Today in History
1782 – George Washington creates the Purple Heart, which is awarded to members of the US armed forces who have been killed or wounded in action against an enemy.
1908 – The first train to travel the full length of the North Island main trunk line, the Parliament Special, leaves Wellington.
1942 - US Marines land on Guadalcanal, in the Solomons Islands, beginning a hardfought invasion that lasted six months.
1947 – Kon-Tiki, a balsa wood raft captained by Norwegian anthropologist Thor
Heyerdahl, completes a 101-day journey from Peru to Raroia, near Tahiti.
1959 – Explorer 6, the first US satellite to photograph the Earth is launched.
1974 – French stuntman Philippe Petit walks a tightrope strung between the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Centre.
1987 – Lynne Cox, the first woman to swim Cook Strait in 1975, makes the first recorded swim from the US to the Soviet Union.
1989 – New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange, left, resigns.
1990 – US President George H W Bush orders Operation Desert Shield in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
1991 – Celebrated New Zealand comedian Billy T James dies of heart failure, aged 43.
1997 – Beatrice Faumuina becomes the first New Zealander to win an event at the World Athletics Championships, winning the discus in Athens.
1998 – Truck bombs explode outside US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people.
2003 – Indonesian terrorist Amrozi is sentenced to death for his role in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people.
2004 – Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera is shut for 30 days in Baghdad after Iraq’s government accuses it of inciting violence.
2005 – A Russian mini-submarine, with seven crew members on board, is rescued from deep in the Pacific Ocean after it became entangled in cables and was unable to surface for three days. 2018 – Australia’s population hits the 25 million mark, according to projections.
Birthdays
Mata Hari, Dutch dancer/spy (1876-1917); Joy Cowley, NZ author (1936-); Robert Mueller, US former FBI director (1944-); Greg Chappell, Australian cricketer (1948-); Bruce Dickinson, British singer, Iron Maiden (1958-); David Duchovny, US actor (1960-); Charlize Theron, South African actor (1975-); Julian Savea, All Black (1990-); David Nyika, NZ boxer (1995-).