on this day

1879: The British-Zulu War began.

1959: Henry Cooper became the British and European heavyweight boxing champion when he defeated Brian London on points.

1960: Nevil Shute, popular author, notably of A Town Like Alice, died in Melbourne, Australia, where he had emigrated in 1950.

1970: Nigeria’s civil war ended when the Biafran army surrendered.

1976: Dame Agatha Christie, the world’s most successful detective story writer, died, aged 85.

1987: Prince Edward resigned from the Royal Marines.

2010: A severe 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti. The confirmed death toll rose above 150,000 in the Port-au-Prince area alone.