Life in History

1866 – United States President Andrew Johnson, right, formally declares the American Civil War over, even though fighting had stopped months earlier.

1904 – A cartoon is published in which a kiwi morphs into a moa as the All Blacks defeat Great Britain 9-3. It might be the first use of a kiwi as a national symbol.

1911 – The first commercial telegram is sent around the world by the New York Times.

1940 – New Zealand shipping company freighter Turakina is intercepted and sunk off Taranaki, with the loss of 36 lives.

1987 – Treasure hunters salvaging objects from doomed luxury liner Titanic scoop up a fortune in jewels.

1989 – Lyle and Erik Menendez shoot their parents, Jose and Kitty, to death in California.

1995 – A collision between two trains in northern India kills 358 people.

2000 – East Timor freedom fighter Jose Alexandre Gusmao surrenders command of his guerrilla army, strengthening his credentials as a civilian politician. He later becomes its first president.

2010 – Iranian and Russian nuclear technicians make final preparations to start up Iran’s first reactor after years of delays.

2013 – A court in Pakistan indicts former present and army chief Perez Musharraf on murder charges stemming from the assassination of ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto.