Today in History

1792 – France’s King Louis XVI, right, is arrested after a mob storms the Tuileries in Paris and massacres the Swiss Guard.

1793 – The Louvre opens as a public museum in Paris.

1840 – HMS Britomart arrives at Akaroa, making it clear to French colonists that New Zealand is a British colony.

1842 – Lord Ashley’s Mines Act forbids women and children aged under 10 from working underground in Britain.

1846 – The Smithsonian Institution, ‘‘an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge’’, is created in the United States.

1885 – First commercially operated electric streetcar in the US starts operating in Baltimore.

1937 – First electric guitar patent is awarded to the Electro String Corporation.

1945 – Japan agrees to unconditional surrender, ending World War II.

1977 – David Berkowitz, 24, is arrested and charged with being the ‘‘Son of Sam’’, the serial killer who terrorised New York City for more than a year, killing six young people and wounding seven others.

1995 – Jeff Wilson and Josh Kronfeld sign with the New Zealand Rugby Union amid a battle over television rights for professional rugby in the southern hemisphere.

2016 – At least 12 premature babies die in Iraq, when a fire tears through a Baghdad maternity ward.

Birthdays

Henri Nestle, German-Swiss industrialist (1814-90); Herbert Hoover, US president (1874-1964); Arthur Porritt, NZ athlete, governor-general (1900-94); Eddie Fisher, US singer (1928-2010); Bruce Slane, NZ privacy commissioner (1931-2017); Ian Hassall, NZ children’s commissioner (1941-2021); Rosanna Arquette, US actor (1959-); Antonio Banderas, Spanish actor (1960-); Suzanne Collins, US author (Hunger Games) (1962-); Roy Keane, Irish footballer (1971-); Kylie Jenner, US reality TV star (1997-).