Today in History

1693 – Date ascribed to Dom Perignon’s invention of champagne.

1704 – Britain captures Gibraltar from Spain.

1875 – Fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen, right, dies.

1914 – Germany invades Belgium and, when London’s ultimatum to Berlin to withdraw expires, Britain declares war on Germany; the United States declares its neutrality.

1923 – Opening of 8.5-kilometre Ō tira rail tunnel between Christchurch and Greymouth.

1944 – 15-year-old Anne Frank and her family are captured by the Nazis in Amsterdam.

1964 – Bodies of three missing US civil rights workers are found buried in an earthen dam in Mississippi.

1965 – The Cook Islands becomes self-governing.

1984 – American Carl Lewis wins his first Olympic gold medal, in the 100m. He goes on to win four golds at the Los Angeles Games.

1995 – Croatia launches attack on breakaway Serbs, bombarding rebel towns.

2007 – The US space probe Phoenix is launched, and a year later it lands on Mars.

2010 – Mud plugs the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico, ending one of the region’s worst oil spills.

2011 – Drought and famine in Somalia killed more than 29,000 children under the age of 5, according to US estimates.

2012 – South African Oscar Pistorius becomes first amputee runner to compete at the Olympics.

Birthdays

Percy Bysshe Shelley, UK poet (1792-1822); Louis Vuitton, French fashion designer (1821-92); Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (1900-2002); Louis Armstrong, US musician (1901-71); David Lange, NZ prime minister (1942-2005); Billy Bob Thornton, US actor (1955-); Paul Henry, NZ broadcaster (1960-); Barack Obama, US president (1961-); Lee Mack, UK comedian (1968-); Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (1981-); Juliette Haigh, NZ rower (1982-); Greta Gerwig, US actor/director (1983-) .