Today in History

1624 – First submarine publicly tested in London on the Thames, for King James I. 1755 – Giacomo Casanova, right, is sentenced without trial to five years’ imprisonment in Venice for affront to religion and common decency.

1792 – Court martial begins in England for the instigators of the mutiny on the Bounty.

1846 – Elizabeth Barrett elopes with fellow poet Robert Browning. They flee to Italy, where they lived for 15 years.

1909 – World’s first patent for synthetic rubber granted to German chemist Fritz Hofmann. 1914 – Forty-three miners are killed in an explosion at Huntly.

1940 – A collection of prehistoric cave paintings are discovered in Lascaux, France, by four teenagers following their dog.

1953 – John F Kennedy marries Jacqueline Bouvier; Nikita Krushchev is elected Soviet leader.

1959 – Soviet Union launches Luna 2, the first spacecraft to reach the Moon.

1974 – Coup overthrows Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie on Ethiopia’s national day.

1970 – Palestinian guerrillas blow up three hijacked planes in Jordan. 1981 – Springbok tour protesters in a small plane drop flour bombs on Eden Park during the third test. The match continues, with the All Blacks winning 25-22.

2003 – Country singer Johnny Cash dies, aged 71.

2014 – Northern Ireland politician Ian Paisley dies, aged 88; Olympian Oscar Pistorius, right, is found guilty of culpable homicide after the death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The ruling is later overturned and he is jailed for murder.

2015 – Jeremy Corbyn is elected leader of the British Labour Party.

Birthdays

Henry Hudson, English explorer (1575-1611); H L Menken, US writer (1880-1956); Jesse Owens, US athlete (1913-80); Earl Hagaman, US-born NZ hotel operator (1925-2017); Ian Holm, UK actor (1931-2020); Doug Kidd, NZ politician (1941-); Max Walker, Australian cricketer (1948-2016); Barry White, US singer (1944-2003); Mike Joy, NZ ecologist (1959-); Andy Earl, All Black (1961-); Joe Schmidt, NZ rugby coach (1965-); Paul Walker, US actor (1973-2013); Belinda Colling, NZ netball player (1975-); Yao Ming, Chinese basketball player (1980-).