Today in History

1306 – Robert the Bruce, right, is crowned king of Scotland.

1807 – Britain abolishes slave trade. 1847 – Dr Isaac Featherston, the editor of the Wellington Independent, and Colonel William Wakefield of the New Zealand Company duel over a disputed editorial written by Featherston. Both men survive unscathed.

1911 – In a tragedy that galvanised America’s labour movement, a fire at Triangle Shirtwaist Co factory in New York kills 146 female workers.

1956 – US boxer Sugar Ray Robinson wins 15-round split decision over Carmen Basilio to win middleweight title a record fifth time.

1992 – Returning from 10 months in space, cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev is given smelling salts when he learns the Soviet Union has disappeared while he was away.

1996 – The European Union moves to ban British beef, five days after the British government alerts the public to the danger of eating meat from cows with mad cow disease.

1997 – The Australian Senate votes to overturn the Northern Territory’s Rights of the Terminally Ill law, the world’s only law allowing terminally ill patients to commit suicide with a doctor’s help.

2001 – Gladiator wins the Oscar for best picture. Its star, Russell Crowe, wins best actor.

2002 – An earthquake and several aftershocks in northern Afghanistan kill as many as 2000 people and injure more than 4000.

2011 – New Zealand’s Labour Party is left in turmoil after one of its rising stars, Darren Hughes, is forced to resign following suggestions of inappropriate behaviour towards a young man.

Birthdays

Anne Bronte, English novelist (1820-1849); Burt Munro, NZ motor cycle racer (1899-1978); Aretha Franklin, US singer (1942-2018); Blair Peach, NZ activist (1946-1979); Elton John, English songwriter (1947-); Liam Messam, All Black (1984-).