ON THIS DAY

1431 England’s King Henry VI is crowned King of France in Paris.

1497 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama sails along Africa’s East Coast, names it Natal. 1770 Ludwig van Beethoven is born in Bonn, Germany. He created powerful, emotional music and is widely considered the greatest orchestral composer. He suffered from hearing loss before he was 30 and by the time of his last (Ninth) symphony, he was completely deaf. In 1824, he conducts the Ninth Symphony at its world premier in Vienna despite being unable to hear either the orchestra or the applause. 1773 The Boston Tea Party takes place as the Sons of Liberty movement dumps 342 crates of expensive tea into Boston harbour as a protest against the British-imposed Tea Act.

1838 The Voortrekkers, 470 of them, defeat 10 000 Zulu attackers at Ncome River. Commemorated by Afrikaners as Dingaan’s Day and as Day of the Covenant/vow, it becomes the Day of Reconciliation.

1863 Philosopher George Santayana is born in Madrid, Spain. He is best known for stating, ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it’.

1901 Beatrix Potter publishes The Tale of Peter Rabbit. It sells more than 45 million copies. 1913 The Women’s Memorial is unveiled in Bloemfontein, to commemorate 26 251 women and children who died in the Second Angloboer War, mainly in concentration camps.

1914 German battleships bombard the English ports of Hartlepool and Scarborough.

1938 The Voortrekker Monument foundation stone is laid.

1944 The Battle of the Bulge begins as the Germans launched a big counter-offensive. 1944 A German V-2 rocket hits an Antwerp bioscope, killing 638 people.

1947 The Blood River Monument is inaugurated.

1949 The Voortrekker Monument is opened. 1961 Strategically timed, Umkhonto wesizwe (MK) performs its first acts of sabotage.

1995 Orlando Pirates becomes the first SA team to win the African League of Champions. 2016 Beijing and 21 other Chinese cities declare a ‘meteorological disaster’ – a 5-day pollution red alert. | THE HISTORIAN