Oct 14 in History
1586 — Mary, Queen of Scots (December 14 1542 to July 24 1567), the only surviving legitimate child of James V who succeeded him at six days old, goes on trial in England, accused of treason (related to her claim to the England throne) against Elizabeth I.
Mary, 44, is beheaded on February 8 1587. Her son, James VI, succeeds Elizabeth after her death in 1603 and reigns as James I of England for 22 years.
1639 — Simon van der Stel, first Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony (June 1 1691 to November 2 1699), is born on board ship near Mauritius, where his father Adriaan (and mother Maria) is headed to take up his post as that country’s first Dutch governor. 1888 — AD (Albertus Daniël) Keet, SA poet, is born in Alice, Eastern Cape. In 1909 he begins studying medicine in the Netherlands. While there, he works as doctor, reportedly scores the first try on Netherlands soil in an exhibition rugby match against Afrikaans students from Scotland and marries Nell van der Poll, also a doctor, in 1919. They return to SA in 1920 and open a practice in Senekal, Eastern Free State.
1913 — An explosion and the released poisonous gas at the Universal Colliery in Senghenydd, Wales, kill 439 men and boys, including eight 14-year-olds. It is still the worst disaster in British mining history.
1927 — Roger Moore, actor (James Bond from 1973 to 1985), is born in London.
1933 — Germany quits the Geneva Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations, founded in 1920 to maintain world peace after World War 1. 1940 — Pierre Mans, SA’s most successful snooker player, is born in Johannesburg. He wins the 1960 SA Amateur Championship in his only attempt and turns professional. A left-hander famous for his long, powerful pots and fashionable waistcoats, he wins the SA Professional Championship 19 times between 1965 and 1989. He maintains a top-10 world ranking for five consecutive season (1976/7 to 1980/1), the highest, No 2, in 1978/9.
1940 — Cliff Richard, singer-songwriter and actor, is born Harry Rodger Webb in Lucknow, British India. 1965 — SA signs a treaty with France on airline pooling between SAA and UTA (absorbed by AirFrance between 1990 and 1992).
1968 — Jim Hines, US sprinter, becomes the first man to break the 10-second barrier in the 100m at the Mexico City Olympic Games, clocking 9.95s. 1992 — Two days before his 56th birthday, Russia’s worst serial killer, Andrei Chikatilo (“Butcher of Rostov”), is convicted of the sexual assault, murder and mutilation of 52 women and children between 1978 and 1990 (having confessed to 56 murders and tried for 53). He is executed on February 14 1994. 2005 — Daniel Craig, 37, is named the new 007.