TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY is Friday, November 20, the 325th day of 2020. There are 41 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1863 — British troops and Maori defenders clash at the pa at Rangiriri,with losses on both sides. The British troops overrun the pa the next day.
1901 — The second HayPauncefoot Treaty provides for the construction of the Panama Canal by the United States.
1902 — Henri Desgrange, director of the sports daily L’Auto, and staff journalist Geo
Lefevre decide to organise a bicycle race around France in an attempt to crush rival paper Le Velo.
The event is set to begin on July 1, 1903, and becomes known as the Tour de France.
1920 — New Zealander Pat Hannan wins the world single sculls championship on the Wairau River, near Blenheim.
1937 — The arrival of Father Christmas during the Farmers Christmas Parade in Auckland almost has fatal consequences when George Sellars (disguised as Santa) parachutes from the wing of an aircraft just 300m above the Auckland Domain, narrowly missing the glass roof of the Winter Gardens before falling heavily into a garden patch between two hothouses, while almost hitting two gardeners. Sellars manages to limp to a shelter and adjust his beard before bravely returning to assist with the distribution of gifts to waiting children.
1945 — Accused Nazi World War 2 criminals go on trial in Nuremberg, Germany; the Allied Control Commission approves the transfer of six million Germans from Austria, Hungary and
Poland back to West Germany.
1947 — Britain’s future queen, Princess Elizabeth, marries Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in London’s Westminster Abbey.
1948 —Dr Geoffrey Orbell photographs and captures a takahe near Te Anau. It was the first time in 50 years the flightless bird had been seen.
1957 — The Clutha River breaks its banks, flooding Inch Clutha. Stirling and parts of Kaitangata are later evacuated. Frantic sandbagging around the Balclutha Railway Station took place to protect the town.
1962 — Barrie Devenport becomes the first person in modern history to complete a swim across Cook Strait. Devenport made his crossing from Ohau Point to Wellington Head; President John F. Kennedy agrees to lift the American blockade of Cuba, ending the Cuban missile crisis.
1979 — About 200 Sunni Muslims revolt in Saudi Arabia at the site of the Kaaba in Mecca during the pilgrimage and take an estimated 6000 hostages. The Saudi government receives help from Pakistani special forces in putting down the uprising.
1985 — The Most Rev Sir Paul Reeves takes office as GovernorGeneral. He is the first clergyman and the first of Maori descent to be appointed to the role.
1989 — During the Velvet Revolution the number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia, swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated halfmillion.
1990 — Andrei Chikatilo, one of the Soviet Union’s most prolific serial killers, is arrested; he eventually confesses to 56 murders.
1992 — A fire breaks out at Windsor Castle, causing extensive damage.
1993 — Eve van Grafhorst, the girl who captured the hearts of New Zealanders after fleeing community hostility in Australia when she contracted Aids, dies peacefully in her mother’s arms, aged 11.
1995 — BBC Television broadcasts an interview with Princess Diana in which she admits being unfaithful to Prince Charles.
1998 — The new Land Transport Bill passes through its final stages in Parliament, making photographs mandatory on driver’s licences. Motorists also have to carry licences at all times while driving. A raft of other measures includes a crackdown on disqualified drivers and the immediate confiscation of vehicles.
2015 — Hamilton Zoo curator Samantha Kudeweh is fatally attacked by a Sumatran tiger.
2018 — Heavy rain falls throughout Otago and Southland, causing slips and widespread flooding, isolating some areas, cutting power and closing roads. Dunedin Airport recorded 59.2mm of rain falling in a 24hour period.