ON THIS DAY

Sir Thomas Herriot introduces potatoes to England from Colombia

Astronomer Anders Celsius takes measurements that confirm Newton’s theory that the earth was an ellipsoid rather than the previously accepted sphere.

Explorer Henry Morton Stanley founds Leopoldville (now Kinshasa).

Modern neon lighting is first demonstrated at the Paris Motor Show.

The costly Battle of Monte Cassino – one of the fiercest of World War II – begins. South Africans are involved.

Britain’s Home Guard (“Dad’s Army”) is officially stood down at a special farewell parade.

– At Groote Schuur Hospital, a transplant team led by Christiaan Barnard carries out the first heart transplant on a human (Louis Washkansky, 53). He dies of pneumonia 18 days later.

Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu is installed as the eighth king of the Zulus at a traditional ceremony at Nongoma, attended by 20 000 people.

Christies auctions a thimble for a record $18,400.

A Union Carbide pesticide plant leaks tons of chemicals in Bhopal, India, killing 2 259 officially but other estimates as high as 16 000 and over half a million injured make it one of the worst industrial disasters in history.

Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and US President George HW Bush, declare the Cold War over.

English wicket-keeper Jack Russell takes a record 11 catches in a Test cricket match vs South Africa.

The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea, carrying 80 000 tons of crude oil, runs aground off Spain, and spills much of its cargo.

The Japanese space agency launches a space explorer on a six-year mission to an asteroid to collect rock samples.

The US army decides it will not allow an oil pipeline to be built in North Dakota, after months of protests by The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

First pizza party in space held by astronauts of the International Space Station.