actor (1978-).