Today in history
Today is Monday, April 9, the 99th day of 2018. There are 266 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
641 — An army commanded by Amr ibn alAs conquers Egypt for Islam by seizing the fort of Babylon in the Nile Delta. Alexandria capitulates the following November.
1626 — Death of English writer and statesman Francis Bacon, aged 65. He was conducting an experiment on his theory that freezing meat would keep it fresh. He was stuffing a chicken with snow, caught a cold and died of pneumonia. 1865 — Confederate general Robert E. Lee capitulates to Union general Ulysses S. Grant, ending the US Civil War.
1866 — The US Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1866 over the veto of president
Andrew Johnson. It gave blacks the rights of citizenship and was the basis for the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
1939 — AfricanAmerican singer Marian Anderson performs a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC after being denied use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
1949 — The United Nations International Court of Justice delivers its first decision, holding Albania responsible for incidents in Corfu Channel and awarding Britain damages.
1959 — Nasa announces the selection of its first seven US astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton.
1960 — South African prime minister Dr Hendrik Verwoerd is wounded in an assassination attempt.
1963 — British statesman Winston Churchill is
made an honorary US citizen.
1968 — Cyclone Giselle hits the northern part of New Zealand. As it travels south over the country, it joins a storm travelling up the west coast of the South Island to become one of the most damaging storms in New Zealand history.
1970 — Paul McCartney seeks a High Court writ to wind up the Beatles business partnership, effectively ending the group’s career.
1972 — New Zealand opening batsmen Glenn Turner and Terry Jarvis compile the secondhighest opening partnership in test history, when they share 387 runs in the fourth test against the West Indies in Guyana. Turner scored 259 and Jarvis 182. Turner’s score remained a New Zealand test record until Martin Crowe’s 299 almost 20 years later.
1974 — A magnitude5.0 earthquake centred 10km south of the city at a depth of 20km strikes Dunedin, causing minor damage, mostly to South Dunedin, St Clair and St Kilda areas.
1976 — Subscriber toll dialling (STD) is introduced in New Zealand, with Upper Hutt the first area to bypass the operator service when making toll calls.
1981 — More than 2000 people attend a graduation ceremony in Dunedin’s town hall at which Prince Charles receives an honorary doctor of literature degree from University of Otago chancellor the Very Rev Dr J. S. Somerville; IRA hunger striker
Bobby Sands wins a seat in the British Parliament in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone byelection in Northern Ireland.
1983 — The US space shuttle Challenger ends its first mission with a safe landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
1998 — Some 150 Muslims are trampled to death in a stampede in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on the last day of the annual hajj pilgrimage.
1999 — The then Mosgielbased firm Fisher & Paykel officially launches its $35 million dishwasher. Product sales reach 250,000 in five years and 1 million are sold in 10 years.
Today’s birthdays:
Ernest Currie, New Zealandborn Australian rugby union representative (18731932); Jane Mander,
New Zealand novelist and journalist (18771920); Joern Utzon, Danish architect (19182008); Tiny Hill, All Black (1927); Fred Hollows, New Zealand ophthalmologist (19291993); Bill Birch, New Zealand politician (1934); Bruce Robertson, All Black (1952); Dennis Quaid, US actor (1954); Paulina Porizkova, Czech modelactress (1965); Cynthia Nixon, US actress (1966); JennyMay Coffin, New Zealand netball player/commentator (1974); Isaac Boss, New Zealandborn Irish rugby union international (1980); Kristen Stewart, US actress, (1990); Elle Fanning, US actress (1998).
Quote from history:
‘‘The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.’’ — American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, whose buildings include the earthquakeproof Imperial Hotel in Tokyo and the Guggenheim Museum of Art in New York. Wright died on April 9, 1959.