ON THIS DAY, SEPTEMBER 23

1338 The Battle of Arnemuiden is the first naval battle of the Hundred Years War and the first using artillery, as the English ship Christopher had three cannons.

1459 The Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Wars of the Roses, takes place.

1641 The sailing ship Merchant Royal, carrying more than £100 000 in gold (equivalent to more than £1 billion today), is lost at sea off Land’s End.

1806 Explorers Lewis and Clark return to St Louis after exploring the Pacific north-west. 1838 Gerhardus Marthinus (Gert) Maritz, 41, Voortrekker leader, dies at Sooilaer, Natal. 1867 Anna (Sister Annie) Tempo, founder of the “Nanny House” for destitute girls on the streets of Cape Town, is born in Cape Town. Her parents were former slaves who were brought from Mozambique. 1889 Nintendo Koppai (which becomes the Nintendo Company) is founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market the playing card game, Hanafuda.

1909 The Phantom of the Opera (Le Fantôme de l’Opéra), a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux, is first published.

1913 Frenchman Roland Garros, after whom the premier tennis stadium in France is named, becomes the first person to fly in an airplane across the Mediterranean.

1943 The Nazi puppet state known as the Italian Social Republic is founded.

1973 Juan Perón returns to power in Argentina during a general election.

1980 Bob Marley plays what will be the last concert of his life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 1983 Gulf Air Flight 771 is destroyed by a bomb, killing all 117 people on board.

1983 SA heavyweight champion Gerrie

Coetzee wins the World Boxing Association title in the US, knocking out American Michael Dokes and becoming the first South African boxer to win a world heavyweight title.

1997 Armed men raid an Algerian village, shooting or stabbing to death at least 200 people and wounding another 100.

2004 More than 3 000 people die in Haiti after Hurricane Jeanne causes massive flooding and mudslides. | THE HISTORIAN