Today in History

1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned king of England.

1882 - After more than 15 years of robbing banks and trains, US outlaw Jesse James is shot in the back at St Joseph, Missouri, by a member of his own gang.

1922 - Lenin appoints Stalin general secretary of the Russian Communist Party.

1933 - First flight over Mt Everest is made by two Britons in a biplane.

1943 - Tensions between Kiwi troops and their American counterparts posted to New Zealand boil over into a series of brawls in central Wellington, dubbed the Battle of Manners St.

1973 - The world's first portable cellphone call is made in New York by a Motorola engineer to the Bell Labs headquarters in New Jersey. The phone weighed a kilogram, and was 25 centimetres long.

1975 - American Bobby Fischer is stripped of his world chess title for refusing to defend it. 1982 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher tells Parliament a naval taskforce will be sent to reclaim the disputed Falkland Islands from Argentina.

1991 - Death of British novelist Graham Greene, aged 86, in Switzerland.

2000 - A federal judge in Washington rules that Microsoft has violated US antitrust laws by keeping “an oppressive thumb” on competitors during the race to link Americans to the internet.

2007 - A commission of inquiry into the culture of New Zealand Police prompts an apology from the police commissioner for the “disgraceful” actions of rogue officers.

Birthdays

Henry IV, King of England (1367-1413); Niccolo Macchiavelli, Italian philosopher (14691527); Marlon Brando, US actor (1924-2004); Doris Day, US actor-singer (1924-2019); Jane Goodall, UK primatologist (1934-); James Brown, US singer (1933-2006); David Carter, NZ politician (1952-); Alec Baldwin, US actor (1958-); Eddie Murphy, US actor (1961-); Nigel Farage, UK politician (1964-).