TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY is Friday, September 4, the 248th day of 2020. There are 118 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1863 — Huria Matenga swims with a line to the crew of the stricken Delaware off Pepin Island, Nelson. She later becomes known as ‘‘the Grace Darling of New Zealand’’.
1910 — Former residents of the ancient town of Musselburgh, Scotland, lay the foundation stone for the Presbyterian church at Musselburgh, Dunedin.
1926 — A fire during a race meeting at Wingatui completely destroys the stewards’ stand. Although the building contained the jockeys’ dressing room and weighingin area, the meeting continued after a 20minute delay.
1939 — With New Zealand pledging its support following the declaration of war in Europe, Christian pacifist Ormond Burton is arrested after denouncing the war to a crowd outside Parliament. He and a number of others are sentenced to jail terms of up to two and ahalf years; GovernorGeneral Viscount Galway sends a telegram to Britain confirming New Zealand’s entry into World War 2.
1942 — Japanese troops evacuate Milne Bay, New Guinea, the first defeat of a Japanese amphibious landing in World War 2.
1962 — North Otago beats the touring Australian rugby team 1413 at the Oamaru Showgrounds. Tries were scored for North Otago by Bill Pile and All Black triallist Ian (Ghosty) Coe.
1964 — New Zealand deploys troops in Malaysia after insurgents enter the Malay Peninsula.
1970 — In Chile, Salvador Allende becomes the first freely elected Marxist president in the Western hemisphere.
1974 — A state funeral is held for New Zealand prime minister Norman Kirk at St Paul’s Cathedral, Wellington. Prince Charles represents the Queen.
1990 — Mike Moore (Labour) becomes prime minister, after ousting Geoffrey Palmer in the leadup to the general election.
2001 — Mahendra Chaudhry, Fiji’s first ethnic Indian prime minister, is elected to Parliament along with George Speight, who overthrew Chaudry’s government 16 months earlier.
2003 — About 400 farmers clog Wellington’s innercity streets with various farm vehicles and ‘‘No Fart Tax!’’ signage, as they present a petition to Government containing 64,136 signatures protesting a proposed tax on agricultural emissions.
2010 — A magnitude7.1 earthquake causes widespread damage to Christchurch, closing the central business district for days and necessitating a state of emergency to be declared, which stayed in place until September 16. Despite a number of minor injuries, there was no loss of life, partly attributed to the fact the earthquake struck at 4.35am. There was looting of affected businesses and opportunist burglaries of badly damaged homes; nine people are killed when a light aircraft crashes and catches fire when taking off from the airstrip at Fox Glacier. It is thought the cause was overloading.
2014 — Investigations into the $1.5 million Dunedin City Council Citifleet case reveals that the alleged fraud may go back much further than the 10 years previously suspected. 2018 — The harness racing industry in New Zealand is rocked by racefixing and horsedoping allegations during Operation Inca, which had the first 11 of 17 search warrants executed, on properties in Canterbury, Invercargill and Manawatu, leading to 10 arrests.
2019 — The Labour Government’s highprofile election promise of delivering 100,000 KiwiBuild homes in 10 years was “reset” by Housing Minister Megan Woods following widespread criticism that its policy of delivering affordable homes was unrealistic; a tourist bus rolls near Rotorua, killing five Chinese nationals.
Today’s birthdays:
Walter Edward Gudgeon, New Zealand soldier/historian/land court judge/colonial administrator (18411920); Henry (Claude) Hickson, New Zealand cricketer (18781948); James Hargest, New Zealand military officer and politician (18911944); Mabel Te Aowhaitini Mangakahia, New Zealand district nurse (18991940); Bruce Biggs, New Zealand linguist (19212000); Bruce Stewart, New Zealand scriptwriter (19252005); Phil Amos, New Zealand politician (19252007); Kerry Ashby, New Zealand rower (19282015); Bill Skelton, New Zealand jockey (19312016); David Liebman, US musician (1946); Brian Henry, New Zealand lawyer (1950); Robbie
Deans, All Black (1959); Inga Tuigamala, Samoan and New Zealand rugby union representative (1969); Mark Ronson, BritishAmerican musician, DJ, songwriter and record producer (1975); Haidee Tiffen, New Zealand cricketer (1979); Beyonce Knowles, US singer (1981); Peter Hume, New Zealand musician (1985).
Quote of the day:
‘‘We all live on the same planet, it is our only home, so . . . we used to rotate crops back in the day and, you know, who cares if you’re going to make a profit if everybody’s too dead or glowing in the dark to be able to purchase anything.’’ — Michael Berryman, US actor, who was born on this day in 1948.