Today in history
Today is Monday, September 10, the 253rd day of 2018. There are 112 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1547 — The Scots are defeated by the English at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, Edinburgh. The Scottish defeat became known as Black Saturday.
1842 — New Zealand’s first governor, Captain William Hobson, dies after suffering a stroke, aged 49. Lieutenant Willoughby Shortland took over the role until Captain Robert FitzRoy assumed the post in December 1843.
1872 — Edward William Stafford takes office as premier for the third time. Proving unpopular after destabilising the administration of William Fox because of a public works scheme, Stafford’s term lasts only a month; Josephine begins service on the Port Chalmers Railway. The locomotive is now on display at Dunedin’s Toitu Otago Settlers Museum.
1873 — The first concrete block is set to form the
Oamaru breakwater.
1898 — Empress Elizabeth of AustriaHungary is
assassinated by an Italian anarchist in Geneva. 1908 — Dunedin teenagers Cyril Brandon (17), Rawson Stark (17), and Stanton Hicks (16) transmit wireless signals between Ravensboune and Kew with a receiving device that included an apparatus for eliminating atmospheric disturbances. An exchange of greetings between the mayors of Dunedin and West Harbour was included in the demonstration and, despite the transmission being deemed illegal, Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward congratulated the youths.
1914 — A massive landslide and lahar overwhelm White Island’s sulphur works, killing all 11 miners. Only a cat survived.
1919 — Austrian and Allied officials sign a treaty at St Germain, France, formalising the breakup of the AustroHungarian Empire.
1943 — In World War 2, German troops occupy
Rome and take control of the Vatican City.
1960 — Warnings of degeneracy and rebellion among New Zealand’s youth follow a riot at the Hastings Blossom Festival.
1961 — A President Airlines aircraft flying from Shannon Airport in Ireland to New Zealand crashes into the River Shannon shortly after takeoff, killing all 77 passengers and six crew.
1963 — Twenty black pupils enter public schools in Birmingham, Tuskegee and Mobile, Alabama in the United States following a standoff between federal authorities and
Governor George Wallace. 1977 — The Port Chalmers container terminal is
opened by Prime Minister Robert Muldoon.
1979 — The uncompleted Beehive in Wellington is occupied by politicians, despite Prime Minister Robert Muldoon labelling New Zealand’s new Parliament building a ‘‘white elephant’’ and expressing his distaste for the design.
1984 — A dawn ceremony at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York opens ‘‘Te Maori’’, a highprofile exhibition of traditional Maori art.
1985 — Defender Malcolm Dunford scores both goals in the All Whites’ 21 victory over Otago in Dunedin.
1998 — In an attempt to restore the defence relationship with the US following the breakdown of the Anzus Treaty because of New Zealand’s antinuclear legislation, US president Bill Clinton begins a fiveday visit to New Zealand.
2003 — Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh is
stabbed in Stockholm and dies the next day.
2008 — The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s
largest particle collider, passes its first major tests by firing two beams of protons in opposite directions around a 27km ring under the FrancoSwiss border.
2013 — Severe galeforce winds rip through Otago, overturning vehicles, uprooting trees, dislodging roofing and disrupting power supplies. Gusts of up to 140kmh were recorded on Swampy Summit, Dunedin Airport recorded gusts of 105kmh and Oamaru Airport 107kmh.
Today’s birthdays:
Arnold Palmer, US golfer (1929); Jose Feliciano, Puerto Ricanborn singer (1945); Peter Sloane, All Black and Super Rugby coach (1948); Judy Geeson, Britishborn actress (1948); Joe Perry, US musician (1950); Amy Irving, US actress (1953); Chris Columbus, US writerdirector (1958); Colin Firth, British actor (1960); Jay Laga’aia, New Zealand actor/singer (1963);
Guy Ritchie, UK film director (1968); Craig Innes, All Black and New Zealand rugby league representative (1969); Marty Holah, All Black (1976); Caleb Ralph,
All Black (1977).
Thought for today:
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh. — George Bernard Shaw, Irishborn playwright (18561950).