Today in History

1492 - Christopher Columbus lands on Hispaniola, the island now divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

1865 - The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified, officially ending slavery.

1877 - Thomas Edison demonstrates the first sound recording, reciting Mary Had a Little Lamb.

1905 - First “special” votes cast in a New Zealand election, by those unable to vote on election day.

1917 - The republic of Finland is proclaimed.

1921 - Britain signs a peace treaty with Ireland under which the Irish Free State is established and Ireland accepts dominion status.

1941 - US President Franklin D Roosevelt appeals for peace to Japan's Emperor Hirohito, one day before the attack on Pearl Harbour. He also authorises the Manhattan Project, which results in the creation of the atomic bomb.

1957 - The first US attempt at putting a satellite into orbit blows up on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

1969 - Meredith Hunter, 18, is stabbed to death by a Hells Angel at Altamont, a free concert headlined by the Rolling Stones.

1973 - Gerald Ford is sworn in as the first unelected vice-president of the US, succeeding Spiro Agnew, who resigned over corruption allegations.

1988 - Death of Roy Orbison, US rock and country music star.

1998 - Six years after staging a bloody coup attempt, former Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chavez is elected president of Venezuela.

Birthdays

Henry VI, king of England (1421-71); Dave Brubeck, jazz musician (1920-2012); Sir Paul Reeves, NZ governor-general (1932-2011); Judd Apatow, US film-maker (1967-); Andrew Flintoff, UK cricketer (1977-); Alberto Contador, Spanish cyclist (1982-).