On This Day in South Africa: What happened on 02 February?

Here’s a look at what happened on this day, 02 February, throughout world and South African history. We remember the news, events, and people that influenced the course of history forever.

ON THIS DAY: 02 FEBRUARY

1990 | F.W. de Klerk announced the release of Nelson Mandela and unbans political parties including South African Communist Party (SACP) and other liberation movements

2005 | The Canadian government introduced the Civil Marriage Act. The law became law on July 20, 2005, legalizing same-sex marriage.

1959 | Nine experienced ski hikers in the northern Ural Mountains in the Soviet Union died under mysterious circumstances.

1899 | A meeting of Australian Prime Ministers held in Melbourne decided to locate the capital of Australia, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne.

1709 | Alexander Selkirk was rescued after a shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring Daniel Defoe’s adventure book Robinson Crusoe.

ALSO READ: What happened on 01 February?

BIRTHDAYS

1970 | Public Protector of South Africa, Busisiwe Mkhwebane.

1992 | South African rugby union footballer, Travis Ismaiel.

1972 | Japanese musician, Hisashi Tonomura.

1931 | American journalist and author, Judith Viorst.

1946 | American comedian and actor, Blake Clark.

ON THIS DAY: DEATHS

2007 | Indian actor, Vijay Arora,63.

2008 | Director, and screenwriter, Barry Morse, Canadian actor, 90.

2013 | American baseball player, Pepper Paire, 89.

2016 | American comedian, actor, and screenwriter, Bob Elliott, 93.

2021 | British Army officer and charity campaigner, Captain Sir Tom Moore, 101.

SPORTS

2004 | On this day, Swiss tennis player Roger Federer was the only men’s singles player ranked No. 1, a position he held for a record 237 weeks.

ENTERTAINMENT

2009 | On this day, the popular reality show “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” hosted by actor, singer, and drag queen RuPaul, premiered on Logo TV.

AFRICA FACT

First ever AFCON was held in 1957 in Khartoun, Sudan and Egypt become champions.