TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY is Thursday, May 19, the 139th day of 2022. There are 226 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:

1536 — Anne Boleyn, second wife of England’s King Henry VIII, is beheaded at the Tower of London on charges of adultery, incest and treason.

1585 — English shipping in Spanish ports is confiscated, serving as a declaration of war.

1772 — The first felling of a kauri tree by a European occurs in New Zealand, by French explorer Marion du Fresne, in the Bay of Islands.

1802 — Napoleon Bonaparte’s Order of the Legion of Honour is created in France, an order of distinction for civil or military service.

1846 — After an epic journey of exploration of the South Island, Thomas Brunner and Charles Heaphy become the first Europeans to visit the Poutini Ngai Tahu settlements at Mawhera (the future site of Greymouth), Taramakau and Arahura, and are the first to identify Aoraki/Mt Cook as New Zealand’s highest peak.

1847 — Te Mamaku and his warriors raid the settlement at Whanganui, looting supply stores and burning buildings. His men blockade the settlement for two months.

1849 — Irishman William Hamilton is arrested after firing blank shots at Queen Victoria in London.

1888 — Dunedin’s Joe Scott is proclaimed world champion when he wins the world championship belt in a 72hour walking match at the Royal Agricultural Hall,

London, defeating an international field of 20 and breaking all records over the distance. He walked 363 miles 1510 yards (about 585km).

1906 — The Simplon Tunnel through the Alps between Italy and Switzerland is officially opened by the king of Italy and the president of the Swiss Republic.

1915 — A Turkish counterattack on Gallipoli fails, 10,000 Turks being killed or wounded. The counterattack, which sought to drive the Australians and New Zealanders from Anzac Cove, is the greatest disaster for the Turks in the campaign.

1919 — Mustafa Kemal Ataturk lands at Samsun on the Black Sea coast, beginning the Turkish War of Independence.

1930 — White women are enfranchised in South Africa.

1945 — Dunedin is affected by flooding.

1966 — A Christchurch to Picton mixed train dubbed the ‘‘Cabbage Train’’ derails at Dashwood Pass, near the southern portal of Tunnel 22, after the driver takes a curve at twice the recommended speed, killing one person and injuring two others.

1967 — The Soviet Union ratifies a treaty with the United States and Britain banning nuclear weapons from outer space.

1971 — Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin sign an agreement in Moscow to establish regular highlevel contacts between the two nations.

1987 — Three flight crew are held hostage when an attempt to hijack an Air New Zealand Boeing 747 is made at Nadi Airport. The incident ends when the flight engineer hits the hijacker over the head with a bottle of whisky.

2004 — The world’s first embryonic stemcell bank opens in Britain.

2007 — About 60 Otago people take up the option of spending a night at the new Milburn Prison before it opens for business, raising $18,000 for the Milton Area Promotions group.

2008 — PPCS confirms plans to close Dunedin’s Burnside venisonprocessing works, with the loss of 138 jobs. The decision means total closure of the 126yearold meatprocessing plant.

2012 — Skeletal remains on Port Waikato’s Sunset Beach are later discovered to be those of Jane Furlong, who disappeared in suspicious circumstances on May 26, 1993.

2015 — A historic first handshake takes place between Prince Charles and Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams at the National University of Ireland in Galway.

2018 — American actress Meghan Markle marries Prince Harry at a ceremony in Windsor Castle, making her a member of the Royal Family.

Today’s birthdays:

Dame Nellie Melba, Australian opera singer (18611931); Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey (18811938); Malcolm X, US civilrights leader (192565); Nancy Kwan, US actress (1939); Pete Townshend, British musician/songwriter (1945); David Helfgott, Australian concert pianist (1947); Grace Jones, Jamaicanborn singer/ actress (1948); Phil Rudd, Australian musician (1954); Jenny Berggren, Swedish pop singer (1972).

Quote of the day:

‘‘I’m afraid this man will kill me some day.’’ — Nicole Brown Simpson, GermanAmerican model and the exwife of retired professional football player and actor O.J. Simpson, who was born on this day in 1959. She was found murdered in her home in June 1994. She was 35.