Today in History
1429 – French forces, inspired by Joan of Arc, lift the siege of Orleans during the Hundred Years War with England.
1660 – English Parliament declares Charles Stuart to be King Charles II.
1794 – Antoine Lavoisier, father of modern chemistry, is executed by guillotine in France. 1886 – The first Coca-Cola, right, an invention of Dr John S Pemberton, is sold at Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia.
1899 – New Zealand-born scientiest Ernest Rutherford publishes his discovery of two kinds of radiation (alpha and beta particles).
1902 – Mt Pelee, on the West Indian island of Martinique, erupts, wiping out St Pierre and killing all but two of its 28,000 residents.
1945 – German forces surrender to Soviets, who did not recognise the previous day’s surrender to US General Eisenhower; VE Day is celebrated in Britain and the US.
1970 – John Rowles tops the New Zealand charts with Cheryl Moana Marie, which went on to sell 1m copies worldwide.
1978 – David Berkowitz pleads guilty to the ‘‘Son of Sam’’ killings that had terrified New Yorkers in 1976-77.
1980 – World Health Organisation announces eradication of smallpox. 1984 – Soviet Union announces a boycott of the upcoming Los Angeles Olympics.
1988 – Socialist Party leader Francois Mitterrand is elected president of France.
2001 – New Zealand government confirms it will scrap the air force combat wing.
2002 – New Zealand’s cricket team abandons its tour of Pakistan after a bombing near its Karachi hotel.
2007 – Democratic Unionist leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Fein deputy Martin McGuinness are elected to head a new power-sharing government for Northern Ireland. 2018 – President Donald Trump withdraws the US from the multilateral Iran nuclear deal; the largest wave recorded in the southern hemisphere is measured at 23.8 metres off Campbell Island by New Zealand scientists.
Birthdays
Edward Gibbon, UK historian (1737-94); Henri Dunant, Swiss founder of Red Cross (1828-1910); Harry Truman, US president (1884-1972); Robert Johnson, US musician (1911-38); David Attenborough, UK naturalist (1926-); Thomas Pynchon, US writer (1937-); Pat Cummins, Australian cricketer (1993-).