Today in History

1227 – Death of Genghis Khan, Mongol leader who forged an empire from the east coast of China to the Aral Sea.

1892 – The first women’s cycling club in Australasia is formed in Christchurch.

1910 – New Zealand world sculling champion Dick Arnst wins a bizarre race on the Zambezi River, in which the British South Africa Company offers a £1000 prize to the winner.

1920 – By one vote, Tennessee ratifies the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, giving women the right to vote.

1940 – German Luftwaffe loses about 69 aircraft and the RAF 68 in the Battle of Britain.

1955 – Edward Tewhiu, 20, is hanged for murder at Mt Eden Prison, Auckland.

1971 – Australia and NZ announce the end of the year as the deadline for withdrawal of their contingents from the Vietnamwar.

1991 – Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, left, is placed under house arrest during an attempted coup by high-ranking members of his government, military and police.

2015 – Islamic State militants behead Khaled al-asaad, a Syrian scholar who had spent most of 81 years looking after the ancient ruins of Palmyra.

2016 – NZ sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke win the gold medal in the 49er class at the Rio Olympics.

2019 – US President Donald Trump confirms he is interested in buying Greenland for the US.

Birthdays

Antonio Salieri, Italian composer (1750-1825); Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, first female president of UN General Assembly (1900-90); Shelley Winters, US actor (1920-2006); Denis Mclean, NZ diplomat (1930-2011); Roman Polanski, French-polish film director (1933-); Howard Morrison, NZ singer (1935-2009); Robert Redford, US actor (1936-); Patrick Swayze, US actor (1952-2009); Kate de Goldi, NZ writer (1959-); Paula Morris, NZ writer (1965-); Christian Slater, US actor (1969-).