TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY is Wednesday, September 30, the 274th day of 2020. There are 92 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1839 — William Wakefield takes possession of Port Nicholson, Wellington, on behalf of the New Zealand Company.
1846 — American dentist William Morton uses ether as an anaesthetic for the first time on a patient in his Boston office.
1870 — The Canterbury Museum building is opened in Christchurch.
1878 — The ‘‘Great Flood’’ of 1878 kills at least three people, and thousands of animals drowned or starved to death as it swept across the lower South Island.
1952 — The motionpicture process Cinerama, using three cameras, three projectors and a deeply curved viewing screen, debuts with the premiere of
This Is Cinerama in New York City.
1965 — Considered a genius by many of his peers, Dunedinborn Alexander Aitken retires from the Chair of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, where he worked for 40 years; six of Indonesia’s top army generals are kidnapped and killed in an abortive coup. Turmoil ensues, leading to the deaths of between 400,000 and 3,000,000 communists and President Sukarno being replaced by General Suharto.
1970 — The Lockington underground coal mine at Kaitangata closes.
1971 — Nearly 79,000ha of land is added to Mt Aspiring National Park, increasing the area of New Zealand’s newest national park to 3555sq km. It is now second in size only to Fiordland National Park
and among the largest in the world.
1972 — The new Christchurch Town Hall is officially opened by GovernorGeneral Sir Denis Blundell. The February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, which caused liquefaction and ground movement in the area, forced its closure and the demolition of an adjoining convention centre. Work to partially demolish, repair and improve the main town hall building came with an eventual cost of $167 million and began in 2015. It was completed in early 2019.
1980 — Israel takes a step back to biblical times with the introduction of the shekel as its currency, replacing the pound.
1982 — Controversial Clyde Dam legislation is hurried through the House of Representatives with the assistance of Social Credit MPs, despite the Government’s water right not being valid.
1984 — An Egyptian court sentences 107 Muslim extremists to prison for attempting to set up an Islamic regime after the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat.
1987 — The Waitangi Tribunal rules that the sea can be owned in the same way as the land. This allows Maori challenges to the fishing quota system.
1989 — RoseNoelle breaks up on a reef just off Great Barrier Island. The trimaran had capsized when struck by a giant wave off Hawke Bay and had been drifting upside down for 119 days. All four crew members survived the ordeal.
2008 — Horrified investors watch in disbelief as their wealth is eroded by a slump in global markets that triggers what will be termed a ‘‘global financial crisis’’. Many New Zealand finance companies are bankrupted.
2010 — Two commuter trains collide headon after one of them derailed after hitting a slip north of Wellington. Two people suffered moderate injuries.
2012 — The South Island’s West Coast and Hawke’s Bay are the first regions to switch to digital television. The process of switching from analogue receivers was completed in the South Island on April 28, 2013.
Today’s birthdays:
Frederick Daniel Cornwell, New Zealand trade unionist (18751948); John Stacpoole, New Zealand historian/heritage architect/ photographer/bibliophile (19192018); Margaret Alington, New Zealand historian (19202012); George James Macdonald, New Zealand naval officer/civil engineer/inventor (192182); Trevor Hatherton, New Zealand geophysicist/scientific administrator/Antarctic scientist (192492); Jeff Robson, New Zealand badminton/tennis player (1926); Yvonne du Fresne, New Zealand novelist/ short story writer (19292011); Angie Dickinson (born Angeline Brown), US actress (1931); Johnny Mathis, US singer (1935); Shirley Annan, New Zealand netballer (19402017); Ehud Olmert, former Israeli prime minister (1945); Timothy A. Stewart, New Zealand molecular biologist (1952); Fran Drescher, US actress (1957); Eric Stoltz, US actor (1961); Mark Noble, New Zealand chess and lawn bowls player (1962); Monica Bellucci, Italian actress (1964); Raelene Castle, New Zealand sport administrator (1970); Jenna Elfman, US actress (1971); Lacey Chabert, US actress (1982); Ryan O'Kane, New Zealand actor (1982); Katrina Law, US actress (1985); Martin Guptill, New Zealand cricketer (1986);
Joelle King, New Zealand squash player (1988); Levi Miller, Australian actor (2002).
Quote of the day: