JANUARY 22

1506 The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrive at the Vatican to protect the pope. The Papal Guard is one of the oldest active military units in existence, and is famous for its last stand which allowed Pope Clement VII to flee Rome during the War of the League of Cognac. 1833 Groot Constantia, which shipped wine to Napoleon in exile on the island of St Helena, concludes another sale with a VIP; this time with the King of France, Louis-Philippe.

1879 A British supply column moving up the North Coast towards Eshowe is attacked by about 5 000 Zulus as they cross the Nyezane River. The attack is beaten off.

1879 Cetshwayo’s impis wipe out British troops at Isandhlwana in one of the worst disasters in British military history, stabbing 1 272 soldiers to death. They then descend on the trading post at Rorke’s Drift, but the 130 defenders manage to hold off the 3 0004 000 attackers. A record 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders, which helps shore up public opinion after the Isandhlwana calamity.

1915 A train plunges off the tracks into a deep canyon in Mexico, killing 600 people.

1927 Teddy Wakelam gives the first live radio commentary of a football match (Arsenal v Sheffield United).

1943 Australian and American troops defeat the Japanese army in the bitterly-fought Battle of Buna-Gona in New Guinea.

1970 The Boeing 747, the world’s first “jumbo jet”, enters commercial service.

1971 The results of an informal poll among white sportsmen show that of 101 sportsmen questioned, 79 were in favour of mixed sport, 17 were not, and five had no comment.

1984 The Apple Macintosh, the first consumer computer to popularise the mouse and the graphical user interface, is introduced during a Super Bowl TV commercial.

1999 Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons are burned alive by radical Hindus while they sleep in their car in East India.

2019 The Russian volcano Raikoke erupts from a 700m-wide crater, seen from the International Space Station. It turns sunsets purple across the northern hemisphere all summer. | THE HISTORIAN