Today in History

1652 – Cape Colony, the first European settlement in South Africa, is established.

1889 – George Eastman begins selling his Kodak flexible rolled film for the first time

1895 – Oscar Wilde, right, is arrested for sodomy and gross indecency after losing his libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry.

1896 – First modern Olympic

Games open in Athens. US triple jumper James Connolly becomes the first gold medallist.

1909 – US explorers Robert Peary and Matthew Henson reach what they believe to be the North Pole, though later calculations suggest they were a few kilometres short.

1917 – The United States formally enters World War I, after the House of Representatives endorses the Senate’s vote to declare war.

1919 – The Maori Battalion returns from World War I, arriving in Auckland on the Westmoreland to a triumphant heroes’ welcome.

1994 – The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi are killed in their plane is shot down over Rwanda, setting off the slaughter of 500,000 Rwandans, mostly minority Tutsis.

1995 – The first genocide trials begin in Kigali, Rwanda, against some of the 30,000 Hutus accused of killing Tutsis.

2010 – The Vatican heatedly defends Pope Benedict XVI, claiming accusations that he helped cover up the actions of paedophile priests are part of an anti-Catholic ‘‘hate’’ campaign. 2016 – France passes legistration making it illegal to pay for sex.

Birthdays

Raphael, Italian artist (1483-1520); Ian Paisley, UK politician (19262014); James Watson, US biologist (1928-); Andre Previn, German/US composer/conductor (1929-2019); Merle Haggard, US musician (19372016); Anita Pallenberg, Italian/ German model/actor (1942-2017); Paul Rudd, US actor (1969-); Jerome Kaino, All Black (1983-).