1907 — Aubrey Faulkner takes 6/17 and then scores six runs on the opening day of the second Test against England in Leeds. The home side was dismissed for 76 and the visitors for 110.
1924 — With no play possible on the last two days, the fourth Test between South Africa and England in Manchester ends in a draw, with the hosts leading the five-match series 3-0.
1935 — Ken Viljoen scores 124 on the second day of the fourth Test against England in Manchester.
1947 — The South African cricket team are thumped by 10 wickets in the fourth Test at Leeds as England take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
1952 — Alfred Swift, George Eastman, Robert Fowler and Thomas Shardelow combine to win Olympic silver in the men’s 4,000m team pursuit at the Helsinki Games, finishing behind Italy.
1967 — The Springboks and France score two tries each, but the visitors win the final third Test 19-14 at Ellis Park. Centre Eben Olivier and flank Jan Ellis scored South Africa’s tries, but the main difference was the boot of French flyhalf Guy Camberabero, who nailed two drops as well as both conversions. South Africa won the three-match series 2-1.
1979 — Double world champion Kork Ballington wins the 250cc race at the Finnish grand prix in Imtra, but he is toppled as leader of the 350cc world championship standings. Nothing went right for him in the 350cc race, taking a tumble on the 13th lap and then suffering engine trouble as he threatened to fight his way back. Frenchman Patrick Fernandez usurped Ballington at the top of the 350cc standings.
1990 — Siza Makhathini is knocked out in the eighth round by IBF cruiserweight champion Jeff Lampkin of the US in St Petersburg, Florida.
1995 — Okkert Brits becomes the third pole-vaulter in history to clear six metres as he finishes second behind then world record-holder Sergei Bubka of Ukraine at a competition in Sestriere, Italy. Before that Brits had not been beyond 5.92m. Bubka’s best stood at 6.14m and Radion Gataullin of Russia had been 6.02m.
1995 — South Africa’s netball team settle for silver as they’re beaten 48-68 by defending champions Australia in the final of the Netball World Championships in Birmingham. Irene van Dyk scored 42 of South Africa’s points.
2000 — The Springboks are comprehensively beaten 6-26 by Australia in a Tri-Nations match in Sydney. Flyhalf Braam van Straaten slotted two penalties for South Africa.
2006 — Cassius Baloyi loses his IBF junior-lightweight title in a surprise defeat, being outpointed by unheralded Australia-based Gairy St Clair in his first defence at Emperors Palace.
2006 — Sri Lanka declare their first innings on 756/5 — the highest innings total scored against South Africa — in the first Test in Colombo, with captain Mahela Jayawardene making 374 and Kumar Sangakkara 287.
2009 — Cameron van der Burgh wins the 50m breaststroke at the world championships in Rome, touching first in a 26.67 world record ahead of Brazilian Felipe Silva in 26.76.
2012 — Cameron van der Burgh lands South Africa’s first Olympic gold medal in eight years when he wins the 100m breaststroke in a world record 58.46 sec at the London Games.
2018 — Tabraiz Shamsi and Kagiso Rabada take four wickets each as the Proteas beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in the first ODI in Dambulla. JP Duminy struck an unbeaten 53 from 32 balls to guide South Africa to the 194 target in 31 overs.
2021 — Mustapha Cassiem scores the winner as South Africa upset Germany 4-3 in a group B hockey match at the Tokyo Olympics. Matthew Guise-Brown scored to equalise at 1-1, and Keenan Horne put South African up 2-1 before the Germans, the bronze medallists at the previous Games, fought back for a 3-2 lead. Nicholas Spooner equalised before Cassiem secured his team’s only win of the tournament.
2023 — The Springboks hold off a late rally to beat Argentina 22-21 in their final Rugby Championship contest at Ellis Park, with Eben Etzebeth, Damian de Allende and Manie Libbok scoring tries.
2023 — Elmere van der Berg scores 50 points as the Proteas beat Sri Lanka 87-32 in their Netball World Cup group match in Cape Town.
2024 — Tatjana Smith becomes the first South Africa to win gold medals at two Olympic Games. The 200m breaststroke champion from Tokyo 2020 powered from fourth place on the final lap to win the 100m breaststroke crown at the Paris Games in 1 min 05.28 sec ahead of Qianting Tang of China and Ireland’s Mona McSharry.
2024 — Alan Hatherly wins South Africa’s first Olympic cycling medal since Melbourne 1956 as he finishes third in the men’s cross-country mountain bike race behind Englishman Tom Pidcock and Frenchman Victor Koretzky.
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