Today in History

1499 – Perkin Warbeck, a Flemish pretender claiming to be the ‘‘lost’’ son of Edward IV, is hanged in London.

1644 – Areopagitica, an impassioned defence of the right to free speech by English poet John Milton, is published.

1890 – Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is separated from the Netherlands.

1892 – Pierre de Coubertin launches his plan for a modern Olympic Games at the annual meeting of the Union of French Athletic Sports Societies.

1906 – Joseph Smith, leader of the Mormon Church, is convicted of polygamy.

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

1940 – Romania signs the Tripartite Pact, officially allying itself with Germany, Italy and Japan in World War II.

1945 – Most US wartime rationing of foods, including meat and butter, ends.

1947 – A civic funeral service is conducted for the 41 people killed in a fire at Christchurch’s Ballantynes department store.

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

1986 – Pope John Paul II, top right, holds a a 21⁄2-hour mass for 25,000 people at a windy Athletic Park, Wellington.

1991 – Queen singer Freddie Mercury confirms he has Aids, the day before he dies in London, aged 45.

1993 – Record cold is blamed for at least 34 deaths in parts of Europe and prompts the French army to send out troops to feed the homeless in Paris.

1996 – A hijacked Ethiopian airliner carrying 175 passengers runs out of fuel and crashes on the Comoros Islands, killing 125 people.

1998 – The European Union lifts a 32-month export ban on British beef, imposed after the announcement of 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.

2000 – The US presidential election stretches into the Thanksgiving Day holiday without a president-elect as the fierce tug of war between George W Bush and Al Gore over Florida’s crucial electoral votes reaches the US Supreme Court.

2005 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, bottom right, is declared the winner of Liberia’s presidential election, becoming the first woman to lead an African country.

2006 – Don Brash resigns as leader of the National Party, clearing the way for John Key to take the position after a deal with Bill

English; in London, the death is announced of ex-KGB spy turned Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko from a rare radioactive substance. He had called Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘‘barbaric and ruthless’’, and blamed him personally for the poisoning, at a London hotel.

2010 – In a seismic shift on one of the most profound Roman Catholic teachings, the Vatican says that condoms are the lesser of two evils when used to curb the spread of Aids, even if their use prevents a pregnancy.

2017 – Papua New Guinea police storm the Manus Island refugee camp, forcibly removing asylum seekers.

Birthdays

Billy the Kid, US outlaw (1859-81); Boris Karloff, British-born actor (1887-1969); Sharon O’Neill, NZ musician (1952-); Bruce Edgar, NZ cricketer (1956-); Shane Gould, Australian swimmer (1956-); Martin Snedden, NZ cricketer (1958-); Mojo Mathers, NZ politician (1966-); Miley Cyrus, US singer/actor (1992-).