ON THIS DAY AUGUST 28

1499 Explorer and navigator Vasco da Gama arrives in Lisbon after completing his voyage to India via the Cape of Good Hope.

1842 About 200 people drown when a strong north-westerly blows the SS Waterloo broadside on to the shore in Table Bay. The gale also forces the SS Abercrombie Robinson aground at Salt River mouth in the bay, but all on board are saved.

1859 A geomagnetic storm causes the aurora borealis to shine so brightly that it is seen clearly over parts of the US, Europe, and even as far afield as Japan.

1879 Cetshwayo, the last of the independent Zulu kings, is captured by the British at the end of the Zulu War.

1837 Pharmacists John Lea and William Perrins manufacture Worcestershire Sauce.

1898 Caleb Bradham renames his carbonated soft drink, Pepsi-Cola.

1919 General John Smuts becomes premier of South Africa.

1939 Journalist Care Hollingworth gets the scoop on the outbreak of World War II by filing reports that the “large numbers of troops, literally hundreds of tanks, armored cars and field guns” had lined up along the Polish border. Three days later, Germany invades Poland.

1940 The SA Air Force bombs Italian bases in Somaliland.

1963 US civil rights leader, Martin Luther King jr gives his famous “I have a dream” speech.

1965 Four-time world surfing champion, Wendy Botha, is born in East London.

1988 Three aircraft of the Italian Frecce Tricolori demonstration team collide over the crowd at the Ramstein air show in Germany; 75 people are killed and 346 seriously injured.

2018 “Queen of Soul”, Aretha Franklin lies in state in a Detriot museum in a 24-carat coffin.

2018 Puerto Rico raises death toll of Hurricane Maria from 64 to 2 975. |

The Historian