On This Day in South Africa: What happened on 17 September?

Here’s a look at what happened on this day, 17 September, throughout world and South African history. We remember the news, events, and people that influenced the course of history forever.

ON THIS DAY: 17 SEPTEMBER

1999 | Breyten Breytenbach; South African poet, activist, and painter, received the Hertzog Prize for his poetry

1976 | The South African Charter and the Transkei Non-Aggression Pact were signed.

2018 | A Russian reconnaissance aircraft carrying 15 people was shot down by a Syrian surface-to-air missile over the Mediterranean Sea.

2016 | Two bombs exploded in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and Manhattan. 31 people were injured in the Manhattan bombing.

2006 | The fourth-peaked mountain in Alaska erupted, marking the volcano’s first eruption in at least 10 000 years.

ALSO READ: What happened on 16 September?

BIRTHDAYS

1979 | South African-Canadian film and advertisement director, writer, producer, and animator, Neill Blomkamp.

1971 | South African-English rugby union footballer and coach, Mike Catt.

1994 | South African association football player, Lebohang Maboe.

1981 | American baseball player, Casey Janssen.

1985 | Australian rugby league player, Brendan Oake.

ON THIS DAY: DEATHS

2013 | Japanese businessman, Eiji Toyoda, 100.

1994 | Austrian-English philosopher and academic, Karl Popper, 92.

2014 | Japanese sumo wrestler, Wakachichibu Komei, 75.

2011 | Australian architect and author, designed the National Gallery of Australia, Colin Madigan, 90.

2016 | Iranian racing cyclist, Bahman Golbarnezhad, 48.

SPORTS

2007 | On this day at  Pride Park, Derby beat Newcastle in the Premier League 1-0. It was Derby’s only League win of the season.

ENTERTAINMENT

2014 | “The Guest” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2014, and was theatrically released on this day in the United States.

AFRICA FACT

The Basilique Notre-Dame de la Paix in Côte d’Ivoire is the largest church in the world constructed between 1985 and 1989.