Today is Monday, August 3, the 215th day of 2026. There are 150 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date: 1347 — The French city of Calais surrenders to Edward III of England in the Hundred Years’ War. 1460 — King James II of Scotland is killed by the English during a siege of Roxburgh Castle. 1492 — Christopher Columbus embarks from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, aboard the Santa Maria, on his first voyage of westward exploration. 1610 — Captain Henry Hudson, seeking a new passage to the Pacific, discovers the bay which now bears his name. 1778 — La Scala Opera House in Milan, the work of Giuseppe Piermarini, is opened. 1858 — Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile, is discovered by English explorer John Speke. 1863 — Otago Boys’ High School, then situated in Dowling St, opens. 1872 — Anthony Trollope, one of the Victorian era’s most esteemed novelists, arrives in Bluff at the start of a two-month tour of New Zealand. He had spent the previous year travelling around Australia and in 1873 he published a two-volume book about his travels titled Australia and New Zealand. 1875 — A fire destroys Dunedin’s Princess Theatre in High St. 1879 — Te Whiti and 46 Maori prisoners, who were found guilty of trespass on European land, arrive at Dunedin prison. 1907 — The Westinghouse brakes fail on the lead wagons of a train on the Mamaku Incline halfway between Putaruru and Mamaku. The train runs backwards down a steep slope, derailing on an S-bend and crashing over an embankment into a gully. The guard is killed and five of the seven passengers are injured. The wreckage catches fire, killing 45 cattle beasts. 1908 — The North Island main-trunk railway line is completed. 1914 — Germany declares war on France; Belgium refuses Germany’s request to allow its troops to enter the country; Britain warns Germany against invading Belgium, as its Foreign Secretary Edward Grey makes his famous statement ‘‘The lamps are going out all over Europe.’’ 1916 — Sir Roger Casement, Irish nationalist leader, is hanged in London for treason. 1923 — Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes 30th US President upon death of President Warren G. Harding. 1934 — Adolf Hitler merges the offices of German Chancellor and President, declaring himself "Fuhrer" (leader). 1936 — US athlete Jesse Owens wins the first of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics. 1949 — A referendum on peacetime New Zealand conscription is heavily in favour, with 535,401 voting for it and 152,810 opposed. The first intakes for compulsory military training begin in May 1950. Papakura, Linton and Burnham camps are each expected to receive about 1400 recruits. 1958 — The atomic-powered US submarine Nautilus completes the first undersea crossing of the North Pole. 1963 — After nearly 300 performances at the Cavern Club, Liverpool, since 1961, The Beatles play there for the last time. 1964 — Training for New Zealand’s first police Armed Offenders Squad begins. It has been established because of the deaths of four police officers within a month early in 1963. 1985 — A new $10-million skifield development in Queenstown, the Remarkables, is opened. 1988 — West German Mathias Rust, who landed his light plane near Red Square in 1987, is released from prison and expelled from the Soviet Union. 1997 — The Sky Tower opens in Auckland. At 328m it is the tallest freestanding structure in the southern hemisphere. 1999 — Following arbitration, the US Government agrees to pay the heirs of Abraham Zapruder $US16 million for an original copy of the film that he took of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. 2012 — Dunedin’s Hamish Bond and team-mate Eric Murray begin a 40min golden glow for New Zealand at the London Olympic Games, winning the men’s pairs rowing. Shortly afterwards, Mahe Drysdale wins gold in the single sculls. 2013 — Wolfenden and Russell, a Dunedin clothing retailer for 101 years, closes; following a series of employment cuts in Dunedin, the Otago Daily Times publishes leading articles urging the region to ‘‘stand up’’ and put a stop to the region’s decline through government directives. The response was overwhelming and initiated a mayoral summit. 2017 — Brazilian footballer Neymar transfers from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for a world-record fee of 222 million euro. 2019 — Mass shooting at a Texas Walmart: 22 killed, 24 injured. 2021 — Lisa Carrington wins her third straight Olympic K-1 200m title at the Tokyo Games; also wins K-2 500m for her fourth career Olympic gold medal. 2023 — Dunedin City Council identifies a site for a long-awaited library in South Dunedin. 2024 — Three die after a boat capsizes on the Riverton bar. Today’s birthdays: Caroline Cadette Howard, New Zealand businesswoman/immigration officer (1821-1907); Stanley Baldwin, British politician (1867-1947); Henry Percy Pickerill, New Zealand dental surgeon/researcher/university administrator/plastic surgeon (1879-1956); Rupert Brooke, British poet (1887-1915); Harold Tyrie, New Zealand track and field athlete (1915-2007); Eddie Isbey, New Zealand politician (1917-1995); John Robertson, New Zealand Chief Ombudsman (1925-2001); Tony Bennett, US singer (1926-2023); Rod Bieleski, New Zealand plant physiologist (1931-2016); Sir William (David) Baragwanath, New Zealand lawyer/jurist (1940-); Martin Sheen, actor (1940-); Martha Stewart, US broadcaster (1941-); William (Bill) Stalker, New Zealand actor (1948-1981); John Landis, US film director (1950-); Jay North, US actor (1951-); Frano Botica, All Black (1963-); James Hetfield, US musician (1963-); Chris Nevin, NZ cricketer (1975-); Tom Brady, US sportsman (1977-); Sonny Bill Williams, New Zealand professional sportsman (1985-); Charlotte Casiraghi, daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco (1986-); Jourdan Dunn, English supermodel (1990-). Quote of the day: ‘‘I would rather trust a woman's instinct than a man's reason.’’ — Stanley Baldwin, British politician , who was born on this day in 1867. He died in 1947. ODT and agencies
