Today in History

1765 – The Stamp Act Congress, meeting in New York, draws up a declaration of American rights and liberties.

1781 – British troops under Lord Cornwallis surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, ending the American Revolutionary War.

1812 – Napoleon Bonaparte’s army begins its retreat from Moscow.

1914 – The first battle of Ypres begins. There would be two more battles over the Belgian city during the course of World War I.

1926 – Leon Trotsky is voted off the Soviet Communist Party’s Politburo as Stalin steps up moves against him. 1943 – The foreign ministers of the United States, the Soviet Union and Britain open a conference in Moscow to discuss broad principles of co-operation.

1944 – The US Navy announces black women will be allowed into the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. 1960 – The US imposes an embargo on exports to Cuba covering all commodities except medical supplies and some foods. 1966 – US President Lyndon Johnson, left, visits New Zealand, to shore up support for the Vietnam War. Protesters are outnumbered by cheering crowds. 1985 – The first Blockbuster video store opens in Dallas, Texas.

1987 – Stock markets crash as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunges 508 points, or 22.6 per cent in value – its biggest percentage drop in decades.

1989 – The Guildford Four, convicted of the 1975 IRA pub bombings in Guildford and south London, are cleared of all charges after nearly 15 years in prison.

1992 – The Fred Hollows Foundation, set up by the Kiwi ophthalmologist to treat eye diseases in poorer countries, is launched in New Zealand. 2004 – Myanmar’s secretive military regime forces out Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, and places him under house arrest on corruption charges.

2011 – Hundreds of youths loot stores in central Athens in a massive rally against austerity measures.

2014 – Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott flies to Jakarta seeking closer ties amid a warning from Indonesian presidentelect Joko Widodo about Australia’s navy entering its waters while turning back asylum seeker boats.

2015 – Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party win Canada’s parliamentary election, 47 years after his father held the office of prime minister; a UK parliamentary report warns Big Ben could fall silent if repairs costing between $60 and $80 million are not made.

Birthdays

Auguste Lumiere, French movie pioneer (1862-1948); John Le Carre, UK writer (1931-); Michael Gambon, Irish actor (1940-); John Lithgow, US actor (1945-); Philip Pullman, UK writer (1946-); Evander Holyfield, US boxer (1962-); Trey Parker, US creator of South Park (1969-).