Today in history
Today is Friday, February 15, the 46th day of 2019. There are 319 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1798 — A Roman Republic is proclaimed by the French after the capture of Rome; Pope Pius VI refuses to surrender temporal power and leaves Rome for Valence.
1842 — The wives and children of an advance party of settlers arrive at Nelson on the Lloyds. The voyage proved horrendous, with 65 children dying and the crew treating the vessel as a virtual brothel.
1876 — Sir Julius Vogel assumes office as New Zealand’s prime minister on the resignation of Daniel Pollen. Six months earlier, Pollen had taken over the role from Vogel, who had served his first term between April 1873 and July 1875. Vogel’s second term (which lasted just under six months) ended when he resigned to take up a post in London.
1882 — SS Dunedin sails from Port Chalmers with the first refrigerated shipment of sheepmeat. All 5000 frozen carcasses arrive in excellent condition in Great Britain on May 24.
1898 — Sent to protect United States interests during the Cuban revolt against Spain, the battleship USS Maine explodes suddenly, without warning, and sinks quickly while entering Havana Harbour, causing the deaths of 266 men. There were 89 survivors. The cause of the explosion remained unclear after a board of inquiry investigated. Nevertheless, popular opinion, fanned by inflammatory articles, blamed Spain. The phrase, ‘‘Remember the !To hell with Spain!’’, became a rallying cry for action, which came with the SpanishAmerican War between April and August that year.
— Dunedin’s town hall is officially opened. — Presidentelect escapes an attempt on his life in Miami by Giuseppe Zangara, an Italianborn anarchist.
1942 — Singapore surrenders to Japanese forces in
World War 2.
1947 — Wellington is hammered by an intense cyclonic storm, which causes considerable damage.
1951 — The Port Employers’ Association starts a partial lockout of waterside employees, who have imposed an overtime ban as part of industrial action over a wage increase. The dispute will last four months and divide the country. At its height, more than 20,000 unionists were involved.
1965 — Canada’s new flag, with its mapleleaf
design, is unfurled in ceremonies in Ottawa.
1971 — Britain changes to decimal currency, making the pound worth 100 pence, and dispensing with all other previously used coins and banknotes.
1977 — The first commercial flight between New Zealand and the Antarctic begins operating as a day trip by Air New Zealand. Among the 232 passengers and 24 crew aboard the DC10 was the grandniece of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott.
1978 — The New Zealand cricket team records its first test victory over England at the Basin Reserve, Wellington; an agreement is announced in Rhodesia to bring blacks into key roles in the government of Prime Minister Ian Smith.
1982 — Some 84 men are killed when a huge oildrilling rig, the Ocean Ranger, sinks off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, during a storm.
1989 — The last Soviet soldier leaves Afghanistan after a 10year occupation that failed to quell a Muslim insurgency.
1990 — Britain and Argentina restore diplomatic relations, broken off during the 1982 Falkland Islands War.
1992 — A massive protest rally takes place in Dunedin over planned cuts to surgical services. Among the protesters were approximately 4000 people who travelled from the Clutha and Oamaru districts to protest cuts to surgical services in their areas.
Today’s birthdays:
Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer (15641642); Doreen Lang, New Zealand actress
(19151999); Claire Bloom,
Englishborn actress (1931);
Mick Avory, British musician
(1944); Jane Seymour,
Englishborn actress (1951);
Matt Groening, US cartoonist
(1954); Elizabeth Knox,
New Zealand writer (1959);
Ali Campbell, British singer (1959);
Jock Hobbs, All Black and rugby administrator (19602012); Renee O’Connor, US actress (1971); Hamish and James Marshall, identical twin brothers who played cricket for New Zealand (1979);
Amalia Hall, New Zealand violinist (1989).
Thought for today:
Like all dreamers I confuse disenchantment with truth. — JeanPaul Sartre, French philosopher (19051980).