1960 Sixty-nine people were killed and 189 others injured when police opened fire on a crowd of c. 5,000–7,000 protesting against pass laws outside the police station in the South African township of Sharpeville.
1920 An t-Athair Peadar Ó Laoghaire (81), scholar and author, notably of Mo scéal féin (1915), died.
1978 Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (66), jurist and president of Ireland (1974–6), died.
1961 Joseph Holloway, architect and theatrical enthusiast, born in Lower Camden Street, Dublin. Over a 50-year period Holloway attended every theatre performance in the city and kept a journal in which he wrote some 28 million words on Dublin’s theatre world.
1960 South African police opened fire on black protesters at Sharpeville, a black township near Johannesburg, killing 69 and injuring over 180.
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Personal Histories
Personal Histories is an initiative by History Ireland,
which aims to capture the individual histories of Irish
people both in Ireland and around the world. It is hoped
to build an extensive database reflecting Irish lives,
giving them a chance to be heard, remembered and to
add their voice to the historical record.
Click Here to go to the Personal Histories page
1971 Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act (1960) was invoked to prevent RTÉ from reporting on the activities of illegal organisations.
1925 Denis Henry, first lord chief justice of Northern Ireland and the last Catholic to hold a unionist parliamentary seat, died.
1911 The Parnell monument by Dublin-born sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, featuring an 8ft statue of the nationalist leader in heroic pose and wearing two coats, as was his custom, was unveiled before a massive crowd in Sackville Street by John Redmond.
1840 Cardinal Michael Logue, archbishop of Armagh (1887–1924) and cardinal (1893), born in Carrigart, Co. Donegal.