ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
England’s King Henry VI is crowned King of France in Paris.
Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama sails along Africa’s East Coast and names it Natal.
Mount Vesuvius, Italy, erupts, destroying six villages and killing 4 000 people.
Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius and Sarel Cilliers defeat Zulu impis led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kasompisi, at Ncome River. This day was first commemorated by the Afrikaner community as Dingaan’s Day and later as Day of the Covenant.
The first shots of the First Boer War are fired in Potchefstroom.
The Women’s Memorial is unveiled in Bloemfontein to commemorate 26 251 women and children who died during the Second Anglo-boer War, mainly in concentration camps
The foundation stone of the Voortrekker Monument is laid.
South African military hero Dan Pienaar gains distinction in an attack on the Italian outpost of El Wak and is awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).
Nazi Germany begins the ‘Battle of the Bulge’
The Blood River Monument is inaugurated.
The Voortrekker Monument is inaugurated.
Umkhonto wesizwe performs its first acts of sabotage.
Beijing and 21 other Chinese cities declare a “meteorological disaster” - a five-day pollution red alert. |