More than just dates and boring facts
1795 The Vryburgers proclaim the Republic of Graaff-Reinet in what today is the Eastern Cape.
1819 British Statesman Stamford Raffles founds Singapore as a British trading port.
1820 The first 86 African-American immigrants (former slaves) leave New York to start a settlement (Liberia).
1838 Zulu king Dingaan signs the treaty drafted by Piet Retief on February 4 in which he declares his approval to grant an extensive area between the Tugela and Mzimvubu rivers to the Voortrekkers, but it’s a ruse. At a farewell function Retief’s men are killed on the orders of Dingaan, who ‘cut the head off the snake’ in an attempt to at least stave off the Boer invasion Zulu territory.
1910 Belgian aviator Albert Kimmerling gives a flying display in Johannesburg – it is the start of serious aviation in South Africa.
1935 Monopoly, the board game, first goes on sale.
1952 King George VI of England dies and his daughter becomes Queen Elizabeth II.
1958 Eight Manchester United players and 15 others are killed in the Munich air disaster.
1959 Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit. His invention changed the world.
1970 Springbok cricketer Graeme Pollock scores 274 runs against Australia in Durban.
1994 Twelve people – nine women and three children – are killed in a pre-dawn attack in Masunkazane, Richmond, Natal.
2000 Russian troops capture Grozny, Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government into exile.
2017 Qatar Airways completes the longest commercial flight when a Boeing 777 lands in Auckland after a 16-hour flight from Doha.
2018 Brazilian jockey Jorge Ricardo equals the world record number of victories for a jockey – 12 844 – in Rio de Janeiro
2019 Adding to our understanding of the wonders of nature, honeybees are able to add and subtract and understand the concept of zero, says Australian researchers.
2022 Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years on the throne.
2023 Powerful earthquakes strike Turkey and Syria, with many strong aftershocks causing more buildings to collapse. The combined death toll tops 62 000, with more than 120 000 people suffering crush-injuries. Not everyone has been accounted for