Today in History

1745 – A rebel army under Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie, right) reaches Derby, only about 160 kilometres from London. It is as far south as the rebels get before being forced back to Scotland.

1791 – The Observer, the world’s first Sunday newspaper, is published in Britain.

1829 – British authorities in India outlaw suttee, by which widows burned themselves to death on their husbands’ funeral pyres.

1952 – Heavy smog begins to hover over London. It persists for five days, leading to the deaths of at least 4000 people.

1961 – The first contraceptive pill becomes available through Britain’s National Health Service.

1966 – Pirate radio station Radio Hauraki makes its first scheduled transmission, from a ship in the Colville Channel, beyond New Zealand’s three-mile territorial limit.

1991 – American Associated Press journalist Terry Anderson is freed by Muslim captors in Lebanon after nearly seven years as a hostage.

1992 – US President George HW Bush orders more than 28,000 American troops to Somalia.

1996 – Nasa launches a spacecraft to Mars carrying the first interplanetary rover.

2002 – Indonesian police arrest Muslim cleric Ali Ghufron, also known as Mukhlas, suspected of masterminding the Bali bombing that killed nearly 200 people.

2009 – US student Amanda Knox is convicted of murdering flatmate Meredith Kercher in Italy. Her conviction is overturned in 2011. 2016 – John Key resigns as New Zealand prime minister, after eight years in office.

Birthdays

Francisco Franco, Spanish dictator (1892-1975); Ronnie Corbett, UK comedian (1930-2016); Sir Mason Durie, NZ academic (1938-); Pamela Stephenson, NZ-born actor (1949-); Hilary Barry, NZ TV host (1969-); Tyra Banks, US model (1973-).