About 10 000 Afrikaner women, led by Mrs H.C. Steyn, wife of former President M.T. Steyn, marched to the Union Buildings to protest about the South African involvement in World War 2 on the side of Britain. Mrs H.E.C. Armstrong, one of the organisers, wrote a letter to Prime Minister J.C. Smuts, in which she set out the reasons for the protest. A further 3 968 women sent telegrams to Smuts, while 3 829 signed petitions, which were handed to him.

Major Allister Mackintosh Miller secured a government subsidy and introduced the first official commercial air service in South Africa under the name of Union Airways Company (Pty). On this date the first flight between Maitland and Port Elizabeth left with five bags of mail. The company, with headquarters in Port Elizabeth, flew a regular service to and from Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. Its main object was to fly mail to connect with mail-boats. Passenger services were introduced in 1934, especially between Durban and Johannesburg.

On this day in history, the first issue of the weekly periodical TIME appeared on newsstands. The first issue was 32 pages and featured a charcoal sketch of Congressman Joseph Gurney Cannon on the cover. It was the United States' first, modern news magazine. Today, the worldwide news weekly, founded by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden, is printed in several languages. It is one of the most popular magazines in history, with readership topping 4 million, which includes many South African readers.

The first International Women's Day was launched in several European countries in March 1911. It was celebrated on 19 March and over a million men and women took to the streets in a series of rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded the right to work and an end to discrimination on the job. Since 1917 the date of 8 March was universally accepted as International Women's Day. It has become an occasion marked by women's groups around the world.

On 20 September 1915 a new battalion consisting of Cape Coloured men, called the Cape Corps was established with the view of being dispatched to East Africa in 1916 to fight on the side of the Allies in World War One. The corps was made up of coloured members of the country's defence force, and at its peak strength it had around 23 000 members.

The Women's Memorial was unveiled in Bloemfontein, on the same day as the celebration of Dingaan's Day upon which the Voortrekker victory over the Zulu at Bloodriver (Ncombe) was celebrated. The ceremony, which was attended by 20 000 people from all over the country, was to commemorate 26 251 women and children who died during the Anglo-Boer War 2, mainly in British concentration camps. Many politicians were impressed by the speech of the former Orange Free State president, Mr M.T. Steyn, who was absent from the commemoration due to ill health.

Mahatma Gandhi supported the resolution of the African People's Organisation (APO) to declare the day of arrival of the Prince of Wales in Cape Town as a day of mourning, in protest against the South Africa Act's disenfranchisement of Indians, Coloureds and Africans in the upcoming Union of South Africa.

George Frederick Labram, manufacturer of a cannon popularly known as 'Long Cecil' in the De Beers' workshop in Kimberley, was killed by a shell from a Boer 'Long Tom' cannon during the siege of Kimberley. Labram, who was chief mechanical engineer at the De Beers Consolidated Mines, manufactured the gun from steel shafting. Within twenty-four days it was shelling the Boer lines. Labram was one of the defendants when Kimberley was under siege by the Boers during Anglo-Boer War 2. He died only a few days before the siege was lifted.

The 104mm field-gun designed by American George Labram and manufactured in the De Beers workshop in Kimberley, known as 'Long Cecil' after Cecil John Rhodes, was test fired for the first time at Boer forces during the Siege of Kimberley. Rhodes, who had taken interest in the gun, was present along with eminent local figures and senior officers of the British garrison. He extended an invitation to Lt-Col Chamier, as the senior gunner, to fire the first round.

On 18 May 1899, a statue of the first European to settle at the Cape, Jan van Riebeeck, was unveiled. The statue stands on Heerengracht Street in Cape Town. It was sculpted in bronze by John Tweed and donated to the city by Cecil John Rhodes, a politician and financier of the late 19th century. Near this statue, at the bottom end of Adderley Street, are statues of Bartholomew Dias, a Portuguese explorer who was the first European to reach the Cape of Good Hope in 1487, and Maria van Riebeeck, wife of Jan van Riebeeck.