On This Day: What happened on 08 April?

Here’s a look at what happened on this day, 08 April, throughout history. We remember the news, events, and people that influenced the course of history forever.

1954 | South African Airways Flight 201 (SA201) crashed in the Mediterranean Sea killing 7 crew members and 14 passengers.

1970 | 46 children were killed and 50 wounded when the Israeli Air Force bombed Bahr el-Baqar primary school in Egypt.

2016 | Ismaïl Omar Guelleh won the Djibouti presidential elections by 87%. He’s been in office since 1999.

2017 |  Abdoulaye Idrissa Maiga, was named the new prime minister by Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

READ: On This Day: What happened on 7 April?

DEATHS

2014 | Namibian diplomat and first Ambassador to Egypt, Andrew Intamba (67) 

2016 | Zimbabwean politician and educator, Victoria Chitepo (88) 

2020 | Zimbabwean cricket player, Jackie du Preez (77)

BIRTHDAYS

1938 | South African businessman, Allan Gray

1949 | South African operatic tenor, Fanie de Jager

1983 | South African tennis player, Andrew Anderson

1987 | South African netball player, Tsakane Mbewe

SPORT

2012 | Masters Tournament: South African professional golfer Louis Oosthuizen finish as runner-up at the sudden-death playoff, he was defeated by Bubba Watson.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

2020 | Kylie Jenner at the age of 22 was revealed to be the world’s youngest self-made billionaire by Forbes. Her business is valued at roughly $1.2 billion (over R21 billion).

AFRICA FACT

The tallest statue in Africa the “African Renaissance” stands 49m tall on the top of a 100m high hill, is located near the airport in Dakar, Senegal.