On this day, July 4: 'Megatoad' shovels down 62 hot dogs in 10 minutes, pro football starts in SA, and Ulundi burnt to the ground

1776 The US Congress proclaims independence from Great Britain. It is celebrated annually.

1862 Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.

1879 The Zulu capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops and burned to the ground, ending the Zulu War and forcing King Cetshwayo to flee.

1894 The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B Dole.

1905 Boers protest that new laws favour English-speakers, and are an example of how Boers are discriminated against.

1913 Fighting breaks out as a riotous crowd on the Johannesburg market square is confronted by police and mounted soldiers during a strike by miners.

1934 Leo Szilard patents the chain-reaction design used in the atomic bomb.

1943 The Battle of Kursk, the largest full-scale battle in history and the world’s largest tank battle, continues in the village of Prokhorovka, between Russian and German forces. The Soviets will win the pivotal battle and end Hitler’s dream of Germany conquering Russia.

1959 Four matches are played to mark the start of professional soccer in southern Africa.

1961 On its maiden voyage, the Soviet nuclear submarine K-19 suffers a loss of coolant to its reactor. The crew are able to make repairs, but 22 of them go on to die of radiation poisoning.

1976 Israeli commandos make an audacious raid on Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing all but four of the passengers and crew of an Air France jet liner, seized by Palestinian terrorists.

1989 An unmanned Russian Mig-23 crashes in Belgium, killing one person. The pilot ejected over Poland an hour earlier after experiencing technical problems. The fighter continues flying on autopilot until it runs out of fuel.

2015 Professional Eater and Youtuber Matt ‘Megatoad’ Stonie, 64kg, in an upset, defeats 8x hot dog-eating champion Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut, devouring 62 hot dogs to Chestnut’s 60, in a 10-minute contest.

2019 Egypt claims the 3 000-year-old bust of Tutankhamen is stolen as it sells for $6 million at auction at Christies.

DAILY NEWS