This Day in History: February 12, 1862
Additional Date: February 12, 1862
Sir Thomas Cullinan was born in the The Cape Colony in 1862. He settled in Barberton, before moving to Johannesburg in 1887. He began working as a bricklayer in Johannesburg, a job he later left for prospecting.
He discovered the Premier Diamond Fields in 1898 and was co-founder and member of what became the The Transvaal Chamber of Industries. He was knighted in 1910 in recognition of his contribution to the Diamond industry and has a town and the biggest diamond ever found named after him. He married Annie Francis Harding in 1886. He died in 1936.