ON THIS DAY, FEBRUARY 6

1795 The “Vryburgers” proclaim the Republic of Graaff-Reinet.

1819 British Statesman Stamford Raffles founds Singapore as a British trading port.

1820 The first 86 African-American immigrants leave New York to start a settlement (Liberia).

1838 Zulu king Dingane signs the treaty drafted by Retief on February 4 in which he declares his approval to grant an extensive area between the Tugela and Umzimvubu rivers to the Voortrekkers. At the farewell function, Retief’s 70 men and 30 mounted servants are killed on Dingane’s orders. The Trekkers are bound and taken from the enclosure to a spot where they are spiked and clubbed to death.

1900 Battle of Vaalkrans continues.

1901 The battle of Chrissiesmeer takes place.

1910 Belgian aviator Albert Kimmerling gives a flying display in Johannesburg – it is the start of serious aviation in South Africa.

1933 The highest sea wave (not tsunami), 34m, in Pacific hurricane is recorded.

1935 Monopoly, the board game, goes on sale.

1952 King George VI of England dies and his daughter becomes Queen Elizabeth II, queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. She died last year.

1958 Eight Manchester United players and 15 others are killed in the Munich air disaster. 1959 Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit.

1970 Springbok cricketer Graeme Pollock scores 274 runs against Australia in Durban.

1994 Twelve people – nine women and three children – are killed in a pre-dawn attack in Masunkazane, Richmond, Natal.

2000 Russian troops capture Grozny, Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government into exile. 2017 Qatar Airways completes the longest commercial flight when a Boeing 777 lands in Auckland after a 16-hour flight from Doha. 2018 Brazilian jockey Jorge Ricardo equals the world record number of victories for a jockey – 12 844 – in Rio de Janeiro.

2019 Honeybees can add and subtract and understand the concept of zero according to research from RMIT University in Australia. | THE HISTORIAN