World News
Today in History: March 31st─── 08:00 Tue, 31 Mar 2015
History Events:
• 1799: Johannes Theodorus van der Kemp, controversial missionary and physician of the London Missionary Society, arrives at the Cape.
• 1842: The Rev. Daniel Lindley institutes the first congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in the Orange Free State, which makes it the founding day of the church in that province.
• 1859: Building on the railway station in Wellington starts. The first train from the Cape arrives 4 years later.
• 1881: Gustav Bernhard August Gerdener, professor at the Theological Seminary in Stellenbosch and founder member of SABRA (South A African Bureau of Racial Affairs), is born.
• 1933: General JBM Hertzog, as prime minister, forms the first Nationalist government.
• 1966: Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd's Nationalist Party wins election in South Africa.
• 1988: Mthabatha Seema PAC member disappears, last seen first in the company of a policeman at the Seshego magistrate's court and later at the Pietersburg prison unable to walk on his own.
Arts, Music, TV & facts:
• 1939: John Christoffel Kannemeyer, expert in Afrikaans literature and author of several biographies of Afrikaans writers, is born in Cape Town.
• 2000 - The North Sea Jazz Festival (31 March – 1 April) starts in Cape Town. It is the first time a jazz festival on four simultaneous stages takes place in SA.
• Mobile phones have 18 times more bacteria than toilet handles
• In Japan, 90% of mobile phones are waterproof because youngsters use them even in the shower.
• The first mobile phone call was made in 1973 by Martin Cooper, a former Motorola inventor.
Sports:
• A horse named Aristides won the very first Kentucky Derby way back in 1875. The race has been run every year since.
• Julie Krone was the top money-winning female jockey of the year 13 times in her career.
• Bernie Geoffrion is credited with bringing the slapshot to the NHL in 1951. He was given the nickname “Boom Boom” because his shot was so hard and fast.
• Michigan has won the most Division I College Hockey Championships with nine, the last one in 1998.
Source: sahistory.org.com & factmonster.com
Compiled by: Thandi Xaba
