Today in history
Today is Saturday, March 28, the 88th day of 2020. There are 278 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1791 — Convicts Mary and William Bryant, their two children and seven other convicts escape from Port Jackson in an open boat.
1797 — American Nathaniel Briggs, of New
Hampshire, patents a washing machine.
1860 — British regular troops combine with Taranaki volunteers to rescue settlers south of Omata, and clash with Taranaki and Ngati Ruanui in the battle of Waireka. The battle earns the Taranaki Rifle Volunteers the colour ‘‘New Zealand’’, the only New Zealand regiment to have achieved this.
1878 — Although experimentation had been taking place around the country for some months, W.S. Furby, of the Blenheim telegraph office, gives the first public demonstration of the telephone. The service he was promoting linked Blenheim with Nelson.
1881 — United States showman P.T. Barnum makes a deal with James A. Bailey, owner of the Great London Circus, to create the world’s largest circus, later to be known as the Barnum & Bailey Circus.
1900 — A hui protesting the exclusion of Maori from service in the Boer War begins on the Basin Reserve, Wellington. Although Maori men are excluded on racial grounds, Maori women were permitted to serve as nurses.
1910 — The first seaplane, designed by Frenchman Henri Fabre, takes off from Martigues near Marseilles.
1912 — Thomas MacKenzie (Liberal) assumes office as New Zealand’s prime minister in a caretaker administration following the resignation of Sir Joseph Ward. MacKenzie is replaced by William Massey (Reform) on July 10, following a noconfidence vote on July 6. Massey held office until his death in May 1925.
1914 — An explosion kills eight volunteers fighting a fire at Benge and Pratt’s store in Upper Hutt. Among them was Constable Denis Mahoney.
1928 — A speed limit of 15 miles an hour (24kmh)
is introduced within the borough of Balclutha.
1930 — The names of the Turkish cities Constantinople and Angora are changed to Istanbul and Ankara.
1939 — Madrid surrenders to General
Francisco Franco, ending the Spanish Civil War.
1951 — The first branches of the New Zealand Government’s new Totalisator Agency Board (TAB) are set up to offer offcourse betting at Dannevirke and Feilding.
1955 — The New Zealand cricket team scores just
26 runs in its second innings of the second test against England at Eden Park. It remains the lowest score by any team in a test innings. Otago’s Bert Sutcliffe was the highestscoring New Zealand batsman, scoring 11 runs. The previous lowest test score was 30, which was twice scored by South Africa against England in 1896 and 1924.
1968 — Extensive antiSoviet demonstrations take
place in Prague.
1973 — Actor Marlon Brando refuses his Oscar for The Godfather in protest at Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans.
1979 — America’s worst commercial nuclear accident occurs inside the Unit Two reactor at the
Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania.
1983 — Although it came into force on January 1, it is not until this day that New Zealand and Australia formally sign the Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement, designed to strengthen trade ties between the two Tasman neighbours. 2004 — Maori Television is officially launched in
New Zealand.
2017 — A 52yearold woman dies in Auckland Hospital after contacting typhoid. A number of other people are hospitalised by the disease over the coming days.
Today’s birthdays:
Raphael, Italian artist (14831520); St Teresa of Avila, Spanish nun and mystic (151582); Leonard Cuff, New Zealand allround sportsman and sports administrator (18661954); Jay Livingston, US composer (19152001); Dirk Bogarde, English actor/writer (192199); Charlie McCoy, US country musician (1941); Ken Howard, US actor (19442016); Dianne Wiest, US actress (1948); Reba McEntire, US singer/songwriter/actress (1955); ,US actor (1970); Nathan Cayless, New Zealand rugby league captain (1978); Julia Stiles, US actress (1984); Lady Gaga (Stefani Germanotta), US singer/songwriter (1986).