Today in History

1669 – Death of Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn, right. 1809 – Spencer Perceval becomes British prime minister. His assassination in 1812 remains the only time a British PM has been murdered. 1830 – Belgium becomes an independent state.

1895 – The first US Open golf tournament is held, won by English professional Horace Rawlins.

1927 – Sculpting begins at Mt Rushmore, creating images of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. It takes 12 years to complete.

1952 – The first pacemaker to control the body’s heartbeat, developed at Harvard University, is fitted externally to a patient.

1957 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. In New Zealand, Morris Yock trademarks the jandal.

1958 – France’s Fifth Republic – its current system of government – is established by Charles de Gaulle. 1970 – US singer Janis Joplin dies from an accidental heroin overdose, aged 27; German Jochen Rindt becomes the only driver to have won the Formula One title posthumously.

1992 – A plane crashes into an apartment building in Amsterdam. Four people on the plane and about 100 in the building are killed. 2001 – A Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile brings down a Russian airliner, killing all 78 on board. 2006 – The domain name is

Birthdays

Rutherford Hayes, US president (1822-93); Buster Keaton, US actor (1895-1966); Isaac Asimov, Russianborn writer (1919-92); Charlton Heston, US actor (1923-2008); Ivan Mauger, NZ speedway rider (1939-2018); Jackie Collins, UK novelist (1941-2015); Susan Sarandon, US actress (1946-); Christoph Waltz, Austrian-born actor (1956-).