Did you know what happened today back in the day?
Sara Baartman had a naturally occurring condition called ‘steatopygia', but was exploited for profit, gawked at and exhibited without regard for her humanity.
Image: British Museum
Did You Know
Our planet contains a sizable amount of gold: the Earth’s core contains 99% of the precious metal, which is enough to cover the entire planet’s surface in 1.5 feet of gold.
On this day in history
1810 Sara ‘Saartjie’ Baartman allegedly signs a contract that allows her to be taken to England, and Ireland to work as a domestic servant, and be exhibited for entertainment purposes. The truth is that she was illiterate and unlikely to have understood any such contract. Instead she was treated like a circus animal and paraded before curious gawkers. She died in Europe, aged 26, but her remains were returned to South Africa in 2002.
1857 The monthly mail shipping line between England and the Cape Colony starts.
1873 The Natal colonial government organises an expeditionary force against rebellious AmaHlubi leader, Langalibalele. After first defeating the British, he is later captured and banished to Robben Island.
1863 Eighteen countries meet in Geneva and agree to form the International Red Cross.
1905 Hendrik Witbooi, chief of the Nama, dies after being fatally wounded in a skirmish with the Germans near Keetmanshoop.
1944 Soviet and Romanian armies launch the Budapest Offensive against the Axis powers. The strategic goal is to advance closer to the southern border of Nazi Germany.
1969 The first computer-to-computer link is established – it is the precursor to the Internet.
1998 The space Shuttle Discovery blasts off with John Glenn, 77, on board. He is the oldest person to go into space. The former US senator was the first American to orbit, earth, in 1962.
2004 Al Jazeera shows an Osama bin Laden video in which he claims responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks.
2020 Three people stabbed to death in church in Nice, France, after President Emmanuel Macron’s defence of the right to publish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
2022 Misuzulu ka Zwelithini is crowned the new Zulu King in Duban.
2024 Extreme flash flooding in Spain’s south-eastern Valencia region, caused by a year’s worth of rain in eight hours, leads to at least 222 deaths.
2024 Maya city Valeriana rediscovered ‘by accident’ in a Lidar laser survey. Located in Mexico’s Campeche state, it was capable of supporting up to 50 000 people, and was at its height between the years 750-850 AD.