Today in History

1594 - Henry IV, having renounced Protestantism, is crowned king of France.

1693 - First women’s magazine, Ladies’ Mercury, published in London.

1788 - Convicted thief Thomas Barrett becomes the first person to be executed in New South Wales colony, for stealing rations.

1827 - Masked and costumed students dance through the streets of New Orleans, marking the start of the US city’s famous Mardi Gras.

1892 - Luggage maker Louis Vuitton dies, aged70.

1900 - A meeting in London of the Trades Union Congress and the Independent Labour Party results in the eventual creation of the modern British Labour Party.

1933 - The Reichstag, Germany’s parliament building, is burned. Nazis blame Communists.

1936 - Seven-year-old star Shirley Temple receives a new contract that pays her US$50,000 per film.

1951 - Troops are sent on to the Auckland and Wellington wharves to load and unload ships during a strike by waterfront workers. 1968 - US broadcaster Walter Cronkite delivers scathing editorial on America’s chances of winning the Vietnam War.

1980 - First election giving black majority full voting powers in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe); I Will Survive wins the first - and last - Grammy ever awarded for Best Disco Recording.

2002 - UK comedian/author Spike Milligan dies, aged 83.

2010 - An earthquake of magnitude 8.8, one of the largest on record, kills more than 500 people in central Chile.

2015 - US actor Leonard Nimoy (Star Trek) dies, aged 83.

Birthdays

Constantine the Great, Roman Emperor (272-337); Heaton Rhodes, NZ politician, lawyer (1861-1956); John Steinbeck, US novelist (1902-68); Brian Carbury, NZ WWII flying ace (1918-1961); Peter Whittle, NZ mathematician (1927-2021); Elizabeth Taylor, UK-born actress (1932-2011); Ralph Nader, US consumer advocate (1934-); Don McKinnon, NZ politician (1939-); Christopher Pugsley, NZ military historian (1947-); Timothy Spall, UK actor (1957-).