Doctor Dick and Other Crazy Firsts That Happened on December 11
Dr Dick Professor André van der Merwe, left, and Professor Rafique Moosa performed the world’s first successful penis transplant, on a 21-year-old who had a botched circumcision. While the ground-breaking op hasn't made his quite a famous as heart-surgery pioneer Chris Barnard, his phone didn't stop ringing as he found himself elevated to the status of medical superstar.
Image: AFP
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The Eiffel Tower can be 15cm taller during the summer months due to thermal expansion.
On this day in history, December 11
1870 James Dube, a minor Zulu chief is ordained as a minister. He was the father of John Langalibalele Dube, the founding president of the South African Native National Congress, which became the ANC in 1923.
1878 Under the flimsy pretext of a few minor border incursions into Natal by Cetshwayo’s followers, the Zulu king is given an impossible ultimatum – that the Zulu people disarm and Cetshwayo forsake his sovereignty.
1899 In the Battle of Magersfontein, the Boers defeat British who are trying to break the Siege of Kimberley. Apart from the dead and wounded, many hundreds, especially the kilted Scots, are rendered casualties through exposure and serious sunburn, from whence comes the term ‘rooinek’.
1990 Fifty-two people are killed in large-scale attacks and counter-attacks in Tokoza.
1998 A plane crashes in Thailand, killing 101 people. The pilot is thought to have suffered spatial disorientation.
2014 After a nine-hour operation, the world’s first penis transplant ends successfully at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town. The victim, 18, had been left with just 1cm of his penis after a botched circumcision led to gangrene. His new, fully functioning penis came from a recently deceased person. Urologist Andre van der Merwe who led the team, has since become known as ‘Dr Dick’. Experts say South Africa has the greatest need for penis transplants in the world.
2022 The US says that after 34 years it finally has former Libyan intelligence operative Abu Agila Mas’ud, 71, in custody and that he will stand trial for the Lockerbie bombing. He allegedly made the bomb that ripped apart Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988, killing 270 people, including 11 on the ground. Mas’ud was dragged from his sickbed by a Libyan warlord’s followers, transferred to another militia group and turned over to the US, despite there being no extradition agreement between Libya and the US.
2024 The Proteas women’s team lose an ODI series to England 2‑1 after losing the final match of the series after being tied 1-1.
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