Today in history
1327 - Italian poet Petrarch first sees and loves ‘‘Laura’’ in the Church of St Clare at Avignon and will write poems about her until his death.
1897 - Sultan of Zanzibar abolishes slavery.
1919 - The New Zealand Pioneer (Maori) Battalion returns from World War 1, arriving in Auckland on the Westmoreland to a triumphant hero’s welcome. Soldiers marched to the Auckland Domain for a powhiri, where iwi from around the country greeted them.
1972 - Egypt breaks ties with Jordan because of Jordanian King Hussein’s proposal for new Palestine state.
1978 - United States President Jimmy Carter signs legislation extending the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 70.
1994 - The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi are killed in a plane crash in Rwanda, setting off the slaughter of 500,000 Rwandans, mostly minority Tutsis.
1995 - The first genocide trials begin in Kigali, Rwanda, against some of the 30,000 majority Hutus accused of killing Tutsis.
1996 - Thousands of Liberians flee their homes amid fierce fighting between government troops and members of an ethnic faction.
2010 - The Vatican heatedly defends Pope Benedict XVI, claiming accusations that he helped cover up the actions of paedophile priests are part of an anti-catholic ‘‘hate’’ campaign targeting the pope for his opposition to abortion and same- sex marriage.
2012 - Al-qaida militants and other Islamist fighters descend on northern Mali in the chaotic aftermath of a military coup, creating a potential haven for terrorists in a part of the Sahara bristling with heavy weapons looted from Libya.
2013 - Iran and six world powers fail to reach an agreement on how to reduce fears that Tehran might use its nuclear technology to make weapons.
2014 - The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group says the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad is no longer in danger of falling.
2015 - Kenya launches more airstrikes on Islamic militant camps in neighboring Somalia in retaliation for an attack the previous week on a Kenyan college in which Christian students were sought out and executed.
Today’s Birthdays: Gustave Moreau, French artist (1826-1898); Anthony Fokker, Dutch aircraft designer (1890-1939); Oscar Strauss, Austrian composer (1870-1954); Harry Houdini, Hungarian-born professional magician (1874-1936); Gregory Peck, US actor (1916-2003); Andre Previn, German-born composer- conductorpianist (1929-); Michael Moriarty, US actor (1941-)