Today in History

1594 – Henry IV, having renounced Protestantism, is crowned king of France.

1706 – Death of English diarist John Evelyn, whose diaries are considered an invaluable record of the period.

1788 – Convicted thief Thomas Barrett becomes the first person to be executed in New South Wales colony, for stealing rations.

1900 – A meeting in London of the

Trades Union Congress and the Independent Labour Party results in the eventual creation of the modern British Labour Party.

1933 – The Reichstag, Germany’s parliament building, is burned, left, and Nazis blame Communists.

1940 – Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14 (radiocarbon dating) at the University of California in Berkeley.

1951 – Troops are sent on to the Auckland and Wellington wharves to load and unload ships during a strike by waterfront workers.

1964 – The Italian government says it is accepting suggestions on how to save the renowned Leaning Tower of Pisa from collapse.

1968 – US broadcaster Walter Cronkite delivers his scathing editorial on America’s chances of winning the Vietnam War.

1973 – Native Americans begin an occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

1980 – First election giving black majority full voting powers in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).

2010 – An earthquake of magnitude 8.8, one of the largest on record, kills more than 500 people in central Chile.

Birthdays

Henry Longfellow, US poet

(1807-82); John Steinbeck, US novelist (1902-68); Peter Whittle, NZ mathematician (1927-); Joanne Woodward, US actress (1930-); Elizabeth Taylor, UK-born actress

(1932-2011); Ralph Nader, US consumer advocate (1934-); Don McKinnon, NZ politician (1939-); Timothy Spall, UK actor (1957-).