Today in History

1535 – Henry VIII declares himself head of the Church in England.

1559 – Elizabeth I is crowned in Westminster Abbey.

1649 – French court leaves Paris at outbreak of Fronde Rebellion.

1777 – New Connecticut declares its independence. The tiny republic later becomes Vermont.

1797 – First top hat worn by John Etherington of London.

1892 – The rules of basketball, right, are published for the first time, in Springfield, Massachusetts, where the game originates.

1919 – Revolutionaries Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg are murdered during a failed uprising in Germany.

1922 – Irish Free State is established under Michael Collins.

1967 – First Super Bowl, in which the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Los Angeles.

1970 – Start of a three-day visit to NZ by US vice-president Spiro Agnew, sparking violent anti-Vietnam War protests; Biafran rebels in Nigeria surrender after a two-year war.

2001 – Wikipedia is launched.

2009 – ‘‘Miracle on the Hudson’’ as Captain Chesley Sullenberger safely lands the plane he was piloting on New York City’s Hudson River after a bird strike caused its engines to fail.

2010 – A French lawmaker submits a draft law that would ban Islamic veils, robes, and headscarves in public, a measure that would set a European precedent and trap thousands of women between their religious convictions and the law.

Birthdays

Joan of Arc (1412-1431); Jean Baptiste Moliere, French dramatist (1622-73); Mary MacKillop, Australian nun (1842-1909); Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate (1900-75); George Lowe, NZ mountaineer (1924-2013); Ron Guthrey, Christchurch mayor (1916-2008); Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian leader (1918-70); Martin Luther King, US civil rights leader (1929-68); Sir David Gascoigne, NZ lawyer (1940-); James Nesbitt, UK actor (1965-); Mary Pierce, French tennis player (1975-).