• 1676: Two young lions are dispatched from Cape Town to Ceylon as a gift to the King of Kandy.
• 1920: Samuel Marks (Sammy), diamond buyer of Kimberley, founder of the African and European Investment Company and senator in the parliament of the Union of South Africa, dies in Johannesburg at the age of seventy-seven. The Sammy Marks Square in Pretoria was named after him.
• 1901: Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the British House of Commons.
• 1951: Dr Hasmukh Gajjar, medical practitioner, former chair of the Vodacom Group and managing director of various IT companies, is born in Uitenhage, Eastern Cape.
• 1979: Snow falls in Sahara Desert
• 1998: Kenneth Kaunda, the former president of Zambia, is charged with concealing information about a failed coup. In June, the charges are dropped and Kaunda is freed from house arrest.
• 1885: Mark Twain publishes the "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn".
• 1953: "Bwana Devil," the 1st 3-D movie, opened in New York.
• 1977: Kiss play their first concert in Madison Square Garden (NYC).
• 1977: George Harrison releases "True Love"
• 1961: Rugby teams of SA and France play to a draw with no score in Paris.
• 1989: Sherri Turner wins LPGA Orix Hawaiian Ladies Golf Open/Itoki Pro-Am
• 1977: Test Cricket debuts of Colin Croft & Joel Garner v Pakistan Bridgetown
• 1995: Angela Kennedy swims world record 100m butterfly.
• 1983: NBA Indiana Pacers begin a 28 game road losing streak.
• 1978: 1st Iron Man Triathlon (swim, bike ride, marathon) held, Kona, Hawaii.
Compiled by: Thandi Xaba