Today in history
1453 - The French defeat the English at the battle of Castillon, ending the Hundred Years’ War, with Calais the only English possession on the continent.
1586 - Sir Francis Walsingham, diplomat and principal secretary to England’s Queen Elizabeth, exposes Babington Plot, a letter from Mary, Queen of Scots, to Anthony Babington planning Queen Elizabeth’s murder. As a result, Mary is executed a year later.
1603 - Sir Walter Raleigh is arrested for suspected complicity in plot to dethrone England’s King James I.
1762 - Peter III, Czar of Russia, is assassinated a week after he abdicates the throne. His wife, Catherine II, who suspected Peter was going to divorce her, conspires to overthrow him and becomes Empress of Russia.
1918 - Communists kill last Russian czar, Nicholas II, and his family following the October Revolution in the Siberian city of Yekaterinburg.
1936 - Spanish Civil War starts as General Francisco Franco leads army forces in revolt against the government.
1945 - US President Harry Truman, British Prime Minister Clement Atlee and Soviet leader Josef Stalin meet at Potsdam, Germany, to settle the post World War II future of Europe, in a conference that lasts until August 2.
1955 - Disneyland opens its gates in Anaheim, California. 1968 - The Baath Party, including Saddam Hussein, overthrows the Iraqi government. 1973 - Afghanistan is proclaimed a republic following palace coup that ends 40-year rule of King Mohammad Zaher Shah.
2011 - An intensifying voicemail hacking and police bribery scandal cuts closer than ever to Rupert Murdoch and Scotland Yard with the arrest of the media magnate’s former British newspaper chief and the resignation of London’s police commissioner.
Birthdays
David Lloyd George, English statesman (1863-1945); James Cagney, actor (18991986); Donald Sutherland, actor (19352024); Angela Merkel, German chancellor (1954-). Andre Adams, NZ cricketer (1975-).