Today in History

1492 – The earliest meteorite with a known date of impact lands in a field in Ensisheim, eastern France. 1848 – The paddle-wheel sloop Acheron arrives in New Zealand to survey the coastlines of Cook Strait and the South Island. The survey remained the basis for all NZ maritime charts for a century. 1861 – Archer wins the inaugural Melbourne Cup.

1872 – The cargo ship Mary Celeste sails from New York for Genoa; it is found abandoned four weeks later. 1908 – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are reportedly killed in Bolivia.

1912 – Public Service Act is passed, creating a framework for NZ’s bureaucracy that lasted until 1988. 1917 – Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks seize power, overthrowing the provisional government in Russia.

1970 – John Glasgow and Peter Gough become the first climbers known to have scaled the 2000m Caroline Face of Aoraki/Mt Cook. 1991 – US basketball star Magic Johnson announces he has the HIV virus and retires.

2000 – US presidential election between George W Bush and Al Gore is inconclusive; the result, in Bush’s favour, is eventually resolved by the Supreme Court.

2011 – Michael Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray, is convicted of manslaughter for administering the anaesthetic that killed the pop star. 2016 – Death of Canadian musician Leonard Cohen, left.

Birthdays

James Cook, UK explorer (1728-79); Marie Curie, Polish-French scientist (1867-1934); Leon Trotsky, Russian Communist (1879-1940); Albert Camus, French writer (1913-60); Billy Graham, US evangelist (1918-2018); Sir Roy McKenzie, NZ philanthropist (1922-2007); Dame Silvia Cartwright, NZ judge, governor-general (1943-); Joni Mitchell, Canadian musician (1943-); Debbie Hockley, NZ cricketer (1962-); Ladi6, NZ singer (1982-); Lorde, NZ singer (1996-).