ON THIS DAY FEBRUARY 18

1676 Two young lions are sent from Cape Town to Ceylon as a gift to the King of Kandy.

1766 A mutiny by 140 captive Malagasy begins on the slave ship Meermin, leading to the ship’s destruction on Cape Agulhas and the recapture of the instigators. Some 63 000 slaves were brought to the Cape by the Dutch, not just from Madagascar but elsewhere in Africa, as well as large numbers from Malaysia and others from Batavia. Many South Africans are their descendants.

1861 King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia becomes the first King of Italy. 1885 The Adventures of Huckleberry

Finn by Mark Twain is published.

1900 Imperial forces suffer their worst single-day loss of life on Bloody Sunday when 1 270 British are killed or injured on the first day of the Battle of Paardeberg.

1911 The first airmail flight takes place from Allahabad, India, with the delivery of 6 500 letters to Naini, 10km away.

1920 Samuel Marks, diamond buyer of Kimberley and senator in the parliament of the Union of South Africa, dies in Johannesburg, aged 77. Sammy Marks Square in Pretoria was named after him.

1941 Mega, the Italian headquarters in southern Abyssinia, falls to SA forces.

1943 The Nazis arrest the members of the non-violent White Rose movement.

1954 The Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles.

1973 A 54kg octopus, measuring 7m across, is captured in Hood Canal, Washington.

1977 The Space Shuttle above a Boeing 747 goes on its maiden flight.

1982 The Navy frigate SAS President Kruger sinks at Cape Point after colliding with the SAS Tafelberg, 18 sailors die.

2004 Up to 295 people, including 200 rescue workers, die near Nishapur, Iran, when a runaway train carrying sulphur, petrol and fertiliser catches fire.

2010 WikiLeaks publishes the first of hundreds of thousands of classified documents disclosed by the soldier Bradley Edward Manning, who is now known as Chelsea Manning.

2013 Robbers steal diamonds worth $50 million (R703m) from Brussels Airport.

2014 Ukrainian Revolution begins as protesters and riot police take part in violent events in the capital Kiev, culminating in President

Viktor Yanukovych being ousted.