Today in History

1642 – The Canadian city of Montreal is founded.

1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed emperor by the French Senate.

1830 – Edwin Budding, of England, signs a deal for manufacture of his invention, the lawn mower.

1860 – Abraham Lincoln is nominated as the Republicans’ candidate for US president.

1893 – Meri Te Tai Mangakahia, pictured, addresses the Kotahitanga Ma¯ori parliament, the first known woman to do so.

1896 – A mass panic in Moscow, during the festivities for the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II, kills more than 1200 people.

1944 – Monte Cassino Monastery in Italy is taken from the Germans after bitter fighting in World War II.

1966 – Death of fifth Ma¯ori King, Korok¯ı Te Rata Mahuta Ta¯whiao Po¯tatau Te Wherowhero.

1980 – A volcanic eruption on Mt St Helens, in Washington state, kills an estimated 57 people. It deposits ash across 11 US states and two Canadian provinces.

1991 – Helen Sharman becomes the first Briton to launch into space, aboard a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft.

1994 – Military observers returning to the Rwandan countryside report ethnic killings of at least 200,000.

2012 – Social media giant Facebook debuts on the US stock market, raising US$16 billion in an initial public offering.

2013 – Jewellery worth US$1.3 million, to be lent to stars at the Cannes Film festival, is reported stolen.

2019 – Scott Morrison’s LiberalNational coalition wins the Australian federal election.

Birthdays

Nicholas II, last tsar of Russia (1868-1918); Tom Heeney, Kiwi boxer (1898-1984); Pope John Paul II (1920-2005); Miriam Margolyes, UK actor (1941-); Rick Wakeman, UK musician (1949-); Tina Fey, US writer/actor (1970-); Jessica Watson, Australian solo sailor (1993-).