Today in History

1871 – The English Football Association Challenge Cup Competition (the FA Cup) is established. 1892 – The Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company’s No 10 steam locomotive sets a world speed record for the narrow gauge, averaging 68kmh, and hitting 103kmh near Tokomaru.

1917 – Pact of Corfu is agreed under which Serbs, Croats and Slovenes form a union called Yugoslavia.

1944 – Adolf Hitler is injured by a bomb in an attache case, an assassination attempt by German officers that leads to a brutal purge.

1951 – Jordan’s King Abdullah is assassinated in Jerusalem.

1954 – Armistice for Indo-china is signed in Geneva, separating Vietnam into North and South.

1965 – Riots rock Auckland’s Mt Eden prison after a botched escape attempt. Hostages are taken and fire guts part of the prison.

1969 – US astronauts Neil Armstrong, left, and Edwin ‘‘Buzz’’ Aldrin become the first people to set foot on the Moon.

1973 – Actor and martial arts expert Bruce Lee, 32, dies in Hong Kong.

1989 – Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest.

2012 – Gunman hurls a gas canister inside a Colorado movie theatre, then opens fire, killing 12 and wounding nearly 60.

2015 – US and Cuba restore full diplomatic relations after more than five decades of frosty relations.

Birthdays

Edmund Hillary, NZ explorer (1919-2008); Natalie Wood, US actress (1938-81); Pita Sharples, NZ politician (1941-); Chris Amon, NZ racing driver (1943-2016); Carlos Santana, Mexican guitarist (1947-); Ian Ferguson, NZ kayaking Olympian (1952-); Terri Irwin, Us-australian naturalist, widow of Steve Irwin (1964-); Leigh Hart, NZ comedian (1970-); Gisele Bundchen, Brazilian model (1980-); Steven Adams, NZ basketball player (1993-); Ben Simmons, Australian basketball player (1996-).