Today in History

1787 – Eleven ships, later known as the First Fleet, set sail from Portsmouth, England, carrying criminals to Botany Bay, Australia. 1846 – US Congress declares war on Mexico in a dispute over Texas. 1917 – Three children near Fatima, Portugal, report seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary at what has since become a sacred site.

1936 – The New Zealand National Party is formed from the remnants of the United-Reform coalition government heavily defeated by Labour the previous year.

1940 – In his first speech as British prime minister, Winston Churchill tells the House of Commons: ‘‘I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.’’

1947 – New Zealand painter Frances Hodgkins dies in Britain aged 78.

1968 – More than a million people march through Paris as part of a wave of ‘‘May 68’’ protests.

1981 – Pope John Paul II is shot and 1989

1995 America’s Cup,

2006 2021