It’s 21 March, and that means it’s time for another edition of Throwback Thursday! Today, we’re taking a look back at three prominent events that went down on this day in history:

1871 – Searching for Dr Livingstone

One hundred and fifty-three years ago, Henry Morton Stanley, a Welsh journalist and explorer. was commissioned by the “New York Herald” to locate Dr David Livingstone, the famed Scottish physician, missionary and explorer who had travelled to Africa in 1866 to find the source of the Nile river, although nothing had been heard from him since.

It was up to Stanley to determine whether or not Dr Livingstone – who famously contracted and survived malaria at least 30 times in the course of his many expeditions to Africa – was still alive.

So, on 21 March 1871, Stanley and his expedition party set out from the African port of Bagamoyo in Tanzania to find the Scotsman.

After eight months of trudging through life-threatening jungle and swampland, Stanley and what remained of his party finally came across the man he was looking for in the town of Ujiji by Lake Tanganyika on 10 November: Dr Livingstone was noticeably “pale” and “looking wearied”, and was surrounded by tribesmen.

Cautiously, Stanley drew closer, took off his hat and uttered the now-famous words, “Dr Livingstone, I presume?”, to which the other man smiled, replied in the affirmative and welcomed him.

Dr Livingstone would die two years later from malaria, but those four words have outlasted him (and Stanley) and have become iconic in their own right.

1891 – The End of a Family Feud

After nearly 30 years of feuding, peace finally reigned between two (in)famous American homesteads.

Between 1863 and 1891, the Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky were at odds with each other. No one knows for sure what exactly kickstarted the legendary feud, although the American Civil War escalated their respective loathing for each other (the Hatfields supported the Confederates, while the McCoys were on the side of the Unionists). Land disputes also seemed to play a hand: the wealthier Hatfields lived on the opposite side of the border river that kept them separate (just about) from the less well off McCoys.

That, and allegations of inter-family romance, and that one of the Hatfields stole a pig belonging to the McCoys, also contributed to the antagonism between the two families.

Whatever the case may be, the Hatfield-McCoy feud became bloody and violent, claiming the lives of an estimated 12-20 members from both families. It even garnered the attention of the American nation, with the militias of both West Virginia and Kentucky encouraged to intervene before it got any worse.

Thankfully, on 21 March 1891, the two families agreed to put an end to their long-standing rivalry. It’s not clear what exactly precipitated the ceasefire: some say it was because that the loss of life was taking an exhausting toll on them all, while others say it was due to an inter-family marriage.

Today, the descendants of the Hatfields and McCoys are more at peace with each other than ever before (they even signed a legal peace treaty in 2003!). They hold annual reunions, which sees thousands upon thousands of close and distant relatives gathering to have a good time.

1960 – Remembering Sharpeville

In South Africa, citizens celebrate Human Rights Day on 21 March – it marks the event known as the “Sharpeville Massacre”.

In 1960, about 7 000 people gathered together outside a police station in Sharpeville to peacefully protest against South Africa’s oppressive pass laws. Alas, the police opened fire on the crowd, killing 69 protesters and wounding 180.

Today, South Africans commemorate those who were slain during the Sharpeville Massacre, as well as commemorate those who were there that day to stand up and fight for our rights – especially those who have been fighting for our rights from the beginning and to the end of South Africa’s Apartheid regime at the risk of their lives.

Thanks to them, we are able to exercise our rights and enjoy our freedoms that we have today.

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