ON THIS DAY

1216 King John of England dies at Newark-on-Trent and is succeeded by his 9-year-old son Henry.

The Hundred Years War ends with the French recapture of Bordeaux, leaving the English in control only of Calais.

Ferdinand II of Aragon marries Isabella I of Castile, a marriage that paves the way for the unification of Aragon and Castile into a single country, Spain.

Cattle-herder David Jansz is murdered in the Cape by a group of Strandlopers (a Khoisan tribe), led by interpreter Herry, who takes all the cattle.

The longest bare-knuckle fight on record occurs when James Kelly and Jack Smith fight for 6 hours 15 minutes in Melbourne, Australia.

Max Planck discovers the law of black-body radiation (Planck’s law).

At a meeting of the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in Durban, NIC secretaries MC Anglia and Dada Osman severely criticise Mahatma Gandhi and tender their resignations. The First Battle of Ypres begins. The discovery of seashells in Algeria proves that the Sahara was once partially submerged.

Cargo ship Sinfra attacked by Allied aircraft at Souda Bay, Crete, and sunk; 2 098 Italian prisoners of war drown.

US President Harry Truman formally ends state of war with Germany.

The Soviet Union and Japan sign a Joint Declaration, officially ending the state of war between the two countries which had existed since August 1945.

Samora Machel, President of Mozambique and a prominent leader of Frelimo, and 33 others die when their Tupolev Tu-134 plane crashes into the Lebombo Mountains.

The convictions of the Guildford Four are quashed by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales after they had spent 15 years in prison.

Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity.

A working human intestine is generated in a laboratory from stem cells in the US.