Today in history
Today is Saturday, March 3, the 62nd day of 2018. There are 303 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1808 — French forces under Joachim Murat
occupy Madrid.
1813 — Britain signs the Treaty of Stockholm with Sweden, which agrees to supply the British Army in return for subsidies and promises not to oppose union with Norway.
1815 — Following piracy in the Mediterranean, the United States declares war on the Bey of Algiers. After an American threat to bomb Algiers, hostilities ended swiftly in August 1815.
1846 — Martial law is proclaimed in the Wellington region following tensions over land ownership with Maori.
1861 — The emancipation of Russian serfs is
proclaimed.
1873 — William Fox begins his third term as New Zealand premier following the resignation of George Marsden Waterhouse. Fox’s third term lasted only a month, when he was replaced by
Sir Julius Vogel on April 8.
1875 — Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen premieres in
Paris.
1878 — Bulgaria is liberated from five centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule; a peace treaty at San Stefano is signed, ending the RussoTurkish War and gaining independence for Serbia.
1879 — Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood becomes the first female lawyer to argue a case before the Supreme Court of the US. 1896 — The Peace of Bucharest between Serbia
and Bulgaria is signed.
1918 — Germany, Austria and Russia sign the Treaty of BrestLitovsk, which ends Russian participation in World War 1.
1924 — continues reforms to modernise Turkey, abolishing the caliphate and expelling the caliph and his family from the country.
1925 — With the outbreak of infantile paralysis not abating in New Zealand, the Government orders all schools to be kept closed.
1931 — The StarSpangled Banner officially becomes the national anthem of the United States.
1941 — Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact and allows German troops to cross its territory. Although Bulgaria becomes an ally of Nazi Germany, Bulgarians oppose the deportation of Jews and save them from Nazi death camps.
1944 — US fighter planes make their first
appearance over Berlin in World War 2.
— The US Government announces that its project of landing men on the moon will be followed by a large manned laboratory orbiting Earth.
1969 — The threeman spacecraft is
launched from Cape Kennedy.
1974 — A Turkish airliner crashes in forest near
Paris, killing 345 people.
1978 — The remains of actorcomedian Charlie Chaplin are stolen by extortionists from his grave in CosiersurVevey, Switzerland. They are recovered 11 weeks later.
1981 — In response to an extended period of industrial unrest and general nationwide dissatisfaction, Tania Harris heads a 50,000strong ‘‘Kiwis Care’’ march down Auckland’s Queen St.
1991 — Motorist Rodney King is severely beaten by Los Angeles police in a scene captured by an amateur videographer.
2002 — Swiss citizens vote in favour of becoming
the 190th member of the United Nations, in a break with the country’s longstanding tradition of isolationism and neutrality in world affairs.
2004 — The French Senate passes a law banning Muslim headscarves in state schools by an overwhelming 27620 majority.
2017 — Fifty years of restoration and innovation at Dunedin’s Larnach Castle by the Barker Family are marked for what has become an iconic tourist attraction for the city.
Today’s birthdays:
Alexander Graham Bell, Scottishborn inventor (18471922); Sir Henry Wood, British conductor and founder of Promenade concerts (18691944); John Reid, New Zealand cricketer (1956); Miranda Richardson, British actress (1958); David Faustino, US actor (1974); Ronan Keating, Irish pop singer (1977); Jessica Biel, US actress (1982);
Tim Maddren, New Zealandborn entertainer (1984).
Quote from history
‘‘Prometheus is reaching out for the stars with an empty grin on his face.’’ — Arthur Koestler, Hungarianborn British novelist, on the first moonlanding by man. Koestler, whose bestknown work was Darkness at Noon, committed suicide with his wife on March 3, 1983.