Today in Kimberley's History
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Bartolomeu Dias reaches present Mossel Bay - 1488
Bartolomeu Dias discovered that he had sailed past the southern-most point of Africa. A strong wind had driven him so far south of Cape Point that he did not see it and had to sail northwards to reach the coast. His first landing place was the bay of St. Blaize, now Mossel Bay. Here he took in fresh water and bartered live-stock from the Khoikhoi. Due probably to a lack of understanding, a crossbow was fired killing one of the Khoi. The Post Office Tree, where seafarers from centuries ago posted letters home using a cleft in an ancient tree as a postbox signifies that ships called regularly at the bay for watering and other purposes.
Bartolomeu Dias discovered that he had sailed past the southern-most point of Africa. A strong wind had driven him so far south of Cape Point that he did not see it and had to sail northwards to reach the coast. His first landing place was the bay of St. Blaize, now Mossel Bay. Here he took in fresh water and bartered live-stock from the Khoikhoi. Due probably to a lack of understanding, a crossbow was fired killing one of the Khoi. The Post Office Tree, where seafarers from centuries ago posted letters home using a cleft in an ancient tree as a postbox signifies that ships called regularly at the bay for watering and other purposes.
111 days since beginning of the Siege of Kimberley, 1900
Extract from "The Diary of a Doctor's Wife – During the Siege of Kimberley October 1899 to February 1900" by Winifred Heberden.
Twelve convicts working at Kenilworth managed to effect their escape while the enemy were firing in their direction. They were fired upon by their guards, and one fell, but was picked up by his companions and carried off in the direction of Dronfield Ridge where the Boers are.
Extract from "The Diary of a Doctor's Wife – During the Siege of Kimberley October 1899 to February 1900" by Winifred Heberden.
Twelve convicts working at Kenilworth managed to effect their escape while the enemy were firing in their direction. They were fired upon by their guards, and one fell, but was picked up by his companions and carried off in the direction of Dronfield Ridge where the Boers are.
De Klerk and Mandela receive UNESCO peace prize - 1992
President F.W. de Klerk and African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela jointly accepted the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. The award was given to them for their brave effort in ending apartheid, thus bringing peaceful negotiations for a democratic dispensation in South Africa. In the process they set an example to the rest of the world that conflicts could be ended without shedding blood. The prize, awarded for the first time by an eleven-person jury chaired by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, was named after the president of the Ivory Coast.
President F.W. de Klerk and African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela jointly accepted the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. The award was given to them for their brave effort in ending apartheid, thus bringing peaceful negotiations for a democratic dispensation in South Africa. In the process they set an example to the rest of the world that conflicts could be ended without shedding blood. The prize, awarded for the first time by an eleven-person jury chaired by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, was named after the president of the Ivory Coast.