TODAY IN HISTORY

1917: Some 616 South Africans, including 607 African troops, drown when the SS Mendi, taking them to fight in France, sinks in the English Channel. 1986: The government opens “whites only” downtown districts of Johannesburg and Durban to all races in the first break with the apartheid policy of segregated business areas. 1995: The IFP announces a boycott of parliament and the constitution-making process. IFP leader Mangosutho Buthelezi, pictured, says the ANC and the NP reneged on an agreement to invite international mediation on the constitutional differences between them and Inkatha.

Source: South African History Online