Needlessly slaughtered carcasses litter the veld and golfer Ashleigh Buhai makes us proud
Smoke billows from World Trade Center’s north tower as the south tower explodes after it was struck by United Airlines Flight 175. For New Yorkers near the scene on Sept. 11, 2001, the sights and sounds of everyday life can still trigger painful memories and other psychological reactions to the attacks.
Image: File
On this day in history, August 7
1795 One of the pivotal points in the history of this country, the Battle of Muizenberg, takes place when British troops land, scare off the Dutch garrison and then march to Cape Town.
1901 Boer General Jan Smuts reports on the devastation of the Orange Free State by British forces: “Dams full of rotting animals; water undrinkable. Veld covered with slaughtered herds. The horror passes description. But the saddest sight of all is the large number of little lambs, staggering from hunger and thirst round the corpses.”
1975 Actress and producer Charlize Theron is born in Benoni. One of the world’s highest-paid actresses, she is the only African to have won an Oscar in acting – for Monster in 2003. She got nominated for North Country (2005) and Bombshell (2019). Other South African wins at the Oscars have been: Tsotsi (2005, Best International Feature Film) and My Octopus Teacher (2020, Best Documentary Feature).
1985 The South African Council of Churches meets President PW Botha about the unrest, forced removals and emergency regulations.
1987 American Lynne Cox sets a new record by swimming 4.3km from Alaska to Siberia and becoming the first person to swim between the superpowers during the Cold War. Scientists say she survived the 5°C water temperature because she had 36% body fat compared to the average for women of 18-25%.
1998 Nearly simultaneous bombs at US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania kill 224 people and wound 4 500.
2017 US medical examiners say the remains of a man killed at New York’s World Trade Center on 9/11, 2001, has finally been identified, nearly 16 years after the attacks.
2021 Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra makes history winning India’s first-ever Olympic track and field gold with a throw of 87.58m in Tokyo.
2022 At the British Open Women’s Golf tournament at Muirfield in Scotland, South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai wins her first major title, beating Gee Chun of South Korea on the fourth hole of a sudden death play-off.
2024 Three Taylor Swift ‘Eras Tour’ concerts in Vienna, Austria, are cancelled after a planned terrorist attack is uncovered and three people arrested.
DAILY NEWS