Epic South African Moments In History: Forgotten Wonders and Unbelievable Events

Did you know?

Mount Everest isn’t the tallest mountain on Earth. Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa in Hawaii, the twin volcanoes, are taller than Mount Everest as 4.2km of their height is submerged underwater. The twin volcanoes measure a staggering 10.2km in total, compared to Everest’s paltry 8.8km.

On this day in history, January 18

1677 Jan van Riebeeck, 57, the first Dutch governor of the Cape Colony, dies in Batavia (part of the Dutch East Indies, today Jakarta, Indonesia).

1788 The European settlers to Australia arrive Down Under when British ships drop anchor in Botany Bay and unload 736 convicts.

1900 Two Black cattle-herders are captured and executed at Mafeking by burghers, in accordance with a council of war decision on cattle-rustlers. President Kruger repudiates the decision and orders that the practice stop.

1943 The Soviets say they have broken the long siege by Nazi Germany of Leningrad by opening a narrow land corridor, although the siege would not be fully lifted until a year later.

2006 Entrepreneur, businessman and conservationist Anton Rupert, voted 28th in a list of the top 100 greatest South Africans in 2004, dies peacefully in his sleep in Stellenbosch. In tribute to him, former President Nelson Mandela called him his friend and described him as ‘a giant of a man …famous for his approach of helping others to help themselves rather than fostering dependency’, while then President Thabo Mbeki said: ‘Dr Rupert played a pivotal role in the development of South Africa’s industrial and commercial sectors. Not only did he distinguish himself in the Afrikaner community, but also played a significant role in supporting and initiating significant transformation of South Africa’s business.’

2015 AB de Villiers makes the fastest century in ODI cricket history. The South African skipper scores 149 off 31 ball against the West Indies in Johannesburg.

2018 Brazilian Maya Gabeira surfs the largest wave ridden by a female surfer. The monster wave is 20.72m tall at Portugal's world-famous big-wave venue, Nazaré.

2024 Nasa’s Ingenuity helicopter, the first aircraft to fly on another world, dies after three years on Mars and 72 flights (it was only expected to make five).

2024 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects US calls to scale back war with Hamas or establish Palestinian state, vowing, in a televised address, nothing other than ‘absolute victory’.

2024 The US city of Lexington starts a new tourism campaign aimed at extraterrestrial travellers by beaming a welcome message into space via an infrared laser.

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