Today in history
1035 - Death of King Canute the Great of England, Denmark and Norway.
1603 - Sir Walter Raleigh’s high treason trial opens in Winchester, England.
1769 - French explorer Jean Francois Marie de Surville sights land – the Hokianga area – while sailing around the northern tip of New Zealand, shortly after the explorations of James Cook.
1812 - Napoleon Bonaparte’s army reaches Russian city Smolensk in retreat from Moscow.
1859 - In Paris, the first flying trapeze act is performed by Jules Leotard at the Cirque Napoleon without a safety net. The bodyhugging costume he used was later named after him.
1912 - Search party finds remains of British explorer Captain Robert Scott and his companions after the illfated South Pole expedition; Striking worker Fred Evans is seriously injured in a clash with police and strike-breakers during a bitter sixmonth dispute in the Bay of Plenty goldmining town of Waih¯ı. He died the following day.
1919 - First flight from England to Australia, by Ross and Keith Smith, takes off from Hounslow, near London. They land at Darwin on December 13.
1937 - Japanese troops occupy Chinese city Shanghai.
1942 - Start of Battle of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; British Eighth Army under General Bernard Montgomery captures Tobruk, Libya.
1944 - German battleship Tirpitz, sister ship of the Bismarck and Hitler’s last major warship, is sunk by Lancaster bombers.
1948 - War crimes tribunal in Japan passes death sentences on former prime minister general Hideki Tojo and six colleagues on charges of breaching the laws and customs of war.
1969 - US army announces for the first time that it is investigating William Calley for the alleged massacre of civilians at the Vietnamese village My Lai in March 1968.
1970 - Cyclone and tidal wave hit East Pakistan, killing at least 200,000 people.
1974 - South Africa is suspended from the UN General Assembly over its racial policies.
1982 - Polish Solidarity union leader Lech Walesa is freed after 11 months’ detention in a state-owned hunting lodge.
1990 - Emperor Akihito ascends Chrysanthemum throne in Japan.
Today’s birthdays: Alexander Borodin, Russian composer (1833-1887); Princess Grace of Monaco (1929-1982); Charles Manson, US cult leader and convicted murderer (1934-); Booker T Jones, US rock musician (1944-); Neil Young, Canadian singer (1945-); Ryan Gosling, Canadian actor (1980-).