Today in History

1509 – Henry VIII, aged 17, marries his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, right.

1770 – Endeavour, sailed by Captain James Cook, runs aground on a reef off northern Queensland. 1901 – A boundary change making the Cook Islands part of New Zealand comes into effect; Cornwall Park is gifted to Auckland by John Logan Campbell.

1950 – Sixteen months after a serious car crash, golfer Ben Hogan wins the US Open.

1955 – More than 80 people are killed and at least 100 injured as three cars crash on the Le Mans racetrack in France and hit a grandstand.

1963 – Facing National Guard troops, Alabama Governor George Wallace ends his blockade of the state university and allows two African-American students to enrol. 1967 – The Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbours ends with a UN-brokered ceasefire. 1979 – Death of John Wayne, famous for his western movies. 1982 – Steven Spielberg’s film ET: the Extra-Terrestial is released. 1987 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the first UK prime minister in 160 years to win a third consecutive term as her Conservatives hold on to a reduced majority.

2009 – The World Health Organisation declares H1N1 (swine flu) to be a global pandemic, the first such incident in over 40 years. 2017 – Rafael Nadal wins the French Open, becoming the first man to win the tennis title 10 times.

Birthdays

Millicent G Fawcett, UK suffragist (1847-1929); Jeannette Rankin, first woman in US Congress (1880-1973); Jacques Cousteau, French underwater explorer (1910-97); Jackie Stewart, UK racing driver (1939-); Joe Montana, US gridiron player (1956-); Hugh Laurie, UK actor (1959-); Mark Richardson, NZ cricketer (1971-); Stephen Kearney, NZ rugby league coach (1972-); Ben Waine, NZ footballer (2001-).