Today in History

1349 – Jews are expelled from Zurich.

1774 – British House of Lords rules authors do not have perpetual copyright.

1775 – Jews are expelled from the outskirts of Warsaw.

1819 – Spain cedes the remainder of its former province of Florida to the United States.

1886 – The Times becomes the first British newspaper to institute a

personal column.

1892 – Oscar Wilde’s play Lady

Windermere’s Fan premieres in

London.

1902 – Thousands flock to the opening day of Wellington’s cable car service linking the central city with Kelburn.

1920 – First artificial rabbit used at a dog racing track, in California.

1928 – First solo flight from England to Australia lands in Darwin, 151⁄2 days after takeoff, piloted by Australian Bert Hinkler.

1941 – Nazis begin rounding up Jews in Amsterdam.

1942 – US President Franklin Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defences collapse.

1987 – US artist Andy Warhol, left, dies in New York, aged 58.

1997 – The Roslin Institute in Scotland announces the existence of Dolly the sheep, the world’s first cloned mammal from an adult cell.

2011 – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake causes severe damage in Christchurch and Lyttelton, killing 185 people and injuring thousands.

2012 – American reporter Marie Colvin, 56, and French photojournalist Remi Ochlik, 28, are killed by Syrian government shelling.

Birthdays

George Washington, US president

(1732-99); Frank Worsley, NZ explorer (1872-1943); Edward Kennedy, US politician (1932-2009); Julie Walters, UK actress (1950-); Steve Irwin, Australian naturalist

(1962-2006); Drew Barrymore, US actress (1975-); James Blunt, UK musician (1977-).