ON THIS DAY

APRIL 3

1648 After being marooned for nearly a year at the Cape, the rescued sailors of the Dutch ship Nieuw-Haerlem leave for home and give a favourable report of their experiences. The story is the “catalyst” that determines which of England, France or the Dutch would be the first to settle in the region and where. If it had not been for that shipwreck, the history of colonial South Africa would have turned out very differently.

1702 The Merensteijn strands at Jutten Island on the Cape west coast and sinks with a cargo of gold and silver, which is salvaged in 1972. 1839 George Rex (74), allegedly the illegitimate son of England’s King George III and Hannah Lightfoot, dies in Knysna.

1868 A Hawaiian surfs the then-highest wave – a 50-foot tidal wave.

1882 American Wild West outlaw Jesse James is killed by one of his own gang for a reward. 1948 US President Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan, authorising the rebuilding of European countries ravaged by World War II. 1973 The first portable cellular phone call. 1996 Five members of the AWB each get a 26-year jail sentence for a bombing campaign that killed 20 people and injured hundreds. 2004 Terrorists involved in the Madrid train bombings are trapped by the police in their flat and kill themselves.

2007 Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards denies saying he smoked his father’s ashes. 2007 A French TGV train sets a world speed record (574.8km/h).

2010 Apple releases the iPad.

2020 Cyclone Harold sweeps 27 people off a ferry in the Solomon Islands.

2020 Captain Brett Crozier is cheered by hundreds of his crew as they see him leave the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt after being fired because he sent a four-page letter to Pacific Fleet commanders outlining the seriousness of a Covid-19 outbreak on the ship he was in charge of. The letter was leaked and appeared in the press, embarrassing the navy.

The Taliban bans the cultivation of opium in Afghanistan, with consequences for global supply as the country produces 80%.