On this day: Great North of Scotland Railway opened

On this day in 1991 Otzi the Iceman, the mummy of a man who lived in about 3,000 BC, was discovered by German tourists. Picture: AP

19 SEPTEMBER

1840: Auckland, New Zealand, was founded.

1854: The Great North of Scotland Railway opened, from Aberdeen to Huntly.

1893: New Zealand became the first nation to grant female citizens the right to vote.

1898: British force under Horatio Kitchener reached Fashoda in the Sudan.

1934: Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested in New York and charged with kidnapping baby of American aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh.

1941: The Germans took Kiev in Soviet Union.

1945: William Joyce, known as “Lord Haw-Haw” for his wartime broadcasts for the Nazis, was sentenced to be hanged at the Old Bailey.

1955: Juan Peron, Argentine presidential dictator from 1946, resigned and went into exile after military revolt.

1958: Nasa was founded to co-ordinate non-military space flight and research.

1960: Chubby Checker’s The Twist – a cover of an original Hank Ballard song – entered the American charts and launched a dance craze.

1972: An Israeli diplomat was killed and another injured when letter bomb exploded at Israeli embassy in London.

1975: First of 12 episodes of BBC hotel comedy Fawlty Towers was broadcast.

1978: Egypt’s cabinet approved unanimously president Anwar Sadat’s Camp David agreement to sign peace treaty with Israel within three months.

1981: Black Friday on the Stock Exchange, the worst day for share prices for five years.

1985: Two earthquakes hit Mexico City, killing more than 500.

1991: Ötzi the Iceman was discovered by German tourists.

1993: Nigel Mansell became only the third driver to claim both a Formula 1 and an IndyCar title by winning the grand prix in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

2001: President George W Bush ordered 100 combat aircraft to the Persian Gulf in preparation for a possible strike against Afghanistan and the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

2006: The Thai military staged a coup in Bangkok. The Constitution was revoked and martial law declared.

2010: Baroness Thatcher joined politicians and royalty to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

BIRTHDAYS

Jarvis Cocker, singer (Pulp), 50; Kate Adie OBE, television reporter, 68; J Captain Jim Fox, modern pentathlete, 72; Jeremy Irons, actor, 65; David McCallum, Scottish actor, 80; Patrick Marber, playwright, 49; Margaret Alison of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, politician, farmer and cheesemaker, 73; Duke of Richmond and Gordon, Hereditary Constable of Inverness Castle, 84; Zandra Rhodes CBE, dress designer, 73; Nile Rodgers, music producer, 61; Twiggy (born Lesley Hornby), model and actress, 64.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1806 William Dyce, Aberdeen-born artist; 1839 George Cadbury, Quaker, chocolate manufacturer and social reformer; 1911 Sir William Golding, author and Nobel laureate; 1934 Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles; 1867 Arthur Rackham, illustrator; 1930 Derek Nimmo, actor.

Deaths: 1812 Meyer Rothschild, banker; 1881 James Garfield, 20th American president; 1905 Doctor Thomas Barnardo, social reformer and founder of homes for destitute children; 1988 Roy Kinnear, actor and comedian.