The Star E-dition

ON THIS DAY, JANUARY 18

1671 British buccaneer Henry Morgan captures Panama City from Spain.

1644 Perplexed Pilgrims in Boston report America’s first UFO sighting.

1677 Jan van Riebeeck, 57, the first Dutch governor of the Cape Colony, dies in Batavia. 1778 Captain James Cook stumbles across the Sandwich Islands (aka the Hawaiian Islands). 1788 The first ships carrying 736 convicts drop anchor in Botany Bay, Australia. 1900 Two Black cattle-herds are captured and executed at Mafeking by burghers, under a council of war decision on cattle-rustlers. President Paul Kruger repudiates the decision and orders that the practice stop.

1943 The Soviets announce they have broken the long siege of Leningrad by Nazi Germany by opening a narrow land corridor, though the siege would not be fully lifted until a year later. 1976 Lebanese Christian militias kill at least 1 000 people in Karantina, Beirut.

1991 Boris Becker and Italy’s Omar Camporese play the longest tennis match in Australian Open history. Becker wins.

2005 The Airbus A380, the world’s largest commercial jet, is unveiled.

2006 Entrepreneur, businessman and conservationist Anton Rupert, voted 28th in a list of the top 100 greatest South Africans in 2004, dies in his sleep in Stellenbosch.

In tribute to him, former president Nelson Mandela called him his friend and described him as “a giant of a man… famous for his approach of helping others to help themselves rather than fostering dependency”, while then president Thabo Mbeki said: “Dr Rupert played a pivotal role in the development of South Africa’s industrial and commercial sectors. Not only did he distinguish himself in the Afrikaner community, but also played a significant role in supporting and initiating significant transformation of South Africa’s business.” 2015 AB de Villiers makes the fastest century in ODI cricket history.

2018 Brazilian surfer Maya Gabeira rides the largest wave by a female surfer, at 20.72m (68ft) at Praia do Norte in Nazaréin, Portugal. 2021 Brazil begins Covid-19 vaccinations with the world’s second-highest national death toll – 209 000. | THE HISTORIAN

METRO

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2022-01-18T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-18T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://thestar.pressreader.com/article/281771337559197

African News Agency