May 17 in History
1536 — Anne Boleyn’s five alleged lovers — her brother George Boleyn, Francis Weston, William Brereton, Henry Norris and Mark Smeaton — are executed. The first four maintained their innocence on charges of adultery (incest in George’s case) and treason, but Smeaton “admitted” the charges under torture. Anne is beheaded two days later.
1838 — Sir James Liege Hulett, sugar magnate, politician and philanthropist in the Colony of Natal, is born in Yorkshire, England. He arrives in Durban in May 1857, with £20 and an offer of a position with a chemist. In 1860 he leases a 600-acre farm in the Nonoti area, which he calls Kearsney. He experiments with maize, sweet potatoes, chillies, arrowroot and coffee and establishes a trading store. His soon flourishing business enables him to purchase several farms in the area. At Kearsney he establishes a thriving tea estate, the foundation of the company Sir JL Hulett & Sons — also the start of his sugar empire. 1865 — The International Telegraph Union is established in Paris by 20 founding members. It merges with the International Radiotelegraph Union in 1932 to form the International Telecommunication Union, now the UN’s specialised agency for information and communication technologies issues. 1875 — The first Kentucky Derby is run in Louisville and won by Aristides, a colt ridden by Oliver Lewis. 1900 — Esther Franks, physician and the first woman ophthalmic surgeon in SA (a pioneer in the fight against blindness), is born in Zürich, Switzerland.
1900 — The 217-day Siege of Mafikeng is lifted when a flying column of some 2,000 British soldiers, including many volunteers from Kimberley, relieve the town from the Boer forces after fighting their way in. 1900 — “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, by L Frank Baum, is published in the US. Baum assembles the first copy off the press by hand and presents it to his sister, Mary Louise Baum Brewster.
1954 — Michael (Muis) Roberts, 11-time SA champion jockey and 1992 champion of Britain, is born in Cape Town. He rides his first winner, Smyrn, in Pietermaritzburg in 1968. A neck injury resulting from a fall in the UK in 2001 leads to his retirement at 48, just 32 winners short of his 4,000 milestone.
1956 — Ray Charles (Sugar Ray) Leonard, boxer (world champion in five weight divisions, 1977-1997), is born in Willington, South Carolina, US.
1967 — Mohamed Nasheed, lawyer and politician (fourth — and the first democratically elected — president of the Maldives, 2008-12), is born in Malé. 2009 — Dalia Grybauskaite, 53, EU budget chief and karate black belt, becomes Lithuania’s first female president after a landslide victory at the polls.