ON THIS DAY SEPTEMBER 24

1660 Jan van Riebeeck writes to Otto Jansz on Robben Island, asking about the number of sheep on the island, if he needs more, and telling him to care for the island’s lighthouse. 1879 Tay Bridge River disaster – high winds blow girders from the bridge over the Tay Firth in Scotland just as a train is crossing it. The train plunges into the water, killing 75 people. 1929 One of the most famous pilots during the interwar period, American Jimmy Doolittle, makes one of the most important contributions to flying by performing the first ‘blind’ flight, proving that full instrument flying from take-off to landing is possible. He was the first to test the now universally used artificial horizon and directional gyroscope. Doolittle later leads America’s first raid on the Japanese mainland, leading a flight of bombers off aircraft carriers. 1950 The Chinchaga fire in western Canada becomes the largest recorded fire in North American history, sending smoke to Europe. 1950 Operation Magic Carpet sees all Jews from Yemen move to Israel.

1952 Fast food restaurant chain KFC opens. 1957 US President Dwight Eisenhower sends paratroopers to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation.

1960 The USS Enterprise, the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched. 1966 World champion boxer Dingaan Bongani ‘The Rose of Soweto’ Thobela is born.

2008 Thabo Mbeki resigns as SA president. 2014 The Mars Orbiter Mission makes India the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, and the first nation to do so on its first attempt. | THE HISTORIAN