Today in History

330 – Constantinople is dedicated as the new capital of the Roman empire. It was named after the Emperor Constantine and built over the ancient city of Byzantium.

1618 – Haeuik Claezoon Van Hillegom, captain of the Dutch ship Zeewolf, records that he has sighted the coast of what is later to be named Australia.

1812 – British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by a bankrupt broker, John Bellingham.

1934 – Massive dust storm sweeps from Great Plains across drought-hit US eastern states, forcing thousands of families to uproot and head to California.

1945 – NZ soldier Charles Upham receives the first of his two VCS – for outstanding gallantry and leadership during the 1941 Battle of Crete – from George VI at Buckingham Palace.

1947 – B.F. Goodrich Co. announces development of tubeless tyre.

1981 – Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley, right, dies of cancer, aged 36.

1985 – A fire in the grandstand of Bradford City’s football stadium in northern England kills 50 fans.

1997 – Deep Blue computer defeats Garry Kasparov in chess match.

1998 – First euro coin is minted in France.

2001 – Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, dies in Santa Barbara, California, aged 49.

2007 – North and South Korea adopt amilitary agreement enabling the first train crossing of their heavily armed border in more than half a century; Samoa’s King Malietoa Tanumafili II dies, aged 94.

2009 – Pope Benedict XVI confronts the dark history of his native Germany on trip to Israel, shaking the hands of six Holocaust survivors.

2010 – Conservative leader David Cameron becomes UK’S youngest prime minister in almost 200 years.

Birthdays

Baron Munchhausen, German storyteller (1720-97); Irving Berlin, Russian-born US songwriter (1888-1989); Salvador Dali, Spanish artist (1904-89); Eric Burdon, UK singer (1941-); Tom Schnackenberg, NZ sailor and yacht designer (1945-); Diane Robertson, NZ charity leader (1953-); Andres Iniesta, Spanish footballer (1984-).