This is what went down today, back in the day.
Image: Sora
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. | Kahlil Gibran
Honey never spoils. Pots found in Egyptian tombs are still edible.
1879 The Anglo-Zulu War’s climactic battle takes place with the Battle of Gingindlovu: The British defeat Cetshwayo and the great kraal is destroyed. The British garrison besieged by Zulus at Eshowe is also relieved.
1900 Jan Malhombe is executed by the British under Baden-Powell because he stole a goat during the siege of Mafeking.
1904 Herero tribesmen defeat German forces near Okaharui, German West Africa (Namibia).
1930 After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie (real name Ras Tafari Makonnen) is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.
1937 Political activities by foreigners are outlawed in South Africa.
1952 The US posthumously awards SA Cheetah Squadron pilot RM du Plooy the Silver Star for gallantry in the Korean War.
1957 The Union Jack is lowered and the British occupation of Simon's Town – an important naval base – ends after 143 years.
1968 South African sprinter Paul Nash equals the world record for the 100m sprint when he clocks 10 seconds at a meeting in Krugersdorp. He also runs the 200m in 20.1 seconds.
1979 A Soviet biowarfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 people plus an unknown amount of livestock.
1982 Argentina invades Britain’s Falkland Islands, leading to war.
2005 Pope John Paul II (84), the third-longest serving Pontiff, dies at the Vatican.
2020 A study shows western Antarctica was once swampy with temperate forests, 93–83 million years ago.
2023 Footage of the deepest living fish ever recorded, the snailfish, is released after it was caught on camera at a depth of 8 336 m in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, south of Japan.
2024 There are 141 more billionaires in the world in 2024, 2 781 in total according to Forbes, including Taylor Swift for the first time.
2025 US President Donald Trump announces ‘Liberation Day’, when he imposed broad tariffs on imports from many countries, including South Africa (10%), as part of an ‘America-first’ trade strategy, including 34% on China and 20% for the European Union. Later court decisions find he exceeded his authority.
DAILY NEWS