Today is Thursday, July 30, the 211th day of 2026. There are 154 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date: 1619 — The first legislative assembly in America, known as the House of Burgesses, is convened in Jamestown, Virginia. 1715 — Eleven ships sink and an estimated 1000 passengers and crew drown when a convoy of 12 Spanish ships filled with gold and silver is struck by a hurricane off the coast of Florida. 1775 — Captain James Cook with HMS Resolution safely returns to England at the end of his second voyage. 1792 — The French national anthem, La Marseillaise, by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, is first sung in Paris. 1867 — A snowstorm engulfs the Canterbury region. By its end, more than half-a-million sheep and cattle will have perished. 1869 — The Charles, considered the world’s first ‘‘oil tanker’’, departs from the United States headed for Europe with a bulk capacity of 7000 barrels of oil. 1884 — The Knox Church organ is used for the first time for a recital given by Mr A. J. Barth. Purchase of the organ caused considerable division among members of the congregation. Its escalating price not helping when the original cost of £1200 blew out to over £1700. 1890 — Constable Neil McLeod becomes the first police officer to be killed on duty when he is shot by gumdigger Henry Funcke while aboard the steamer Minnie Casey off Dargaville. 1923 — The UK government passes an Order in Council laying claim to the Ross Dependency in Antarctica, and appointing New Zealand’s Governor-General as its governor. 1928 — Colour motion pictures showing goldfish, peacocks, flowers, fashion models and butterflies are exhibited by George Eastman. 1935 — The first Penguin book is published, starting the paperback revolution. 1937 — The Russian Politburo issues NKVD Order No 00447, to repress former kulaks and anti-soviets. According to figures released by the Russian Government in 1995, troikas handed down 688,000 sentences or 87% of all criminal sentences in the USSR in 1937 and 75% in 1938. A total of 681,692 people were sentenced to be shot in 1937-38. 1949 — The British warship HMS Amethyst escapes down the Yangtze River, having been refused safe passage by Chinese communists, after a three-month standoff. 1954 — The British Empire and Commonwealth Games open in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Attended by 24 nations and 662 competitors, these were the first games since the name change from British Empire Games took effect in 1952. These games were notable for what was billed as the ‘‘Mile of the Century’’ between Roger Bannister (England) and John Landy (Australia), which resulted in them becoming the first two runners to break four minutes in the same race over a mile. Also in the race were New Zealanders Murray Halberg and Bill Baillie. On the same afternoon, Jim Peters, holder of the world-best time for the marathon, entered the stadium 17 minutes ahead of his nearest rival, but collapsed on his final lap, and never completed the race. 1963 — The Soviet newspaper Izvestia reports that Kim Philby, recently revealed as the ‘‘third man’’ in Britain’s Burgess and Maclean spy affair, has been given asylum in Moscow. 1966 — England beats Germany 4-2 at Wembley to win the Fifa World Cup. 1971 — The arrival of Prime Minister Keith Holyoake triggers a clash between anti-war demonstrators and police outside the Dunedin Town Hall. Cabinet ministers were jeered as they arrived, with eggs and stones being thrown. 1976 — Goalie Trevor Manning plays the final 14min with a shattered kneecap as the New Zealand men’s hockey team wins the gold medal at the Montreal Olympic Games. 1977 — In his debut test, Otago’s Bevan Wilson scores eight points when he features in the All Blacks’ 19-7 defeat of the Lions at Carisbrook, before a crowd of 34,000. 1979 — Carless days are introduced in New Zealand due to the second oil shock. However, they do little to reduce petrol consumption and the scheme is scrapped within a year. 1980 — Vanuatu (the New Hebrides) gains independence from Britain and France. 1997 — Eighteen lives are lost in the Thredbo Landslide in Australia. 2003 — The world’s last ‘‘Love Bug’’ Volkswagen Beetle, No 21,529,464 in the car’s 68-year history, rolls off the production line in Mexico, ending the long history of a car that was originally Hitler’s idea. 2005 —The Maniototo International Curling Rink opens in Naseby. 2013 — Wikileaks discloser Bradley (later Chelsea) Manning convicted of 17 espionage charges. 2023 — The Football Ferns achieve a meritorious Fifa Womens World Cup draw 0-0 against Switzerland in Dunedin, but it is not enough to qualify them for the next stage of the tournament. Today’s birthdays: Emily Bronte, British writer (1818-48); Sir James Mills, New Zealand businessman/politician (1847-1936); Henry Ford, US car maker (1863-1947); Nugent Welch, New Zealand artist (1881-1970); James Condliffe, New Zealand cricketer (1888-1945); Henry Moore, British artist (1898-1986); Buddy Guy, US blues musician (1936-); Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican musician (1944-); Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian actor and former California governor (1947-) Brad Johnstone, All Black (1950-); Brian Boyd, New Zealand literary critic (1952-); Kate Bush, British musician (1958-); Laurence Fishburne, US actor (1961-); Lisa Kudrow, US actress (1963-); Kerry Fox, New Zealand actress (1966-); Terry Crews, US actor/presenter (1968-); Christopher Nolan, British film director (1970-); Christine Taylor, US actress (1971-); Daniella Smith, New Zealand professional boxer (1972-); Hilary Swank, US actress (1974-); Louise Corcoran, New Zealand skeleton racer (1979-); Jimmy Anderson, British cricketer (1982-); Khan Chittenden, New Zealand-born actor (1983-); Gina Rodriguez, US actress (1984-); Joey King, US actress (1999-). Quote of the day: ‘‘There's a lot of people who want me to get out of acting and want me to run for governor. I think it's mostly movie critics.’’ — Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian actor and former California governor, who was born this day in 1947. ODT and agencies
