Today in History

1272 – Death of Henry III of England, who had ruled since 1216.

1840 – New Zealand officially becomes a separate colony of Britain; the North, South and Stewart islands are to be known respectively as the provinces of New Ulster, New Munster and New Leinster.

1869 – Māori rebel Hamiora Pere is hanged, the first and only New Zealander executed for treason. 1959 – Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music premieres in New York.

1960 – US actor Clark Gable, who won an Oscar for his performance in Gone with the Wind, dies at 59.

1988 – Benazir Bhutto, right, elected Pakistan’s prime minister, the first woman in modern history to lead a Muslim country.

1989 – South African President FW de Klerk announces the scrapping of the Separate Amenities Act, opening up the country’s beaches to all races. 2006 – The Tongan capital of Nuku’alofa is in ruins after prodemocracy rioters attack buildings and businesses linked to the royal family and Chinese migrants; death of Milton Friedman, aged 94, economist who championed free markets, and won the 1976 Nobel Prize for economics.

2007 – A Sydney coroner declares that the ‘‘Balibo Five’’ – five Australiabased journalists, including Kiwi Gary Cunningham – were murdered by Indonesian soldiers during the 1975 invasion of East Timor.

2021 – Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is found liable for damages in lawsuits filed against him for claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.

Birthdays

WC Handy, US musician/composer (1873-1958); Chinua Achebe, Nigerian writer (1930-2013); Chris Laidlaw, All Black/politician (1943-); Dame Anne Salmond, NZ historian (1945-); Griff Rhys Jones, Welsh actor (1953-); Frank Bruno, UK boxer (1961-); Diana Krall, Canadian jazz singer (1964-); Waqar Younis, Pakistani cricketer (1971-); Paul Scholes, UK footballer (1974-).