ON THIS DAY
MARCH 5
1046 Inspired by a dream, renowned Persian writer Nasir Khusraw begins a seven-year, 19 000km Middle Eastern journey. The graphic description of this journey is contained in the Safarnama, which still possesses special value among books of travel, as it contains the most authentic account of the state of the Muslim world in the middle of the 11th century.
1496 English King Henry VII grants John Cabo – a Venetian merchant called Giovanni Caboto – a commission to explore for new lands. He is the first European to make landfall on the North American continent since the Vikings.
1836 Samuel Colt manufactures first pistol, the .34-calibre “Texas” model.
1872 George Westinghouse patents triple air brake for trains.
1908 The first ascent of the highest peak in Antarctica, Mt Erebus, takes place.
1912 Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes.
1916 SA troops invade East Africa in their confrontation with German forces.
1921 The Durban Land Alienation Ordinance is passed, allowing the Durban City Council to exclude Indians from ownership or occupation of property in white areas.
1924 The first one-day flight between Cape Town and Pretoria takes place.
1936 The prototype of the world-famous Spitfire fighter makes its first flight.
1940 Top politburo members sign an order for the execution of 25 700 Polish intelligentsia in what will become known as the Katyn massacre.
1953 Soviet leader Joseph Stalin dies, having collapsed after a party at his dacha in Moscow four days earlier.
1981 The ZX81, a British home computer, is launched by Sinclair Research and goes on to sell over 1.5 million units around the world.
1994 Nelspruit sets a world record with the largest milkshake ever made – it includes 7 400 litres of liquid chocolate.
1995 The graves of the last tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, and his family – executed by the Bolsheviks – are found in St Petersburg.
2012 Tropical Storm Irina kills more than 75 people as it passes through Madagascar.
2019 Second person is “cured” of HIV after having stem cell transplant treatment in London, England. The results are published in the journal ‘Nature’.
2019 Bugatti announces the most expensive new car ever made – the La Voiture Noire costing €16.7 million, only one manufactured. | THE HISTORIAN