TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY is Wednesday, October 27, the 300th day of 2021. There are 65 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1795 — The cargo ship Endeavour strikes rocks and is later abandoned in Facile Harbour, Dusky Sound. It is the first recorded shipwreck in New Zealand waters; the United States and Spain sign the Treaty of San Lorenzo (also known as Pinckney’s Treaty), providing free navigation of the Mississippi River.
1871 — Britain annexes the diamond fields of Kimberley, South Africa.
1900 — The first section of the New York subway is opened, almost 36 years after the opening of the first elevated line in New York (which became the IRT [Interborough Rapid Transit Company] Ninth Ave Line). The 14.6km subway line, then called the ‘‘Manhattan Main Line’’, ran from City Hall station northward under Lafayette St (then named Elm St) and Park
Ave (then named Fourth Ave) before turning to terminate at 145th St Station in Harlem. Over 150,000 passengers paid the 5c fare to ride it on the first day of operation.
1901 — The first known use of a getaway car occurs in Paris when thieves drive off after holding up a shop.
1918 — Kaiser Wilhelm II accepts the resignation of General Erich Ludendorff after the failure of the German offensive on the Western Front.
1922 — The Italian Government resigns under increasing pressure from the fascist movement of Benito Mussolini.
1934 — The official opening of the Waitaki Dam by GovernorGeneral Lord Bledisloe. The generators had not been completed and could not produce electricity, so when Lord Bledisloe symbolically switched on the lights, they were powered by electricity from Lake Coleridge.
1938 — Du Pont announces a name for its new synthetic yarn: Nylon.
1962 — During the Cuban Missile Crisis an American spy plane is shot down over Cuba and the US navy drops warning depth charges on Soviet submarines.
1966 — The UN General Assembly votes to end South Africa’s mandate over South West Africa, now Namibia.
1971 — Congo changes its name to the Republic of Zaire.
1979 — Otago Press and Produce completes the takeover of Allied Press, publisher of the Otago Daily Times and The Evening Star.
1982 — China announces its population has reached one billionplus.
1986 — The Big Bang takes place on the London Stock Exchange with the introduction of computerised dealing and
deregulation of many controls.
1990 — New Zealand voters oust the Labour Party of Mike Moore, giving the National Party under Jim Bolger the biggest election victory in more than 50 years.
1993 — Bushfires in Southern California destroy at least 800 homes.
1997 — The Dow Jones index fell 554.26 points, its largest oneday decline in points terms; the decline of 7.18% was the biggest since the drop of 23% in 1987.
1999 — The dress that Marilyn Monroe wore to sing Happy Birthday, Mr President to President John F. Kennedy is sold for $US1,267,500, a record for an item of clothing at auction.
2000 — Stormy seas prevent divers from entering the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, after naval officials reveal evidence that more than 23 seamen had survived the initial explosions that sank the vessel.
2002 — Kate Cameron (21), of Kurow, wins the inaugural ‘‘Perfect Woman’’ contest. She said that she had only entered because her father promised her a Valiant Charger if she won; Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wins Brazil’s presidential runoff election, becoming the nation’s first leftist and workingclass president.
2018— Australian 7year old mare Winx
wins an unprecedented fourth consecutive Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in Melbourne; her record 29thstraight win and her 22nd Group 1 racing success.
Today’s birthdays
Josiah Firth, New Zealand businessman/ politician (182697); William Daniel Barrett, New Zealand tribal leader (18781953);
Fred Ladd, New Zealand civilian and military pilot, tourism and aviation promoter (190889); Earle Wells, New Zealand sailor (1933); John Cleese, English actor/ comedian (1939); Tom Lister, All Black (19432017); Peter Firth, English actor (1953); John Eden, New Zealandborn Paralympian (1955); Simon Le Bon, English singer (1958); Peter Renner, New Zealand international steeplechase and marathon runner (1959); Alama Ieremia, All Black (1970); John Steel, New Zealand international swimmer (1972); VanessaMae, Singaporean violinist (1978); Kelly Osbourne, British actress/singer (1984).
Quote of the day:
‘‘Do not go gentle into that good night but rage, rage against the dying of the light.’’ — Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet, who was born on this day in 1914. He died in 1953, aged 39, of pneumonia.