Today in History

1836 – Texas declares its independence from Mexico.

1865 – German missionary Carl Volkner is killed and decapitated by the followers of a new Ma¯ori religion, Pai Ma¯rire, near O¯ po¯tiki.

1917 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates.

1943 – The Battle of the Bismarck Sea begins.

1946 – Ho Chi Minh, right, is elected president of North Vietnam.

1949 – Captain James Gallagher makes the first non-stop flight around the world.

1958 – Dr Vivian Fuchs completes the first land crossing of Antarctica. 1959 – Work begins on the Sydney Opera House.

1969 – Concorde makes its maiden flight, from Bristol in England. 1972 – US spacecraft Pioneer 10 is launched on a mission to explore the planet Jupiter.

1974 – A grand jury concludes US President Richard Nixon is involved in the Watergate cover-up.

1981 – The discovery of minor planet 5020 Asimov, named after sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov.

1990 – Nelson Mandela is elected deputy president of the African National Congress.

1992 – The UN General Assembly welcomes nine new members, eight of them former Soviet republics.

1998 – The film Titanic becomes the first ever to earn US$1 billon.

2000 – Team New Zealand sees off Italian challenger Prada to hold on to yachting’s America’s Cup.

2003 – Team New Zealand defence of the America’s Cup ends in a 5-0 defeat by the Swiss syndicate Alinghi.

Birthdays

Adrian VI, first non-Italian pope, (1459-1523) Theodor Geisel (Dr Seuss), US author (1904-91); Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet president (1931-); Lou Reed, singer (1942-2013); Karen Carpenter, singer (1950-1983); Jon Bon Jovi, rock singer (1962-); Kelvin Davis, NZ politician (1967-); Daniel Craig, actor (1968-).