On This Day: What happened on 21 May?

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

1910 | Louis Botha was chosen to become the first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa and was to be inaugurated on 31 May.  

1983 | The first United Democratic Front (UDF) organisation was formed in Natal to establish a non-racial and united South Africa. 

1991 | President of Ethiopia, Mengistu Haile Mariam, flees Ethiopia, ending the Ethiopian Civil War.

1996 | Lake Victoria ferry-boat, MV Bukoba, sank in Tanzanian waters killing 894 people.

2003 | Boumerdès earthquake hit northern Algeria killing more than 2,200 people.

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

DEATHS

2016 | South African racing driver, Eddie Keizan (71) 

2017 | South African musician, Tulsa Pittaway (42) 

2018 | Moroccan racing driver, Max Cohen-Olivar (73) 

2019 | Kenyan writer, Binyavanga Wainaina (47)

BIRTHDAYS

1951 |  South African filmmaker, comedian, actor, Leon Schuster

1969 | Zimbabwean-English footballer, defender and manager, Brian Statham 

1975 | South African Racing driver, Otto Frank Graven

1977 | South African international footballer midfielder and coach, Quinton Fortune

SPORT

1904 | Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in Paris.

ENTERTAINMENT

1980 | Star Wars Episode V – Empire Strikes Back starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford is released.  

AFRICA FACT

Cairo, the capital city of Egypt is the largest city in Africa.