ON THIS DAY

Baron Joachim Ammena van Plettenberg, Cape governor, reaches a bay near Melkhoutkraal which he names Plettenberg Bay and where he erects a stone pillar.

Diamonds are first discovered at Kimberley, leading to the construction of the world’s largest open mine, the Big Hole.

Major-General Charles Knox beats the Boers at the Battle at Bothaville.

Mohandas Gandhi is arrested while leading a march of Indian miners in South Africa.

The Bolshevik revolution begins with bombardment of the Winter Palace in Petrograd during the Russian October Revolution

The USSR adopts an experimental calendar, with 5-day “weeks”.

The Japanese fleet readies for an assault on Pearl Harbor.

During the Battle of Moscow, Joseph Stalin addresses the Soviet people for only the second time – he had been the country’s leader since 1922.

Building starts on the Kariba Dam in the Zambezi River.

Saudi Arabia proclaims abolition of slavery.

Cuba and the US agree to begin an airlift for Cubans who want to go to the US. By 1971, 250 000 Cubans had taken advantage of the offer.

The earthen Kelly Barnes Dam, located above Toccoa Falls Bible College near Toccoa, Georgia, fails, killing 39.

The Shah of Iran places Iran under military rule.

The Ayatollah Khomeini takes over in Iran following the collapse of the Shah’s regime.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin outlaws the Communist Party.

Rodney Petersen, 12, of Clanwilliam, Western Province, dies during a cricket game when struck by a ball.

Emmerson Mnangagwa is fired as vice-president by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. The public and media widely perceive Mugabe’s wife, Grace, as his successor after his death with Mnangagwa having been seen as her rival, but the politically shrewd “Ngwena/ Garwe” (crocodile) has the last laugh.