From Time-Bending Animals to World-Changing Moments: This Day in History Explained

Did you know?

Animals can experience time differently from humans. To smaller animals, the world around them moves more slowly compared to humans. Salamanders and lizards, for example, experience time more slowly than cats and dogs. This is because the perception of time depends on how quickly the brain can process incoming information.

On this day in history, January 8

1656 The world’s oldest newspaper, the Opregte Haarlemsche Courant, first appears.

1806 The Battle of Blaauwberg begins with British amphibious forces attacking the Batavian Republic near Cape Town in a 10-day assault. After Britain’s victory, peace is made under the Treaty Tree in Woodstock. It establishes British rule in South Africa, which has to have many ramifications for the country.

1902 In a crackdown on lovers, New York state assemblyman Francis Landon gets a bill passed to criminalise men turning around on a street and “looking at a woman in that way”.

1912 The ANC is founded in Bloemfontein as the South African Native National Congress, as chiefs, community representatives, church organisations, and other prominent individuals agree to bring all Africans together as one people and defend their rights and freedoms.

1968 Oceanographer, and scientist Jacques Cousteau’s first undersea special airs on US network TV. It runs for many years in South Africa after the introduction of TV in 1976.

1992 Gripped by acute gastroenteritis, US president George HW Bush throws up in Japanese prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa.

2011 An attempted assassination of Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords kills six people and wounds 13. Her husband, space shuttle commander and US Senator, Mark Kelly stays on Earth to care for his wife.

2020 Ukraine Airlines Flight 752 is shot down after take-off from Tehran, Iran. All 176 passengers and crew die. The Iranians said the plane had been mistaken for an incoming US cruise missile, so they shot it down.

2020 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex say they are stepping back as ‘senior’ royals, and will work on becoming financially independent.

2023 China loosens travel restrictions and reopens its borders after nearly three years because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

2024 Pope Francis says surrogate motherhood should be banned, calling it ‘despicable’ for commercializing pregnancy.

2024 Electronics brand LG unveils their Signature OLED T, the world’s first wireless TV with a transparent screen at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

DAILY NEWS