Today is Tuesday, July 21, the 202nd day of 2026. There are 163 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date: 1542 — Pope Paul III establishes the Roman Inquisition to fight Protestantism. 1798 — France’s Napoleon Bonaparte defeats the Egyptians at the Battle of the Pyramids and becomes master of Egypt. 1820 — Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted announces his discovery that an electrical current creates a magnetic field. 1831 — Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld is crowned the first king of newly independent Belgium, prompting the Dutch to invade. 1853 — Central Park in New York is created when New York State Legislature puts aside more than 750 acres of land on Manhattan Island. 1861 — The Confederate army defeats Union troops in the First Battle of Bull Run (also known as the First Battle of Manassas) in the United States state of Virginia. 1864 — The first daily black newspaper in the US, the New Orleans Tribune, begins publication, putting out both English and French editions. 1865 — Architect William Mason becomes Dunedin’s first mayor, getting 495 votes, almost 100 votes clear of his nearest rival, James Paterson; Governor George Grey oversees the capture of the Weraroa Pai Marire (Hauhau) pa, near Waitotara. Grey will announce peace in Taranaki, and the confiscation of large areas of land for European settlement in early September. 1873 — Jesse James and his gang pull off the first train robbery in America, taking $US3000 from the Rock Island Express in Adair, Iowa. 1884 — First test cricket match played at Lord's, London. 1925 — The Monkey Trial ends in Dayton, Tennessee, with John Scopes convicted of violating state law for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. The conviction is later overturned. 1957 — Althea Gibson becomes the first black woman to win a major tennis title, when she wins the women’s singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Darlene Hard in the final 6-3, 6-2. She was the first champion to receive the trophy personally from Queen Elizabeth II and the second black American, after Jesse Owens, to be honoured with a ticker-tape parade in New York. 1960 — Sirimavo Bandaranaike, of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), becomes the world’s first female prime minister; Francis Chichester, English navigator and yachtsman, arrives in New York aboard Gypsy Moth II, setting a record of 40 days for a solo Atlantic crossing. 1969 — US Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin blast off from the moon, dock with the command module, and head back to Earth after man’s first lunar landing. 1970 — The Aswan High Dam opens in Egypt, enabling control of the flooding of the Nile. 1976 — The American Legion begins a four-day convention in Philadelphia. As a result of what becomes known as legionnaire’s disease, 29 members die. 1991 — The Greek tanker Kirki breaks open off the West Australian coast, spilling 20,000 tonnes of crude oil into the sea. 1994 — Britain’s Labour party elects Tony Blair leader, succeeding the late John Smith; former dissident author Alexander Solzhenitsyn returns to Moscow 20 years after he was exiled. 2002 — WorldCom Inc, the second-largest US telecommunications company, files for the largest US bankruptcy, a month after disclosing it had inflated cash flow by $US3.8 billion. 2007 — India elects Pratibha Patil as the country’s first female president; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the series by J. K. Rowling is published; 11 million copies sell in 24 hours. 2013 — A 6.5-magnitude earthquake centred on Seddon strikes at 5pm, causing widespread damage throughout the Marlborough and Wellington areas. Residents are warned that the swarm of earthquakes, which began in the area two days earlier, may continue for some weeks. 2022 — Dunedin hosts its first match in the Fifa Womens World Cup; Switzerland defeat the Philippines 2-0; US President Joe Biden tests positive for Covid-19 . 2024 – Following a disastrous election debate, incumbent United States President Joe Biden ends his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election. Today’s birthdays: Henry Samuel Chapman, New Zealand judge/colonial secretary/attorney-general/journalist/politician (1803-1881); Baron Paul Julius von Reuter, German-born news service pioneer (1816-99); Learmonth White Dalrymple, New Zealand educationalist (1827-1906); Maria Mackay, New Zealand founding mother/midwife/nurse (1844-1933); Alfred Henry O'Keeffe, New Zealand artist (1858-1941); Alfred Brandon, New Zealand lawyer/military aviator WW1 (1883-1974); Donald Bannerman Macleod New Zealand molecular physicist (1887-1972); Haami Tokouru Ratana, New Zealand politician/president of the Ratana Church (1894-1944); Ernest Hemingway, US writer (1899-1961); Robert Alexander Falla, New Zealand museum administrator/ornithologist (1901-79); Ces Blazey, New Zealand rugby union and athletics administrator (1909-1998); Betty Molesworth Allen, New Zealand botanist (1913-2002); Jack Hazlett, All Black (1938-2014); Nigel Priestley, New Zealand earthquake engineer (1943-2014); Llew Summers, New Zealand sculptor (1947-2019); Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), British pop singer (1948-); Garry Trudeau, US cartoonist (1948-); Hirini (Sid) Melbourne, Maori composer (1949-2003); Robin Williams, US actor (1951-2014); Bernie Fraser, All Black (1953-); Sarah Waters, Welsh writer (1966-); Duncan Sarkies, New Zealand screenwriter/playwright/writer (1970-); Charlotte Gainsbourg, English-French actress/singer (1971-); Jaime Murray, English actress (1977-); Josh Hartnett, US actor (1978-); Paloma Faith, British musician (1981-); Jordan Selwyn, New Zealand actor (1989-); Juno Temple, English actress (1989-); Rory Culkin, US actor (1989-); Erling Haaland, Norwegian footballer (2000). Quote of the day: ‘‘You're only given one little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.’’ — Robin Williams, US actor, who was born on this day in 1951. He died in 2014. ODT and agencies
