Aug 26 in History
1542 — Spanish explorer/conquistador Francisco de Orellana and his party reach the Atlantic Ocean to complete the first known navigation of the entire length of the Amazon River.
1723 — Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 90, “the father of microbiology”, dies in Delft, Netherlands. Starting his research in his drapery shop, he was the first person to observe bacteria and protozoa.
1743 — Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier, “the father of modern chemistry”, is born in Paris. He (among other things) recognises and names oxygen and hydrogen; helps construct the metric system; writes the first extensive list of elements. A powerful member of a number of aristocratic councils, he is guillotined on May 8 1794 at the height of the French Revolution. 1906 — Albert Bruce Sabin, US virologist, is born Albert Saperstein in Bialystock, Poland. He develops an oral polio vaccine in the 1950s, key to nearly eradicating the disease. He refuses to patent his vaccine, foiling exploitation by the pharmaceutical industry, to keep the price low for wider distribution. He continues to live on his salary as a professor.
1907 — Harry Houdini escapes from chains underwater in 57 seconds at Aquatic Park.
1910 — Mother Teresa is born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu to an ethnic Albanian family in Üsküb, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire.
1929 — SA’s first official commercial air service, founded by World War 1 flying ace Major Allister Mackintosh Miller under the name of Union Airways, commences operations. It starts as an airmail delivery service from its Port Elizabeth headquarters using Gypsy Moths. It carries its first passenger on September 3. The government takes over the company’s assets and liabilities on February 1 1934 and renames it South African Airways.
1933 — Several gatherings are held in SA to introduce the first Bible in Afrikaans, culminating in the Bybelfees in Bloemfontein on the 27th.
1936 — The Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, ending 54 years of British occupation and calling for most British troops to leave Egypt except those guarding the
Suez Canal, is signed in London.
1970 — The liner SA Vaal rescues a Johannesburg man, Joseph Honeywill, 11 hours after he fell overboard near the Canary Islands.
1985 — Zola Budd breaks the 5,000m world record in London, finishing in 14:48.07 to eclipse the Norwegian Ingrid Kristiansen’s mark of 14:58.89. Budd shot to fame in 1984 when, as a 17-year-old barefoot runner, she set a record of 15:01.83; not ratified by the IAAF because it was accomplished in SA.
1997 — FW de Klerk announces his resignation as National Party leader and departure from politics.