ON THIS DAY SEPTEMBER 27

1066 William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the River Somme, beginning the Norman conquest of England, a mere two days after England had decisively seen off the Vikings at Stamford Bridge.

1590 Pope Urban VII dies 13 days after being chosen as pope, making his reign the shortest. 1801 Russian inventor Yefim Artamonov presents the world’s first bicycle to the Russian emperor, Alexander I, in St Petersburg. To get there, he cycles 1 600km from his hometown, thereby providing proof of concept.

1825 George Stephenson’s ‘Locomotion No 1’ becomes the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway in England.

1886 Henry Brown Marshall asks Kidger Tucker to plan a residential area for Johannesburg before the planning of the mining camp is complete – Marshalltown is older than the city.

1912 WC Handy publishes Memphis Blues, considered the first blues song.

1924 The Odessa to Moscow express is attacked by bandits and most of the passengers are either killed or injured. It is the second attack in two weeks.

1956 USAF Captain Milburn Apt becomes the first man to go three times faster than the speed of sound, exceeding Mach 3. Shortly after, the Bell X-2 crashes and he is killed. 1959 A typhoon kills 5 000 people in Japan. 1965 Dr Margaret Roach (Killie) Campbell, 84, collector of Africana, dies in Durban.

1999 Twenty-six elderly tourists from Britain and a South African tour guide are killed in a bus accident near Lydenburg.

2005 Mining magnate Brett Kebble is shot seven times in his car in Melrose, while on the way to dinner with business associates. His death opens a can of worms, exposing corruption in big business and government. Kebble was revealed to be involved with high profile and corrupt politicians. Three men were arrested for his ‘murder’, but freed after accepting a plea bargain with the government.

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