Today in History

1678 – John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s

Progress is published in London. 1861 – Jefferson Davis is sworn in as president of the secessionist Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Alabama.

1885 – Mark Twain’s Adventures of

Huckleberry Finn is published in the United States.

1901 – Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the British House of Commons.

1929 – The first Academy Award winners are announced, on the back page of the academy’s newsletter. The awards are presented later in the year.

1930 – American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.

1954 – The first Church of Scientology is established, in Los Angeles.

1957 – Walter Bolton, a 68-year-old Whanganui farmer, becomes the last person to be executed in New Zealand. He was hanged for the murder of his wife.

1977 – Space shuttle Enterprise, atop a Boeing 747, makes its maiden flight above the Mojave Desert in California.

– New Zealand detective

1982 Ngaio Marsh, writer left, dies aged 86.

2001 – FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life.

2010 – WikiLeaks publishes the first documents leaked by US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.

2020 – Boy Scouts of America files for bankruptcy amid hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits.

Birthdays

Mary I, Queen of England (1516-58); Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist

(1745-1827); Toni Morrison, US author

(1931- 2019); Yoko Ono, Japanese artist (1933-); Prue Leith, South African-born food writer (1940-); John Travolta, US actor (1954-); Dr Dre, US rapper (1965-); Maria Folau, NZ netballer (1987-); Stacey Michelsen, NZ hockey player (1991-).