Historical Events:
• 1806: Holy Roman Empire ends; it was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire.
• 1856: The Great Bell is cast in the Great Clock of Westminster (Big Ben).
• 1945: WW2: The United States drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, to force Japan to surrender.
• 2005: Forty people die when a ferry founders in a river in the Central African Republic. (2006).
Arts, Music, TV:
• 1821: First edition of "Courrier of Pays-Bas" newspaper published in Brussels.
• 1939: First broadcast of "Dinah Shore Show" on NBC-radio.
• 1956: After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena.
• 1918: Prof. Christoffel Johannes Michael Nienaber, Afrikaans linguist, is born in Fauresmith, OFS.
• 1965: Samuel Bonnin Hobson, SA author, dies in Grahamstown. Together with his brother, G.C. Hobson, they formed a unique example of collaboration in Afrikaans literature, especially animal stories.
Sports:
• 1945: Keith Miller scores 110 in the 4 Victory Test Cricket at Lord’s.
• 1938: The SA rugby team beats the British 26-12 in the first test of the series. S.C. Louw scores SA’s 100th try.
• 1955: Jack van der Schyff misses a goal kick and the SA rugby team loses 22-23 against the British Lions on Ellis Park field.
• 1972: South African golfer Gary Player wins his second PGA Championship with a two-stroke victory over Jim Jamieson and Tommy Aaron.
• 1999: Jaap Bekker (74), Springbok rugby player, dies in Pretoria.
Source: historyorb.com & sahistory.org.com
Compiled by: Thandi Xaba
