Today in History

1499 – Perkin Warbeck, a pretender claiming to be the ‘‘lost’’ son of Edward IV, is hanged in London. 1918 – The influenza pandemic hits peak mortality in NZ; about 9000 people die between October 1918 and the end of the year.

1936 – Life magazine, created by American Henry Luce, is first published.

1947 – Civic funeral service for the 41 people killed in the fire at the Ballantynes department store in Christchurch.

1963 – The first episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who broadcasts.

1971 – China takes seat as a permanent member of UN Security Council.

1986 – Pope John Paul II celebrates mass for 25,000 people at Athletic Park in Wellington.

1990 – Children’s author Roald Dahl dies, aged 74.

1998 – The European Union lifts a worldwide export ban on British beef, imposed after experts announced a possible link between ‘‘mad cow’’ disease and a fatal disease in humans.

1999 – Kuwait’s Parliament rejects a decree giving women the right to vote and run for office.

2005 – Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, left, elected President of Liberia; she is the first elected female head of state in an African country.

2006 – National Party leader Don Brash quits, clearing the way for John Key to replace him; in London, Alexander Litvinenko dies. A rare radioactive substance was reportedly used to kill the ex-KGB spy turned Kremlin critic, who blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin personally for the poisoning.

Birthdays

Billy the Kid, outlaw, probably born Henry McCarty (1859-81); Tui Flower, NZ food writer (1925-2017); Sharon O’Neill, NZ singer-songwriter (1952-); Bruce Edgar, NZ cricketer (1956-); Martin Snedden, NZ cricketer (1958-); Miley Cyrus, singer/actor (1992-).