On This Day: What happened on 01 September?

Here’s a look at what happened on this day, 01 September, throughout history. We remember the news, events, and people that influenced the course of history forever.

1836 | Artist William Cornwallis Harris starts his expedition from Cape Town to the Western Transvaal and the Magaliesburg Mountain.

1873 | Cetshwayo ascends to the throne as king of the Zulu nation following the death of his father Mpande.

1961 | The Eritrean War of Independence officially begins with the shooting of Ethiopian police by Hamid Idris Awate.

1969 | A coup in Libya brings Muammar Gaddafi to power.

1981 | A coup d’état in the Central African Republic overthrows President David Dacko.

READ: On This Day: What happened on 08 August?

DEATHS

1999 | Zambian computer scientist and author, W. Richard Stevens (48)

2004 | South African businessman, Alastair Morton (66)

2012 | South African saxophonist, flute player, and composer, Sean Bergin (64)

2014 | Somali militant leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane (37)

BIRTHDAYS

1919 | South African cricketer, Ossie Dawson.

1968 |  Egyptian terrorist, Mohamed Atta.

1980 | Ghanaian footballer, Sammy Adjei.

1986 | Kenyan-Norwegian singer-songwriter, Stella Mwangi.

SPORT

2010 | Angola’s basketball team defeat Germany 92 – 88 at the FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

2010 | South Africa wins against Kazakhstan with  25 – 10 in the Women’s World Cup in England for 9th to 12th place.

ENTERTAINMENT

1934 | The first Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated cartoon, The Discontented Canary, is released to movie theatres.

1952 | The Old Man and the Sea, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Ernest Hemingway, is first published.

2013 |  Prime Circle released their album ‘Hello Crazy World- 10th Anniversary Special’.

AFRICA FACT

The baobab tree is common in many parts of Africa. Known as “the tree of life”, some baobabs are estimated to be over 1,000 years old. One boabab in South Africa has grown so large, it has a circumference of 155 feet!