1099 First Crusade: 15 000 starving Christian soldiers march in religious procession around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders look on.
1497 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama sets sail on his first voyage, becoming the first European to reach India by sea. For four months they sailed across the Atlantic without sight of land, until reaching what today is St Helena Bay. Close to the mouth of the Berg River, the explorers put in to make repairs, look for water, and check their position. It was here that they had their first encounter with the Khoikhoi. A misunderstanding arose between them, and fearing attack, the Khoikhoi threw spears, wounding Da Gama in the thigh.
1708 A fabulously wealthy Spanish armada laden with gold, sliver and emeralds is destroyed by a British naval squadron off Colombia. One of treasure ships, San José goes to the bottom and ends up being called the ‘Holy Grail of Shipwrecks’.
1889 Heavyweight boxing champion John Sullivan KOs Jake Kilrain in the 75th round of the last bare-knuckle bout.
1895 The Delagoa Bay Railway opens.
1947 Reports are broadcast that a UFO has crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico.
1949 The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act comes into law, banning love, marriage and sex between Blacks and whites. Notwithstanding, love always found a way.
1961 The Portuguese steamer SS Save breaks up off Mozambique and 227 people die.
2011 The space shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final flight of the 27-year US space shuttle programme.
2018 Four boys are the first to be rescued after being trapped for 16 days in a Thai cave. Another 8 boys and their soccer coach remain trapped. Their ordeal and rescue efforts and closely followed around the world.
2021 A tiny Leonardo da Vinci sketch, Head of a Bear, the size of a post-it sells for £8.9 million on auction in London.
2021 Japan says the Olympics will be held without spectators as Tokyo announces a state of emergency due to a surge in Covid-19.
2022 Controversial Shinzō Abe, former prime minister of Japan, is assassinated while giving a speech in Nara, Japan.
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