Today in History

330 - Constantinople is dedicated as the new capital of the Roman empire. It was named after the Emperor Constantine.

1068 - Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, is crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London.

1618 - Haeuik Claezoon Van Hillegom, captain of the Dutch ship Zeewolf, records his sighting of the coast of what is later to be named Australia.

1751 - Pennsylvania Hospital is founded by Dr Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin, in Philadelphia.

1812 - British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons, London. Ironically, descendants of both later stand for the same seat in Parliament at the same time but neither win.

1812 - The waltz is introduced into English ballrooms; some observers consider it disgusting and immoral.

1813 – William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth discover a route across the Blue Mountains, opening up inland Australia to settlement.

1820 - Launch of HMS Beagle, the ship that would later take a young Charles Darwin on his famous scientific voyage.

1880 - British Queen Victoria issues a charter granting city status to the Borough of Liverpool.

1917 - King George V grants Royal Letters Patent to New Zealand, establishing the office of Governor-General as the monarch's representative in the country.

1934 - Massive dust storm sweeps from Great Plains across drought-hit US eastern states, forcing thousands of families to uproot and head to California.

1945 - NZ soldier Charles Upham receives the first of his two Victoria Crosses, for outstanding gallantry and leadership during the 1941 Battle of Crete, from George VI at Buckingham Palace.

1947 - BF Goodrich Co announces development of tubeless tyre.

1981 - Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley dies, aged 36.

1985 - A fire in the grandstand of Bradford City's football stadium in northern England kills 50 fans.

1997 - Deep Blue computer defeats Garry Kasparov in chess match.

1998 - First euro coin is minted in France. 2007 - North and South Korea adopt a military agreement enabling the first train crossing of their border in more than half a century; Samoa's King Malietoa Tanumafili II dies, aged 94.

2009 - Pope Benedict XVI confronts the dark history of his native Germany on trip to Israel, shaking the hands of six Holocaust survivors.

Birthdays

Baron Munchausen, German storyteller (1720-97); Irving Berlin, Russian-born US songwriter (1888-1989); Salvador Dali, Spanish artist (1904-89); Johnny Devlin, NZ songwriter (1938-); Eric Burdon, UK singer (1941-); Tom Schnackenberg, NZ sailor/ yacht designer (1945-); Diane Robertson, NZ charity leader (1953-)..