Dec 16 in History

1775 — Jane Austin, novelist (“Sense and Sensibility”, “Pride and Prejudice”), is born in Hampshire, England. 1838 — In the Battle of Blood River, a Voortrekker commando of 470 men, under leadership of Andries Pretorius and Sarel Cilliers, is attacked at Ncome River (later called Blood River) by an army of Zulu

King Dingaan. About 3,000 Zulus are killed. The day is first commemorated as Dingaan’s Day and later as Day of the Covenant (Vow), a public holiday. 1995 — It becomes Day of Reconciliation.

1880 — The first shots in Anglo-Boer War 1 are fired between the British garrison in Potchefstroom and a commando under General Piet Cronjé. The war ends with the defeat of the British in the battle of Amajuba on February 27 1881.

1904 — President Paul Kruger is interred in The Heroes’ Acre in Pretoria. After contracting pneumonia, he died in Clarens, Switzerland, on July 14 1904 at the age of 78. He was initially buried in The Hague, but was repatriated with British permission. 1913 — The Women’s Memorial is unveiled in Bloemfontein to commemorate 26,251 women and children who died during Anglo-Boer War 2, mainly in British concentration camps.

1920 — A magnitude 7.8 earthquake rocks Haiyuan County, China, causing massive landslides and the deaths of 273,400 people.

1947 — The Blood River Monument is inaugurated. 1998 — The Ncome Monument project is unveiled at the site (opened on November 26 1999).

1949 — The Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria is inaugurated, 11 years after the corner stone was laid. 1952 — Albert John Luthuli is elected presidentgeneral of the ANC, a position he holds until his death on July 21 1967.

1961 — Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) commits its first acts of violence, when several buildings in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg are damaged by explosions. One MK member is killed by his own bomb, while another loses an arm.

1995 — Orlando Pirates become the first Southern African team to win the African Cup of Champion Clubs (replaced by the Caf Champions League in 1997), beating Ivory Coast’s ASEC Mimosas 1-0 in the second leg of the final (3-2 on aggregate) in Abidjan. Mamelodi Sundowns (2016) are the only other Southern African team to lift the trophy.

2006 — Taliep Petersen, one of SA’s most popular theatre personalities, is shot dead at his Athlone, Cape Town, home. His wife Najwa is found guilty of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances (along with hitmen Abdoer Emjedi and Waheed Hassen) on December 2 2008 and sentenced to 28 years in prison on February 4 2009.