Today in History

1820 - Mormon church leader Joseph Smith has his “First Vision”, in a wooded area of New York, according to Mormon scholars.

1827 - Death of German composer Ludwig van Beethoven.

1896 - Sixty-five miners die after an explosion in a coalmine on the West Coast in New Zealand’s deadliest industrial accident.

1942 - Nazi Germany begins sending Jews to Auschwitz concentration camp in Naza-occupied Poland.

1945 - The Battle of Iwo Jima ends after about 22,000 Japanese are killed or captured and more than 4500 US troops are killed.

1953 - US researcher Dr Jonas E Salk announces a new vaccine against polio.

1971 - Bangladesh declares independence from Pakistan.

1979 - Israel and Egypt sign a historic peace agreement at the White House.

1992 - Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson is sentenced to six years in prison for raping a Miss Black America contestant.

2000 - Russian prime minister and acting president Vladimir Putin is elected president for the first time.

2015 - Richard III of England is reburied at Leicester Cathedral, after his remains were found under a car park in the city. 2020 - The US surpasses official Chinese numbers to become the country with the most reported Covid-19 infections.

Birthdays

William Massey, NZ prime minister (18561925); Robert Frost, US poet (1874-1963); Leonard Nimoy, US actor (1931-2015); Ron Chippindale, NZ air accident investigator (1933-2008); Matiu Rata, NZ politician (19341997); Fiona Kidman, NZ author (1940-); Bob Woodward, US journalist (1943-); Diana Ross, US singer (1944-); John Rowles, NZ singer (1947-); Noeline Taurua, NZ netball coach (1968-).