Today in History

1562 – About 1200 Huguenots are killed at Vassy, provoking first War of Religion in France.

1692 – First arrests in what would become the Salem witch trials, in Massachusetts.

1780 – Pennsylvania becomes the first US state to abolish slavery (for newborns only).

1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte lands in France, forcing Louis XVIII to flee.

1872 – Yellowstone, in the United

States, becomes the world’s first national park.

1896 – Henri Becquerel, left,

discovers radioactivity.

1932 – Infant son of US aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh is kidnapped from New Jersey home.

1941 – Bulgaria joins the Axis powers and allows German forces to enter the country.

1953 – Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses. He dies four days later.

1971 – The Weather Underground group claims credit for a bomb explosion in Washington DC’s Capitol building. It caused widespread damage, but no-one was killed.

1973 – Pink Floyd release Dark Side

of the Moon, which has since sold more than 45 million copies.

1999 – Alarm over reports linking contraceptive pills to lethal blood clots cause thousands of New Zealand women to call a Ministry of Health helpline, overloading it.

2004 – The Return of the King

wins 11 Academy Awards, including best picture and the best director

Oscar for Peter Jackson.

Birthdays

Frederic Chopin, Polish composer

(1810-49); Glenn Miller, US musician

(1904-44); David Niven, UK actor

(1910-83); Roger Daltrey, UK singer

(1944-); Anne Tolley, NZ politician

(1953-); Sir Mark Todd, NZ horseman (1956-); Sir Russell Coutts, NZ sailor (1962-); Javier Bardem, Spanish actor (1969-); Will Power, Australian motorsport driver

(1981-); Justin Bieber, US singer

(1994-).