Today in History, 16/9

Highlights in history on this date:

1945 - Japan surrenders Hong Kong at the end of World War II.

1953 - The Robe, the first movie filmed in the widescreen process CinemaScope, has its world premiere at the Roxy Theatre in New York.

1955 - Argentine President Juan Peron, ousted by military coup during second term in office, begins 18-year exile.

1956 - Australian television launches, with Bruce Gyngell announcing on TCN9 Sydney: "Good evening, and welcome to television."

1963 - Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore form Federation of Malaysia.

1967 - UN Secretary-General U Thant calls on the United States to halt bombing of North Vietnam.

1974 - US President Gerald Ford announces a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam war deserters and draft-evaders.

1975 - Papua New Guinea gains full independence from Australia.

1976 - US Episcopal Church approves ordination of women to be priests and bishops.

1977 - Death in Paris of Maria Callas, the American-born prima donna famed for her lyric soprano and fiery temperament. She was 53.

1978 - In Iran, 25,000 people are killed by an earthquake which measures between 7.5 and 7.9 on the Richter scale.

1982 - Massacre of Palestinian refugees by Lebanese Christians at Chatila and Sabra refugee camps in Beirut begins.

1987 - Two dozen countries sign the Montreal Protocol, a treaty designed to save the Earth's ozone layer by calling on nations to reduce emissions of harmful chemicals by 2000.

1990 - Iraq opens Kuwait's borders and thousands of Kuwaitis attempt to flee their country.

1993 - Clashes between ethnic Croats and Muslim-led government forces intensify in central Bosnia after Croat villagers are massacred.

1996 - Romania and Hungary sign a treaty to end a centuries-old rift between the two neighbours and help them join NATO and the European Union.

2000 - The opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics is confirmed as Australian TV's most-watched event, with 10.5 million viewers.

2001 - Iran reports that Tehran's Mayor Morteza Alviri has sent a message of condolence over the September 11 attacks to New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, in the first official public contact between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

2005 - A senior Sunni cleric calls for all Iraq's religious and ethnic groups to take a stand against violence as the country endures a third consecutive day of sectarian killings.

2006 - The Vatican announces that Pope Benedict XVI "sincerely regrets" offending Muslims with his reference to an obscure medieval text that characterises some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman".

2007 - Thai budget One-Two-Go Airlines' domestic flight OG269, carrying 123 passengers and seven crew members, crashes as it tries to land in pouring rain on Thailand's resort island of Phuket. At least 90 people are killed, including 54 foreign tourists.

2008 - Brendan Nelson loses the leadership of Australia's federal opposition to Malcolm Turnbull in a spill.

2010 - Pope Benedict XVI wades into the hostile atmosphere of highly-secular Britain, admitting the Roman Catholic Church did not act decisively or quickly enough to remove priests who molested children.

2011 - Ghana-born trader Kweku Adoboli is charged with fraud and false accounting while working for Swiss bank UBS in London's financial district and is believed to have run up losses of $2 billion.

2013 - Prime minister-elect Tony Abbott names his first ministry but receives criticism for naming just one woman - Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop.

2015 - A massive 8.3-magnitude earthquake hits Chile, killing five people and forcing one million to evacuate their homes.

2016 - Former federal minister Clive Palmer fails in his bid to have a Federal Court grilling over the collapse of Queensland Nickel halted.

2017 - With so many people "having serious conversations with Siri", Apple announces plans to hire a software engineer with a counselling or psychology background to make its virtual assistant a better therapist.

Today's Birthdays:

John Gay, English poet (1685-1732); Janis Paige, US actress (1922-); Lee Kuan Yew, ex prime minister of Singapore (1923-2015); Lauren Bacall, US actress (1924-2014); BB King, US blues musician (1925-2015); Peter Falk, US actor (1927-2011); Ed Begley Jnr, US actor (1949-); ; Mickey Rourke, US actor (1956-); David Copperfield, US magician (1956-); Mary Coustas, Australian comedian (1964-); Marc Anthony, American singer (1968-); Amy Poehler, US actress, writer and comedian (1971-); Shannon Noll, Australian singer (1975-); Nick Jonas, US singer, one of The Jonas Brothers (1992-).

Thought For Today:

He who loves himself best need fear no rival - Latin proverb.

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