Today in History

1785 – First lifeboat is patented by London coach builder Lionel Lukin. 1868 – NZ drops its numerous local times, becoming the first country to regulate its time in relation to Greenwich mean time (GMT). 1930 – Haile Selassie is crowned emperor of Ethiopia.

1936 – The BBC officially launches its first television channel, the world’s first regular TV service. 1942 – At El Alamein in Egypt, 2 New Zealand Division opens the way for British tanks, allowing the Allies to make a breakthrough. 1947 – United States billionaireaviator Howard Hughes pilots his huge wooden plane, known as Spruce Goose, on its only flight, which lasted about a minute.

1950 – Death of Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw.

1960 – A landmark obscenity case over the novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover, by D H Lawrence, ends in the acquittal of Penguin Books.

1976 – Jimmy Carter defeats

Gerald Ford, becoming the 39th US president.

1983 – US President Ronald Reagan signs a bill designating the third Monday in January a national holiday in memory of Martin Luther King, Jr, left.

1986 – Norwegian distance runner Grete Waitz wins her eighth New York City marathon.

2000 – The first resident crew – including one American and two Russians – arrives at the International Space Station.

2003 – The Rev Canon V Gene

Robinson is consecrated as the first openly gay bishop of the US Episcopal Church.

Birthdays

Daniel Boone, US pioneer (1734-1820); Marie Antoinette, wife of France’s King Louis XVI (1755-93); Lois White, NZ painter (1903-84); Burt Lancaster, US actor (1913-94); Douglas Lilburn, NZ composer (1915-2001); Ken Rosewall, Australian tennis champion (1934-); kd lang, Canadian singer (1961-); David Schwimmer, US actor (1966-).