Today in History

1182 – The high altar of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is consecrated.

1536 – Queen Anne Boleyn is beheaded in London on charges including adultery, incest and treason.

1649 – England is declared a Commonwealth by an act of Parliament, making it a republic for the next 11 years.

1897 – Oscar Wilde, right, is freed from Reading jail after two years of hard labour.

1930 – White women in South Africa are granted the right to vote.

1935 – T.E. Lawrence – Lawrence of Arabia – dies from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident six days earlier. He was 46.

1958 – French West African states decide to form a federation within the French community.

1964 – UN Security Council calls for an end to all foreign intervention in the Congo, a ceasefire and withdrawal of mercenaries.

1972 – United States halts its heavy bombing of North Vietnam.

1987 – The attempted hijacking of an Air New Zealand plane at Nadi airport in Fiji is foiled when a cabin crew member hits the hijacker on the head with a whisky bottle.

1997 – China announces stronger restrictions on the use of the internet, aiming to curtail the use of email and the worldwide web among dissidents.

2011 – Hundreds of Sunni Muslims gather in Baghdad to celebrate the withdrawal of American forces.

2018 – Prince Harry marries Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle.

Birthdays

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese politician (1890-1969); Malcolm X, US activist (1925-65); Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (1925-98); Pete Townshend, UK musician (1945-); Grace Jones, Jamaican singer/actor (1948-); Victoria Wood, UK screenwriter/ comedian (1953-206); Jodi Picoult, US author (1966-); Amy Adams, NZ politician (1971-); Andrew Johns, Australian league player (1974-).