ON THIS DAY

IN HISTORY

597 BC: Babylonians capture Jerusalem, and replace Jeconiah with Zedekiah as king.

1561: The Jesuit, Gonçalo da Silveira, first missionary in southern Africa and first martyr of the Christian faith, is murdered in the interior.

1657: Jan Wouters is found guilty in court in the Cape for “blasphemous libels on Cape ladies” and is sentenced to beg their pardon on his knees, to have his tongue “bored through”, to forfeit his wages, and to be banished for 3 years. 1713: A quarter of the White population in the Cape dies of smallpox. However, the hardest hit are the Khoisan.

1871: Dr Hans Merensky, discoverer of tin near Pretoria, platinum near Lydenburg, diamonds at Alexander Bay, chromium at Pietersburg and phosphate at Phalaborwa, is born at Botshabelo, near Middelburg, eastern Transvaal.

1872: The Wanderers FC won the first FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, beating Royal Engineers A.F.C. 1–0 at The Oval in Kennington, London.

1971: One of the most influential blues musicians of all time Blues Musician Muddy Waters wins his first Grammy Award. The Rolling Stones named themselves after his 1950 hit song “Rollin’ Stone”. He won six grammys.

1978: Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped. (He is later murdered by his captors.)

1988: Halabja chemical attack: The Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5000 people and injuring about 10000 people. | The Historian