Today in History
1743 - Handel's oratorio Messiah has its London premiere.
1801 – Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael's Castle.
1806 – After travelling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their “Corps of Discovery” begin their arduous journey home.
1839 - The initials O.K. are first published, in The Boston Morning Post. They are an abbreviation for "oll korrect", a popular misspelling of "all correct".
1848 - The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers, bringing the first Scottish settlers to Otago.
1857 - Elisha Otis installs his first elevator, in New York City.
1909 – Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
1919 - Benito Mussolini founds the fascist movement in Italy.
1933 - German Reichstag grants Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers until April 1937.
1956 – Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. This date is now celebrated as Republic Day in Pakistan.
1965 – Nasa launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (with astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young on board.
1966 - Archbishop of Canterbury meets the Pope in Rome, the first meeting between the heads of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches for 400 years.
1977 – The first of The Nixon Interviews is videotaped with British journalist David Frost interviewing former US President Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes.
1981 - UK "great train robber" Ronald Biggs is taken into custody in Barbados after abduction from Brazil.
1983 - Dr Barney Clark dies in the US, 112 days after being the first person to receive an artificial heart.
1998 - James Cameron-directed Titanic wins 11 Oscars, equalling the record set by Ben-Hur in 1959.
2001 - Mir space station returns to Earth in pieces, ending its 15-year odyssey.
2010 - US President Barack Obama signs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which for the first time cements insurance cover as the right of every US citizen.
2011 - British-born actress Elizabeth Taylor dies, aged 79.
2020 – Prime Minister Boris Johnson puts the United Kingdom into its first national lockdown in response to Covid-19.
2021 – A container ship, the Ever Given, runs aground and obstructs the Suez Canal for six days.
Birthdays
Michael Joseph Savage, NZ prime minister (1872-1940); Leslie Andrew, NZ Victoria Cross recipient (1872-1969); Frank Sargeson, NZ author (1903-82); Joan Crawford, US actress (1908-77); Allan Hubbard, NZ businessman (1928-2011); Roger Bannister, UK athlete (1929-2018); Lloyd Jones, NZ author (1955); Simon Barnett, NZ broadcaster (1967-); Michael Atherton, UK cricketer (1968-); Keri Russell, US actress (1976-); Mo Farah, UK athlete (1983-).