Today is Wednesday July 29, the 210th day of 2026. There are 155 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date: 1030 — King Olaf, patron saint of Norway, is killed in the Battle of Stiklestad. His remains were enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral, which was built over his burial site. 1565 — Mary, Queen of Scots, marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, in Edinburgh. 1588 — The Spanish Armada is damaged and scattered by the English fleet at the Battle of Gravelines. 1841 — A group of Maori chiefs sells approximately 1214ha around Waitemata Harbour, the present site of Auckland, to the New Zealand government. 1848 — The Tipperary Revolt, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police during the Irish Potato Famine. 1861 — The Bank of New Zealand is incorporated. 1897 — The steamer Tasmania is wrecked on Mahia Peninsula, northeast of Hawke Bay, with the loss of 11 lives. 1905 — The United States secretary of war, William Howard Taft, makes a secret agreement with the Japanese prime minister Katsura, giving to Japanese free rein in Korea in return for non-interference with US interests in the Philippines. 1907 — Sir Robert Baden-Powell forms Boy Scouts in England. 1911 — New Zealand’s Richard Arnst wins the world sculling championship on Sydney’s Parramatta River. 1914 — Transcontinental telephone services begin in the United States with the first phone conversation between New York and San Francisco. 1921 — The all-India Congress decides to boycott the Prince of Wales’ visit to India; Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party. 1930 — The airship R100 begins its first passenger-carrying flight, from England to Canada. 1937 — Crown Prince Farouk (18) is crowned king of Egypt. 1940 — Germany’s all-out blitz against Britain begins in World War 2. 1941 — The Finnish sailing ship Pamir arrives in Wellington and is seized as a war prize, as Finland is deemed to be an enemy power. It sails under a New Zealand flag until 1949; Vichy France and Japan sign an agreement for ‘‘joint protection’’ of Indochina. It allows France to continue administering colonies, but Japan sends in troops. 1949 — The Soviet Union ends its blockade of West Berlin. 1954 — Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of J R R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, is published. 1957 — The International Atomic Energy Agency is established. 1958 — US president Dwight Eisenhower signs the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates Nasa. 1973 — Voters in Greece endorse decisions by their leaders to abolish the Greek monarchy and install George Papadopoulos as president. 1975 — A bloodless coup in Nigeria ousts General Yakubu Gowon during an African leaders’ summit. 1981 — As protests against a South African rugby tour gather momentum, anti-tour protesters march on the South African consulate in Wellington but are halted by police with batons; New Zealand diva Kiri Te Kanawa sings at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in St Paul’s Cathedral, London. 1985 — In a landmark decision, the Shop Trading Hours Commission grants retailers in Queenstown, Arrowtown, Frankton, Cardrona and Glenorchy permission to trade 24 hours a day every day except Christmas Day and Good Friday, and on Anzac Day before 1pm. 2003 — Moana Mackey enters the House of Representatives as a Labour Party list MP, joining her mother, Janet Mackey, who had been a Labour MP since 1993. They become the first mother and daughter to serve together in New Zealand’s Parliament. 2015 — Zion Harvey became the first paediatric patient to receive a double hand transplant at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. 2023 Lunch turns deadly in Leongatha, Australia, after three diners due through alleged mushroom poisoning. Today’s birthdays: Alexis de Tocqueville, French writer (1805-59); William Downie Stewart jun, New Zealand finance minister, mayor of Dunedin and writer (1878-1949); Maria Louisa (Briar) Gardner, New Zealand potter/speech therapist (1879-1968); Benito Mussolini, Italian dictator (1883-1945); Alexander McGregor Grant, New Zealand surgeon/horse-racing administrator/owner/breeder (1888-1973); Dag Hammarskjold, Swedish diplomat (1905-61); Patrick Stanley Vaughan Heenan, New Zealand-born World War 2 spy (1910-1942); Robert Fuller, US actor (1933-); Millie Khan, New Zealand lawn bowler (1938-2003); Annea Lockwood, New Zealand-born composer (1939-); Terry Jarvis, New Zealand cricket player (1944-); Neal Doughty (REO Speedwagon), US musician (1946-); John Clarke, New Zealand comedian/writer/satirist (1948-2017); Leslie Easterbrook, US actress (1949-); Patti Scialfa, US singer/songwriter (1953-); Ken Burns, US filmmaker (1953-); Alexandra Paul, US actress (1963-); Wil Wheaton, US actor (1972-); Stephen Dorff, US actor (1973-); Fernando Alonso, Spanish motor racing driver (1981-); Allison Mack, US actress (1982-); Marcus Armstrong, New Zealand motor racing driver (2000-). Quote of the day: ‘‘Just before I go, a rugby joke: the All Black selectors.’’ — John Clarke, New Zealand comedian/writer/satirist , who was born on this day in 1948. He died in 2017. ODT and agencies
