Significant and interesting snippets of news, with a South African angle, from this day in history

1209 A massacre at Béziers sees the indiscriminate slaughter of the town’s population, up to 30 000 people, after abbott Arnaund Amalric orders: “Kill them all, God will know his own.” It was part of a 20-year crusade against Catharism – a reaction to the scandalous lifestyles of the French clergy.

1796 Cleveland, Ohio, is founded by General Moses Cleaveland. Originally called ‘Cleaveland’, the public adopted the current name after a newspaper editor saw the name was too long to fit a headline, so he changed it.

1844 The Rev William Spooner, who could not get his words out right (hence the term Spoonerism), is born. He once called for “three cheers for our dear old Queen”, but instead said: “Three cheers for our queer old dean”. He once asked: “Is it kisstomary to cuss the bride?” Others: “It’s roaring with pain” (pouring with rain), “that’s a lack of pies” (pack of lies),and a “plaster man” (master plan).

1918 Lightning kills 504 sheep in Utah.

1946 The zionist organisation Irgun bombs Jerusalem’s King David Hotel, killing 91 people.

1947 Think Australia’s always hot? Think again, -13°C is recorded in Charlotte Pass, New South Wales.

1991 ‘Milwaukee Cannibal’ Jeffrey Dahmer confesses to the rape and murder of 17 men and boys. He is beaten to death in prison.

1992 Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escapes from the luxury “prison” he built.

2003 The US Screaming Eagles (the 101st Airborne division) kill Saddam Hussein’s sons.

2005 Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes is mistakenly shot seven times in the head by London police who thought he was a bomber.

2011 Domestic terrorist and lone wolf, Anders Breivik kills 77 people in Norway.

2012 Golfer Ernie Els wins the British Open.

2012 Hashim Amla becomes the first South African Test cricketer to score a triple century.

2012 Torrential rain in Beijing kills 77 people.

2018 A heatwave in Japan kills 11 people.

2019 US President Donald Trump says the US could win the war in Afghanistan in a week: “I just don’t want to kill 10 million people. If I wanted, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the earth.”

2020 Kim Kardashian asks for understanding of husband Kanye West’s struggles with his bipolar disorder.