Today in History

1774 - British House of Lords rules authors do not have perpetual copyright.

1819 - Spain cedes the remainder of its former province of Florida to the United States.

1902 - Thousands flock to the opening day of Wellington’s cable car service linking the central city with Kelburn.

1907 - First cabs with taxi meters begin operating in London.

1920 - First artificial rabbit used at a dog racing track in California.

1928 - First solo flight from England to Australia, piloted by Australian Bert Hinkler, lands in Darwin, 15 days after takeoff.

1941 - Nazis begin rounding up Jews in Amsterdam.

1980 - Underdog US ice hockey team beats the Soviets, 4-3, in the “Miracle on Ice” at XIII Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

1987 - US artist Andy Warhol dies in New York, aged 58.

1997 - The Roslin Institute in Scotland announces the existence of Dolly the sheep, the world’s first cloned mammal from an adult cell.

2011 - A magnitude 6.3 earthquake causes severe damage in Christchurch and Lyttelton, killing 185 people and injuring thousands.

2014 - “El Chapo”, the world’s most wanted drug kingpin, is captured in Mexico, more than a decade after he escaped from a Mexican prison.

2022 - The number of US deaths from Covid-19 tops 500,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Birthdays

George Washington, US president (1732-99); Robert Baden-Powell, founder of Scouting movement (1857-1941); Frank Worsley, NZ explorer (1872-1943); Edward Kennedy, US politician (1932-2009); Don Merton, NZ ornithologist (1939-2011); Niki Lauda, Austrian racing driver (1949-2019); Julie Walters, UK actress (1950-); Steve Irwin, Australian naturalist (1962-2006); Drew Barrymore, US actress (1975-); James Blunt, UK musician (1977-).