In 1979, The Minister of Information Connie Mulder resigned as a result of his involvement in a plot to sell apartheid propaganda. Image: Wikimedia Commons

On This Day in South Africa: What happened on 24 January?

We look back on this day in history and remember the people and events that shaped the world we live in today.

by The South African

24-01-2023 07:05

in News

In 1979, The Minister of Information Connie Mulder resigned as a result of his involvement in a plot to sell apartheid propaganda. Image: Wikimedia Commons

Here’s a look at what happened on this day, 24 January, throughout world and South African history. We remember the news, events, and people that influenced the course of history forever.

ON THIS DAY: 24 JANUARY

1979 | The Minister of Information Connie Mulder resigned as a result of his involvement in a plot to sell apartheid propaganda.

1960 | Nine policemen were killed in Cato Manor riots in Durban, shortly before the infamous Sharpville Massacre.

2018 | On this day, former doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to 175 years in prison after being found guilty of using his position to harass female gymnasts sexually.

2009 | Cyclone Klaus made landfall near Bordeaux, France, killing 26 people and disrupting public transport and power supply.

1990 | Japan launched Hiten, the country’s first lunar probe, the first robotic lunar probe since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar probe launched by a government other than the Soviet Union or the United States.

ALSO READ: What happened on 23 January?

BIRTHDAYS

1997 | South African football player, Teboho Mokoena

1990 | South African rugby union player, JP Smith.

1963 | Dutch boxer, Arnold Vanderlyde.

1983 | New Zealand rugby player, Wyatt Crockett.

1955 | American businesswoman and author, Lynda Weinman.

ON THIS DAY: DEATHS

1666 | German composer and theorist, Johann Andreas Herbst, 78.

2015 | German lieutenant and pharmacist, Otto Carius, 93.

1993 | Estonian composer and conductor, Gustav Ernesaks, 85.

2004 | Brazilian footballer and manager, Leônidas, 91.

1973 | American actor, J. Carrol Naish,77.

SPORT

1976 | American boxing legend George Foreman scored one of boxing’s greatest comebacks when he knocked out Ron Lyle in the fifth round after being knocked down twice in the fourth round.