Today in History

1521 – Spanish forces under Hernan Cortes capture Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire.

1814 – Britain agrees to hand back Dutch colonial possessions, including Indonesia.

1914 – New Zealand’s first casualty of the Great War dies. Sapper Robert Arthur Hislop, right, was guarding a railway bridge in Auckland when he fell, dying from his injuries six days later.

1937 – Japanese attack Chinese city of Shanghai.

1940 – The Battle of Britain escalates as German aircraft begin bombing southern England.

1952 – Hound Dog is recorded for the first time by Big Mama Thornton.

1961 – East German soldiers begin laying down barbed wire and bricks as a barrier between Sovietcontrolled East Berlin and the democratic western section of the city.

1982 – Teenage coming-of-age comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High is released.

1999 – A gunman in Bogota shoots and kills Jaime Garzon, Colombia’s most popular political satirist and an irreverent peace activist.

2005 – David Lange, former New Zealand prime minister, dies, aged 63.

2006 – On his 80th birthday, Fidel Castro cautions Cubans that he faces a long recovery from surgery. His younger brother, Raul, makes a first public appearance as Cuba’s interim president. Birthdays Annie Oakley, US sharp shooter

(1860-1926); Alfred Hitchcock, English film director (1899-1980); Felix Wankel, German inventor of a rotary engine (1902-1988); Ben Hogan, US golfer (1912-1997); Fidel Castro, Cuban leader (1926-2016); Paul Greengrass, British film director (1955-); Phil Taylor, English darts player (1960-); Sridevi Kapoor, Indian actress and film producer

(1963-2018); Alan Shearer, English footballer (1970-); Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistani cricketer (1975-).