Today in history
Today is Tuesday, October 15, the 288th day of 2019. There are 77 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1581 — Commissioned by Catherine de Medici, the ballet Comique de la Reine is staged in Paris. A spectacle of dancing, this is often considered to be the first major ballet.
1583 — The Gregorian calendar goes into effect in the Papal States by decree of Pope Gregory XIII. It is soon adopted in other countries. The day’s date was October 5th in the Julian calendar.
1769 — Some Maori try to kidnap Tupaia, a Tahitian interpreter/navigator on the Endeavour. Captain Cook names the area Cape Kidnappers.
1852 — Charles Ring makes New Zealand’s first authenticated discovery of gold, at Driving Creek in the Coromandel. The news initiates New Zealand’s first gold rush.
1866 — The first section of the southern railway link
from Christchurch is opened.
1913 — The New Zealand PGA is formed in
Dunedin. Fred Hood is the first chairman.
1917 — Germany’s famed woman spy Mata Hari is
executed in Paris during World War 1.
1928 — The German dirigible Graf Zeppelin makes the first commercial flight across the Atlantic Ocean, landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, in the United States.
1941 — Captain Charles Upham, of Christchurch, and Dunedinborn Sergeant Alfred Clive Hulme, of Nelson, are awarded the Victoria Cross; work starts in Dunedin to dig trenches to provide shelters in the event of the city being bombed. The first area targeted for such shelters is the Octagon, with other areas around the city to follow.
1946 — Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering commits suicide by poison one day before his scheduled execution.
1969 — Somalia’s President Abdirashid Ali
Shermarke is assassinated.
1993 — Speed cameras begin operating in New
Zealand.
1997 — British Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green twice drives a jetpowered car in the Nevada desert faster than the speed of sound, officially shattering the world’s landspeed record when he drives at 763.035mph (1227.986kmh).
1999 — Pakistan’s army chief, General
Pervez Musharraf, declares a state of emergency and names himself chief executive of the country, just two days after he ousted the democratically elected government in a bloodless coup.
2000 — New Zealand wins its first international cricket tournament when it defeats India by four wickets in the final of the ICC knockout 50over tournament in Kenya. Chris Cairns scores 102 not out and is named player of the match.
2007 — After hunters report coming across an armed group wearing military camouflage uniforms in the Urewera Ranges, 17 people are arrested in antiterrorist raids in Whakatane, Ruatoki, Hamilton, Rotorua, Wellington and Auckland. Among those arrested are Tuhoe activist Tame Iti.
2011 — In a protest rallying against social and economic inequality that began with an occupation of Wall St, New York, on September 17, 100 protesters pitch 30 tents to occupy the upper part of Dunedin’s Octagon.
2012 — A controlled burnoff gets out of control, destroying 100ha of farmland and threatening conservation land at Roys Peak, Wanaka.
2013 — Wild weather that sweeps up the country, causing widespread damage, activates a civil defence emergency in Wanganui. More than 100 homes are evacuated because of the rising river level; New Zealand singer/songwriter Lorde caps off a successful month when she wins the coveted Apra Silver Scroll Award, along with her cowriter and producer Joel Little, for her international hit song Royals.
Today’s birthdays:
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, BritishAmerican writer (18811975); Sir George Laking, New Zealand diplomat (19122008); Barry McGuire , US singer/songwriter (1935); Richard Carpenter, US musician (1946); Lindsay Wilson, New Zealand Olympic rower (1948); Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York (1959); Eric Benet, US composer/actor (1970); Matt Keeslar, US actor (1972); Susy Pryde, New Zealand cyclist (1973); Keyshia Cole, American singer (1981); Wendy Frew, New Zealand netballer (1984); Dominic Storey, New Zealand racingcar driver (1989); Prince Christian of Denmark, son of Crown Prince Frederik and Tasmanianborn Crown Princess Mary (2005).
Quote for the day:
‘‘Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.’’ — Augustine ‘‘Og’’ Mandino II, US author (19231996).
ODT and agencies