May 26 in History
1897 — “Dracula”, a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, is published.
1907 — John Wayne (“Duke”), American actor, is born as Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, Iowa. Famous for his Western and World War 2 movies, he wins the 1969 Oscar for “True Grit”.
1920 — Jack (John Erskine) Cheetham, SA cricketer, is born in Mowbray, Cape Town. After serving in the Middle East during World War 2, he makes his Test debut against the 1948/49 MCC touring side. He first captains SA on the 1952/53 tour of Australia. He plays 24 Tests, 15 as captain.
1941 — Cliff Drysdale, SA tennis player (pioneer of the double-handed backhand), is born in Nelspruit. 1948 — SA’s United Party, in government since 1933, and its leader, Prime Minister Jan Smuts, are ousted by the Herenigde Nasionale Party, led by Dr DF
Malan. The two parties form coalitions with smaller parties. The results: the HNP (70) and Afrikaner Party (9) coalition wins 79 seats; the UP (65) and Labour Party (6) coalition 71; Independents win 3 seats.
1954 — Kamal el-Mallakh, Egyptian architect and archaeologist working as Antiquities Service inspector at the Giza pyramid complex, discovers Khufu’s solar boat. The pieces are painstakingly removed. The re-assembling of 1,224 pieces of cedar, acacia and other elements making up the 43.6m long and 5.9m wide the royal barque, starts in 1958 and is completed in 1968. It is housed in The Khufu Boat Museum, built in 1982 alongside the Great Pyramid. 1977 — George H Willig, a 27-year-old toy maker and mountaineer, scales the 110-storey South Tower of New York City’s World Trade Center to the delight of thousands who watch his three-and-a-half-hour feat. He is arrested at the top of the building. The City of New York announces it would fine him $250,000 for “the inconvenience the stunt caused”. Mayor Abraham Beame, however, sets the fine at $1.10, one cent for each of the skyscraper’s 110 storeys.
1991 — An Austrian Lauda Air Boeing 767, en route to Vienna, crashes in a remote forest area of Thailand 15 minutes after takeoff from Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, killing all 223 people on board. Niki Lauda, three-time Formula One world champion and owner of the airline, travels to Bangkok for his own investigation and attends a funeral for 23 (of 27) unidentified passengers. Crash investigators blame an engine thrust reverser that deployed, causing the plane to spiral out of control and break up at 1,200m. 1991 — Girija Prasad Koirala becomes prime minister of Nepal’s first democratically elected government after a popular revolt ends absolute rule by the king. 2003 — SA’s Sibusiso Vilane, 32, becomes the first black African to reach the summit of Mount Everest.