Cristiano Ronaldo breaks the world record, but she is now far ahead of him, and let's not talk about Pelé

On this day in history, September 1

1853 The world’s first triangular postal stamps – and the first stamps in Africa – are issued in the Cape Colony.

1873 Cetshwayo becomes Zulu king following the death of his father, Mpande.

1879 Britain signs a peace treaty with the Zulus, banishing Cetshwayo and dividing Zululand in to 13 chiefdoms under Crown rule.

1900 Commandant Piet Fourie takes Ladybrand, OFS, in a street-by-street fight, but fails to capture the British garrison, which retreats to a position at the foot of Platberg.

1923 The Great Kantō earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing 105 000 people.

1939 Nazi Germany and Slovakia invade Poland, starting the European phase of World War II (Japan had already invaded China).

1939 Adolf Hitler orders anyone mentally ill be killed.

1958 The Cod Wars with Britain begin as Iceland expands its fishing zone.

1963 The Air Force Memorial – to 3 000 SAAF members who made the ultimate sacrifice – on Bays Hill, south of Pretoria, is inaugurated.

1974 The SR-71 Blackbird, flying at Mach 2.3, sets (and holds) the record for flying from New York to London in 1 hour and 54 minutes.

1983 A Korean Air Lines 747 is shot down by a Soviet jet fighter when the commercial aircraft strays into Soviet airspace, killing 269 people.

1995 Casual Day, a fundraiser for those with disabilities, begins. It it is held on the first Friday of September.

2000 Dingaan ‘Rose of Soweto’ Thobela wins the World Boxing Counci­l middleweight title.

2004 The Beslan school hostage crisis begins as terrorists take hundreds hostage of children and adults at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia.

2021 Cristiano Ronaldo breaks the world record for the most goals scored in men’s international football matches with his 111th for Portugal against the Republic of Ireland. As of today, he has 138, but Canada’s Christine Sinclair is far ahead with 190. The record for the most career goals belongs to Pelé (1 279).

2021 Texas bans abortion after six weeks, bar exceptional circumstances.

2024 Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei is set on fire by her boyfriend in Endebess, Kenya, and later dies.

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