Today in History

14AD – Augustus, the first Roman Emperor and adopted son of Julius Caesar, dies.

1274 – Edward I is crowned King of England.

1399 – Richard II of England surrenders to his cousin Henry.

1692 – Five more people are hanged for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. A total of 20 were executed in the town’s infamous witch trials.

1934 – Adolf Hitler, already chancellor, is also elected president of Germany.

1942 – Large raid by British and Canadian commandos on Dieppe, France, is repulsed, with heavy casualties.

1944 – Kiwi fighter-bomber pilot

James Stellin, left, avoids crashing his stricked Hawker Typhoon into French village Saint-Maclou-laBrie`re, at the cost of his own life. The villagers have honoured his memory since.

1953 – In Iran, the nationalist government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq collapses in US-backed military coup; Soviet Union publicly acknowledges it has tested a hydrogen bomb.

1960 – Captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in the Soviet Union for espionage.

1984 – Republican convention in Houston nominates Ronald Reagan for US president.

2012 – New Zealand soldiers Corporal Luke Tamatea, Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker and Private Richard Harris are killed by an improvised explosive device in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.

Birthdays

Orville Wright, US aviation pioneer (1871-1948); Gabrielle ``Coco’’ Chanel, French fashion designer (1883-1971); Sid Going, All Black (1943-); Bill Clinton, US president (1946-); Paul Callaghan, NZ physicist (1947-2012); Matthew Perry, US actor (1969-); Missy Higgins, Australian singersongwriter (1983-).