Today in History

1619 – The first representative assembly in America is convened in Jamestown, Virginia.

1792 – French national anthem La Marseillaise is first sung in Paris.

1898 – Otto von Bismarck, who unified Germany, founded the German Empire and served as its first chancellor, dies, aged 83.

1921 – Insulin is first isolated as a pancreatic extract by Canadian scientists Frederick Banting and Charles Best.

1928 – Colour motion pictures are exhibited by George Eastman, right, with the first film showing goldfish, peacocks, flowers, fashion models and butterflies. 1930 – Uruguay beat Argentina 4-2 in the first Fifa World Cup final.

1935 – The first 10 Penguin paperback titles are published.

1956 – The phrase ‘‘In God we trust’’ legally becomes the national motto of the United States.

1971 – A Japanese Boeing 727 collides with a jet fighter, killing 162 people. The fighter pilot, who parachuted to safety, was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter.

1974 – US President Richard Nixon releases subpoenaed White House recordings as the Watergate scandal intensifies. 1975 – Former Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa disappears in Michigan, under mysterious circumstances. 1976 – American Bruce Jenner, right, later Caitlyn Jenner, wins gold in the men’s decathlon at the Montreal Olympics.

1979 – Carless days are introduced in New Zealand to combat the second oil shock of the 1970s. They were scrapped in May 1980.

1980 – The Knesset passes a law reaffirming all of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

1997 – Eighteen people die in the New South Wales snowfields when a landslide sweeps one ski lodge on to another at Thredbo.

2003 – The last of the uniquely shaped ‘‘old style’’ Volkswagen Beetles rolls off the assembly line in Mexico.

2007 – Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman dies, aged 89.

2017 – Russian President Vladimir Putin says the US will have to cut embassy and consulate staff, three days after Congress approves sanctions for Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Birthdays

Emily Bronte, UK author (1818-48); Henry Ford, US carmaker (1863-1947); Henry Moore, UK artist (1898-1986); Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian/US actor and politician (1947-); Brian Boyd, UK/NZ academic/author (1952-); Kate Bush, UK musician (1958-); Daley Thompson, UK decathlete (1958-); Lisa Kudrow, US actor (1963-); Allan Langer, Australian rugby league player (1966-); Kerry Fox, NZ actor (1966-); Christopher Nolan, UK/US film director (1970-); Justin Rose, UK golfer (1980-); James Anderson, England cricketer (1982-).