On This Day: What happened on 21 April?

Here’s a look at what happened on this day, 21 April, throughout history. We remember the news, events, and people that influenced the course of history forever.

2010 | The carriages of a luxury tourist train operated by Rovos Rail lost control 19 km from Centurion Station and derailed at Pretoria causing the deaths of three people and seven seriously injured. The damages to the carriages were close to R15 million.

2015 | The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was deployed to deal with xenophobic attacks that started in Durban and some parts of Johannesburg.

2016 | Starbucks, an American coffeehouse company opened their first coffee store in Rosebank, South Africa.

2020 | Cyril Ramaphosa announced the R500 billion Covid package to assist the economy of South Africa and businesses affected by the pandemic.

READ: On This Day: What happened on 20 April?

DEATHS

2012 | Kenyan cartoonist, Frank Odoi (64)

2017 | South African cricketer and umpire, Danzel Becker (69)

2020 | Former Libyan acting Prime Minister, Abdurrahim El-Keib (70) 

2020 | Former Nigerian Minister of Justice, Richard Akinjide (89)

BIRTHDAYS

1958 | South African Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu

1953 | Former Mayor of Johannesburg, Amos Masondo

1991 | South African football player, Tshepo Gumede

1995 | South African netball player, Ine-Marí Venter

SPORT

2008 | Boston Marathon: Kenyan runner Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot wins the men’s race for the fourth time and Ethiopian runner Dire Tune wins the women’s race.

2011 | African Football Youth Championship: Cameroon defeats Nigeria 1-0, moves to the semifinals and qualifies for FIFA U-20 World Cup.

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ENTERTAINMENT

1984 | ‘Footloose’ by Kenny Loggins and the original soundtrack of the film Footloose becomes the number one album.

2010 | ‘Shrek Forever After’ with voices by Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy is released.

AFRICA FACT

There are close to two thousand languages spoken by the people of Africa. In Nigeria, there are over 500 languages spoken.