Today in history Today’s birthdays
Today is Monday, October 28, the 301st day of 2019. There are 64 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1492 — Christopher Columbus discovers Cuba and
claims it in the name of Spain.
1628 — After being besieged for months, the Huguenots at La Rochelle capitulate to troops of the French crown under Cardinal Richelieu.
1636 — Harvard College is founded at Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
1835 — Maori chiefs in New Zealand declare their
independence.
1841 — The first 27 settlers from the Manukau and Waitemata Company arrive at Manukau. The settlement will be abandoned within three years.
1886 — The Statue of Liberty is dedicated in New
York Harbour.
1890 — New Zealand celebrates its first Labour Day. Promoted by Dunedin trade unions, numerous events mark the occasion in several centres around the country. Dunedin celebrated with a procession through the Octagon and a sports day at the Caledonian Ground.
1897 — Death of Hercules George Robert Robinson,
New Zealand Governor 187980, aged 72.
1898 — The McLean Motorcar Act becomes law, allowing Wellington businessman and member of Parliament William McLean to legally drive his new vehicles.
1902 — Thirteen lives and almost 500 coffins containing the remains of Chinese being returned to China for burial are lost when the Ventnor sinks off Omapere, Northland. 1918 — Czechoslovakia is founded by Tomas Garrigue Masaryk as part of a new Europe after World War 1.
1919 — The Volstead Prohibition Act, which prohibits the sale of drink containing more than one half of one percent of alcohol, is passed by the United States Congress.
1940 — A passenger train is derailed near Mercer, killing the driver and fireman and injuring 10 passengers.
1943 — Butter rationing is introduced in New
Zealand. It will continue until 1950.
1958 — Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, Patriarch of Venice, is elected Pope and takes the title John XXIII.
1962 — The Cuban missile crisis effectively ends when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces he has ordered the withdrawal of missiles from Cuba; US president John F. Kennedy immediately replies that the US will lift its blockade of Cuba.
1965 — Pope Paul VI issues a decree absolving
Jews of collective guilt for the crucifixion of
Jesus Christ.
1971 — By a vote of 356244, the British House of Commons votes in favour of joining the European Economic Community (EEC, later EU).
1981 — A Soviet Whiskeyclass submarine armed with nuclear weapons runs aground in Swedish waters.
1994 — Maori activist Mike Smith attacks the Pinus radiata tree standing on Auckland’s One Tree Hill with a chainsaw, in protest at the way he sees Treaty of Waitangi negotiations progressing. Attempts to save the 120yearold tree failed and it had to be removed for safety reasons.
2003 — Former Reserve Bank governor Don Brash
ousts Bill English as leader of the National Party.
2005 — The Dunedin Ice Stadium opens.
2007 — First Lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner claims victory in Argentina’s presidential election to become the first woman elected to the post.
Bob Stuart, All Black (19202005); Merwyn (Merv) Norrish, New Zealand diplomat (1926); Cleo Laine, British singeractress (1927); Narotam (Tom) Puna, New Zealand cricketer (192996); Joan Plowright, British actress (1929); Jane Alexander, US actress (1939); Hank Marvin, British musician (1941); Dennis Franz, US actor (1944); Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman (1955); Lauren Holly, US actress (1963); Julia Roberts, US actress (1967); Stephen Hunter, New Zealand actor (1968); Ben Harper, US musician (1969); David Bennett, New Zealand politician (1970); Damon Andrews, New Zealand actor/director (1971); Joaquin Phoenix, US actor (1974);
David Phillips, New Zealand gymnast (1977); Dwayne Cameron, New Zealand actor (1981);
Bryn Evans, All Black (1984); Jessica Tuki, New Zealand netballer (1987); Kelly Brazier, New Zealand rugby international (1989).
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