FEBRUARY 15

399BC Philosopher Socrates is sentenced to death by the city of Athens for corrupting the minds of the youth of the city and for impiety. 1642 Astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei is born in Pisa, Italy. He was the first astronomer to use a telescope and advanced the theory that the sun, not the earth, was the centre of the solar system.

1809 Inventor Cyrus McCormick is born in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He gave the world the horse-drawn mechanical reaper, which freed farmers from hard labour and contributed to the development of vast areas of the American Great Plains.

1839 Regulations are proclaimed for the layout of a third Voortrekker town – the first being Winburg and Potchefstroom and the first in Natal – named Pietermaritzburg, after Piet Retief and Gerrit Maritz who Dingane had slain along with 70 of their followers.

1898 The battleship USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana, Cuba, killing 274, leading the US to declare war on Spain.

1900 The Siege of Kimberley is broken by British troops under Lieutenant-General John French after a 124-day siege by the Boers. 1936 Adolf Hitler announces construction of the Volkswagen Beetle (the People’s Car). 1942 British General Arthur Percival surrenders Singapore to Japan, and the largest surrender of British-led military personnel (some 80 000) takes place.

1971 After 1 200 years, Britain abandons the pence and shilling curency system.

1972 José María Velasco Ibarra, serving as president of Ecuador for the fifth time, is overthrown for the fourth time by the military. 1982 The drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks in a storm off Newfoundland, killing 84 workers. 1989 The USSR says all its troops have left Afghanistan after a costly 9-year involvement. 1992 Amercian serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of killing 15 boys.

1986 The Alexandra ‘6-day war’ starts – 27 people are killed when the police and army clash with youths.

1998 Proteas Pat Symcox and Mark Boucher set a world-record partnership of 195 runs for a 9th-wicket stand against Pakistan.

2013 A meteor unexpectedly explodes over Chelyabinsk, Russia, injuring 1 500 people as a shock wave blows out windows and rocks building. It came just hours before the expected closest ever approach to Earth of a much larger (50m-diameter) asteroid.

2018 Cyril Ramaphosa is sworn in as president. | THE HISTORIAN