• 1903: Rabbi Israel Abrahams is born.
• 1971: Prime Minister Vorster holds his first-ever international press conference and asserts that discussion of separate development with Africa's Black leaders will be welcomed. A policy of external dialogue is to be pursued. Referring to allegations that a vendetta is being conducted against churches and religious workers in South Africa. Prime Minister Vorster says that of 1,440 religious workers only six have been deported in the last ten years, seventeen were refused extensions of permits and two were refused visas.
• 1974: Dr Willem van der Ross (77), researcher known for his study of double stars, dies in Johannesburg.
• 1960: State of Emergency follows Sharpeville massacre.
• 1990: Negotiations between Nelson Mandela and Mangosutho Buthelezi.
• 1979: Foreign Minister 'Pik' Botha, whose portfolio now includes the South African Information Services, promises to give opposition leaders full access to all current secret projects. He has decided to terminate, with effect from 1 April 1979, all confidential and sensitive projects that do not serve the national interests in the most effective manner.
• 1998: The consortium Midi Television is awarded the first privately owned free.
• 1978: Bas Goedhart (57), writer and journalist, dies.
• 1998: The consortium Midi Television is awarded the first privately owned free-to-air television licence and e.tv started broadcasting in October 1998.
• They were building a fake rip-off Disneyland in China called Wonderland but ran into financial problems and now it sits abandoned and half-built.
• There are more than 34,000 Christian denominations in the world.
• The acid in your stomach can dissolve razorblades.
• 1970: Ruben Kruger, Springbok rugby player, is born.
• Immediately after Tiger Wood’s affairs became public, men looking for discreet relationships on BeNaughty.com dropped by 47.5%.
Compiled by: Thandi Xaba