The long and short of it – these are real people

Did you know that ...

The national animal of Scotland is the unicorn.

On this day in history, November 20

1598 Cornelis de Houtman rounds the Cape for the second time (the first was in 1595) and sets foot on shore in Table Bay to barter cattle and has the first recorded interaction with the locals – more than half a century before the first white settlers arrive. There is strong suspicion that the Phoenicians and Chinese landed on these shores, but there is no proof.

1663 Zacharias Wagenaer (successor of the first recorded settler in South Africa, Jan van Riebeeck) writes to his bosses motivating for 77 families be sent back to the Netherlands because of debauchery, and that industrious families be sent to replace them.

1917 Revolutionary technology changes the face of war as the first use of tanks in battle occurs at Cambrai, France, with more than 300 British tanks breaking through German lines.

1984 Constance Magogo Sibilile Mantithi Ngangezinye Thombisile kaDinuzulu (Princess Constance), daughter of Zulu King Dinuzulu and Queen Silomo, and mother of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, dies.

2018 Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan confirms he has paid the debts of 1  398 farmers worth $560 000, amid India’s agricultural crisis.

2018 SA golfer Gary Player receives PGA recognition for his 3 Senior British Open wins (1988, ‘9 & ‘97) from before the event was recognised as a major title (2003); which takes him to having won 9 Senior majors.

2022 US President Joe Biden turns 80, becoming first octogenarian to serve in country’s highest office. He is succeeded by Donald Trump, who currently is 79, but will be 82 should he see out his second term.

2022 The world’s longest-serving president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, 80, wins re-election in Equatorial Guinea, extending his 43-year rule.

2023 Somalia says 50 people have died in heavy rain and flooding and 690 000 are displaced, amid large downpours across the Horn of Africa, caused by El Nino.

2024 The world’s tallest woman, Rumeysa Gelgi, at 7ft 0.71 in (215.16 cm) from Turkey, meets the world’s shortest woman, Jyoti Amge, at 2ft 0.7 in (62.8 cm) from India, at the Savoy Hotel in London, to celebrate Guinness World Records Day.

DAILY NEWS