Today in history
Today is Saturday, January 26, the 26th day of 2019. There are 339 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1788 —The first fleet, carrying settlers from England, including a group of convicts, arrives at Sydney. This date is celebrated as Australia Day.
1802 — The Cisalpine Republic is renamed the Italian Republic, with Napoleon Bonaparte as president.
1841 — The British flag is raised on Hong Kong Island, six days after China agrees to cede it to Britain.
1875 — Hillside Railway Workshops in Dunedin begins operation; the electric dental drill is patented by its inventor, George F. Green of Kalamazoo.
1879 — The foundation stone is laid for Dunedin’s
Roman Catholic Cathedral by Bishop Moran.
1883 — The New Zealand Shipping Company
inaugurates a steamship service to England.
1905 — The world’s largest diamond, the Cullinan, is discovered near Pretoria, weighing 3106 carats. Named after Thomas Cullinan, the chairman of the mine in which it was discovered, and presented to King Edward VII of Britain for his 66th birthday, and cut into several polished gems, the largest of which is named Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa, at 530.4 carats.
1911 — Der Rosenkavalier, an opera by German composer Richard Strauss, is performed for the first time in Dresden, Germany.
1932 — Norman (Wizard) Smith breaks the world’s 10mile landspeed record on Ninety Mile Beach. Smith’s average speed was 164.084mph.
1939 — In the Spanish Civil War, Franco and his
forces capture Barcelona.
1940 — At the Palmerston North Showgrounds, the 28th (Maori) Battalion assembles for the first time.
1950 — India is formally proclaimed a republic
within the Commonwealth.
1952 — AntiBritish riots take place in Cairo, killing more than 20 and destroying by fire the famous Shepheard’s Hotel.
1961 — Installed at a cost of £20,000, floodlights are switched on at Forbury Park Raceway for Dunedin’s first trotting meeting under lights. A record crowd of more than 12,000 attended the meeting.
1965 — The military seizes power in South
Vietnam, ousting the civilian government of Tran van Huong; Hindi becomes the official language of India, leading to riots in the south of the country.
1966 — The Beaumont children, Jane (9), Arnna
(7), and Grant (4), disappear after travelling by bus to Glenelg Beach, near Adelaide. The case has never been solved.
1984 — A storm hits Fiordland and Southland, causing widespread flooding that forces thousands to be evacuated.
1993 — Vaclav Havel is elected president of the
new Czech Republic.
1994 — Romania becomes the first former Cold War foe of Nato to sign a partnership document with the military alliance.
1998 — United States president Bill Clinton denies having an affair with a White House intern, telling reporters, ‘‘I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky’’.
2000 — More than a year after a DNA test suggests that Thomas Jefferson may have had a son by his slave Sally Hemings, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, which owns Jefferson’s home, acknowledges that he probably was the father of one, if not all six, of her children. 2003 — US tennis star Martina Navratilova becomes the oldest player to win a grand slam title when at 46 she takes the Australian Open mixed doubles with partner Leander Paes.
Today’s birthdays:
Dan Reese, New Zealand cricketer (18791953); Douglas MacArthur, US general (18801964); Scott Glenn, US actor (1941); Lucinda Williams, US singer (1953); Eddie van Halen, Dutchborn guitarist (1955); Ellen DeGeneres, US actress (1958); Philip (Shane) Ardern, New Zealand politician (1960); Ganesh Nana, New Zealand economist (1960); Andrew Ridgeley, British musician (1963); Chris Pringle, New Zealand cricketer (1968); Brad Fleming, New Zealand rugby sevens player (1976); Paul Steinmetz, All Black (1977);
David Solomona, New Zealand rugby league international (1978); Laura Wilson, New Zealandborn actress (1983). Quote from history: ‘‘Nonviolence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed.’’ —
Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi, Indian political and spiritual leader. On January 26, 1931, Gandhi was released from prison to hold talks with the Government during his civil disobedience campaign.
ODT and agencies