ON THIS DAY MARCH 26

1169 Saladin becomes the emir of Egypt. 1344 The Siege of Algeciras, one of the first European military engagements where gunpowder was used, comes to an end. 1484 William Caxton prints Aesop’s Fables. 1812 A political cartoon in the Boston Gazette coins the term “gerrymander” to describe oddly shaped electoral districts designed to help incumbents win reelection.

1889 Johnny Briggs takes 15-26 (7-17 & 8-11) for England against South Africa at Newlands. The hosts are all out for 47 in their first innings, a score they can’t match in their follow-on innings, as they capitulate to 43 all out. 1898 The world’s first officially designated game reserve, the Sabi Game Reserve, opens after a proclamation in the Official Gazette of the ZAR, prohibits the hunting of game in the area between the Crocodile River in the south and the Sabie River in the north, and between the Lebombo Range in the east and the Drakensberg Range in the west. It is renamed the Kruger National Park in 1926.

1931 New Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of British-Indies.

1945 The Battle of Iwo Jima ends as the island is officially secured by American forces. Some 18 000 Japanese and 6 000 Americans died in the bloodbath over the island.

1971 East Pakistan (Bangladesh) declares its independence from Pakistan.

1979 The historic Camp David peace treaty is signed between Israel and Egypt by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and US President Jimmy Carter at the White House.

2010 A South Korean Navy corvette is torpedoed, killing 46 sailors. The UN blames North Korea.

2012 Canadian filmmaker James Cameron becomes the first person to visit Challenger Deep, the deepest point on Earth, in 50 years | THE HISTORIAN