Today in History

8BC – Death of Roman poet Horace.

1095 – Pope Urban II orders the first Crusade to reclaim the Holy Land, in perhaps the most influential speech of the Middle Ages, saying: ‘‘Deus vult!’’ or ‘‘God wills it!’’

1582 – William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway.

1847 – Death of Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha in Ō taki.

1895 – Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel signs his last will, in which he leaves the bulk of his wealth to endow annual prizes.

1914 – Britain’s first three policewomen begin duties in Grantham, eastern England. 1924 – The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is held in New York. It attracts a crowd of about 250,000, and the department store declares it will become an annual event.

1935 – New Zealand’s first Labour government takes power, under Michael Joseph Savage.

1942 – The French navy scuttles its ships and submarines at Toulon to keep them out of the hands of the Nazis.

1946 – New Zealand’s Labour Party, by now led by Peter Fraser, wins a fourth successive term in office. 1967 – French President Charles de Gaulle rejects British entry into the European Common Market.

1973 – The US Senate confirms the nomination of Gerald Ford as Richard Nixon’s vice-president after the resignation of Spiro Agnew. By August the following year, he became president after Nixon’s resignation.

1978 – Gay activist Harvey Milk is murdered in City Hall in San Francisco.

1990 – John Major is chosen as leader of the Conservative Party – and prime minister of Britain – after the resignation of Margaret Thatcher. 1999 – Labour, led by Helen Clark, left, wins most seats in the general election, paving the way for Clark to become New Zealand’s first elected female prime minister.

2009 – Golfer Tiger Woods is injured in an accident outside his home, as reports begin to emerge of serial marital infidelity, leading to a divorce from wife Elin Nordegren.

2014 – Australian cricketer Philip Hughes dies after being struck by a cricket ball two days earlier; UK mystery novelist P.D. James dies, aged 94.

2017 – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce their engagement; eight donkeys are freed from four days in jail in northern India, for eating ‘‘very expensive’’ plants.

Birthdays

Anders Celsius, Swedish creator of temperature scale (1701-44); Chaim Weizmann, first president of Israel (1874-1952); Gordon Wilson, NZ architect (1900-59); Bruce Lee, Chinese-US actor (1940-73); Jimi Hendrix, US musician (1942-70); Kathryn Bigelow, US director (1951-); Roberto Mancini, Italian football coach (1964-); Farah Palmer, Black Fern (1972-); Suresh Raina, Indian cricketer (1986-).