Sept 1 in History

1159 — Pope Adrian (Hadrian) IV, 59, born Nicolas Breakspear and the only Englishman to occupy the papal seat (from December 4 1154), dies in Anagni, Papal States, Holy Roman Empire. He reputedly dies after choking on a fly in his wine, but quinsy (an inflammation of the tonsils) is the more commonly accepted explanation.

1715 — Louis XIV “The Sun King” of France dies of gangrene at Versailles, four days before his 77th birthday. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest recorded by any monarch.

1853 — SA’s first postal stamps, the brick-red one penny and blue four pence, are issued in the Cape Colony. Designed by Charles Bell, Surveyor General of the Cape, they depict “Hope” reclining within a triangular format.

1859 — British amateur astronomers Richard C Carrington and Richard Hodgson independently record the first observation of a solar flare (or coronal mass ejection). It becomes known as Carrington Event. One of the largest geomagnetic storms (as recorded by ground-based magnetometers) occurs on the 2nd. Auroras are seen around the world. Telegraph communications are disrupted in every technically advanced nation.

1958 — Iceland expands its fishing zone from 7.4km to 22.2km, putting it in conflict with the UK. The three Cod Wars that follow end on June 1 1976, with the UK agreeing to a 370km Icelandic exclusive fishery zone. 1969 — King Idris I of Libya is overthrown in a coup. Muammar Gaddafi, 27, seizes power.

1972 — American Bobby Fischer, 29, becomes world chess champion by defeating defending champion Boris Spassky, 35, of the Soviet Union 12½-8½ in Reykjavik, Iceland. The 21-game matchup started on July 11. On August 31, game 21 was adjourned after 41 moves. The following day, Spassky resigns the game by telephone. The match sparks global interest; an “East-West battle” in the midst of the Cold War.

1985 — At about 12.45am, a US-France expedition locates the wreckage of the Titanic, sunk on April 15 1912 after hitting an iceberg, at a depth of about 3.8km about 600km off Newfoundland, Canada.

2000 — The groundbreaking for the SALT (Southern African Large Telescope) takes place on a windswept hilltop near the tiny Karoo town of Sutherland, home to the Southern African Astronomical Observatory’s research telescopes since 1972. It is the largest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere.

2000 — Dingaan “The Rose of Soweto” Thobela wins the WBC super-middleweight world title when he beats Briton Glenn Catley by TKO at Carnival City.