• 1837: The first commercial use of an electric telegraph was successfully demonstrated by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone on 25 July 1837 between Euston and Camden Town in London.
• 1943: The first warship named for a Black person, SS Leonard Roy Harmon, launched.
• 1826: The first successful Caesarean is carried out in Cape Town. The lives of mother and baby are saved.
• 1865: The Battle of Berea takes place in the OVS and Basotho War.
• 1931: Judge Ismael Mahomed, first SA Black chief justice, is born.

• 1755: Johann Christian Ritter, probably the first printer and bookbinder in SA, is born in Germany.
• 1902: James James Ranisi Jolobe, Xhosa author and poet, and Presbyterian clergyman, is born in Xhalanga district, Transkei.
• 1916: Roland Trimen (75), curator of the South African Museum, dies in London.
• 1999: Leon Schuster, SA actor, comedian and singer, announces that he and his wife Lalie are getting a divorce.

• 1964: The SA rugby team loses 6-8 against the French team in Springs.
• 1970: The Springbok team beats the All Blacks 17-6 in the first test match in Pretoria.
• 1992: The 25th Summer Olympics opens in Barcelona, Spain.
• 1998: The SA rugby team beats New Zealand 13-3 in the three-nations tournament. It is the 50th game between the two opponents.












Source: historyorb.com & sahistory.org.com
Compiled by: Thandi Xaba