On this day in 1976, the Soweto Uprising began in South Africa after the government mandated that Afrikaans be taught in school, leading to demonstrations by more than 20,000 black schoolchildren, hundreds of whom were killed by police.
The Afrikaans Medium Decree of 1974 mandated all black schools to use Afrikaans and English in equal amounts as languages of instruction. Afrikaans was strongly associated with apartheid (prominent anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu called it "the language of the oppressor"), and this decree was widely resented.
At first, resistance to the measure was scattered - on April 30th, the students of Orlando West Junior School went on strike, and other schools began to follow suit. Students eventually formed an Action Committee, later known as the Soweto Students' Representative Council, which organized a mass meeting on June 13th to develop a cohesive strategy of protest.
On the morning on June 16th, 10,000-20,000 students walked out of their schools to a mass rally, carrying signs reading "Down with Afrikaans", "Viva Azania", and "If we must do Afrikaans, Vorster must do Zulu".
The protest turned violent after students killed a trained dog that the police had sicced on them, causing the police to open fire. Among the first students to be murdered were the 15-year-old Hastings Ndlovu and the 12-year-old Hector Pieterson (shown, photo by Sam Nzima).
Social reformer Dr. Melville Edelstein was beaten to death by the mob, a sign around his neck proclaiming, "Beware Afrikaans is the most dangerous drug for our future". 23 people died on the first day in Soweto, and hundreds more were killed in the following weeks.
Emergency clinics were swamped with injured and bloody children. Police requested for the hospital to provide a list of all victims with bullet wounds, however the doctors refused, recording bullet wounds as abscesses.
The violence led to widespread riots and sympathy protests throughout South Africa, including white students from the University of the Witwatersrand. In remembrance of these events, June 16th is now a public holiday in South Africa known as Youth Day.
1976 Soweto Uprising: Youth rebellion and the burning desire for freedom
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EGM's take on September 11th from their "Top 10 News Stories of 2001" (found on page 129 (RetroMags p. 139) of Issue #155 from April 2002)
Image transcription
THE TOP 10 NEWS STORIES OF 2001
10) METAL GEAR SOLID 2
After all the hype, was MGS2 worth the wait? You bet'cher stealth camouflage it was. We won't be forgetting this heady sequel anytime soon.
9) ONLINE GAMING
Online gaming on consoles got a kick in the pants in 2K1 with Phantasy Star Online, Outrigger, Sega/Visual Concepts' sports games.... The Dreamcast was just hitting its online stride when the system stalled for good.
8) THE LEGEND OF "CELDA"
Whether you're for, or against, The Legend of Zelda's makeover, you've got to admit that its new Looney Tunes look threw you for a loop. More than a couple fist fights have already broken out here at EGM over this very controversy.
7) GAME BOY ADVANCE
As much as we love the GBC, it was so overdue for a retirement. Enter the GBA, with its hard-to-see screen and library of SNES rehashes, here to save the day. Just kidding. We really do love this lil' bundle of joy.
6) CONKER'S BAD FUR DAY
Second-party developer Rare's drinkin', swearing and money- grubbing sonuvabitch named Conker flushed Nintendo's family-friendliness down the toilet, and was a sales disaster on the dying N64.
5) RESIDENT EVIL MAKES JUMP TO GAMECUBE
One of the shockers of 2001 was Capcom's announcement that the RE series was going GameCube-exclusive. Good news for mature 'Cube owners who want more than just the usual kiddy stuff.
4) SEPTEMBER 11TH
Just as American life changed dramatically after the events of Sept. 11, so, too, did the video games we play. Some games were cancelled, while others underwent last-minute changes before their final release.
3) XBOX AND GAMECUBE SYSTEM LAUNCHES
When the Xbox and GameCube launched three days apart (on Nov. 15 and 18, respectively), our wallets were begging for mercy. Oh sweet mercy.
2) VIDEO GAMES GO TO THE MOVIES
Video games hit the theaters big time with Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. For 2002 and beyond, we'll see flicks like Resident Evil, Crazy Taxi and Duke Nukem.
1) SEGA GOES MULTI-PLATFORM
"The world of games is changing, so Sega must change, too." With that statement, Hideki Sato, Sega's chief operating officer, made it official: Sega was leaving the hardware business to publish software on all systems. After this bombshell, we were distracted to notice that hell had frozen over.
GBA and NDS were pretty much the pinnacle of handheld gaming imo
I'd have put Xbox and GameCube at 4th and 9/11 at 3rd personally