Nadine Gordimer, author

Burger's Daughter is a novel by the South African writer Nadine Gordimer (pictured). Set in the mid-1970s, it details a group of white anti-apartheid activists seeking to overthrow the South African government. It follows the life of Rosa Burger as she comes to terms with her father's legacy as an activist in the South African Communist Party. Gordimer was involved in South African politics and knew Bram Fischer, Nelson Mandela's treason trial defence lawyer. She modelled the novel's Burger family on Fischer's family and described Burger's Daughter as an homage to Fischer. The novel was first published in the United Kingdom in 1979. It was banned in South Africa a month after its publication, and its import and sale were prohibited by the South African Publications Control Board. Three months later, the Publications Appeal Board overturned the ban and restrictions were lifted. The novel was generally well received by critics and won the Central News Agency Literary Award in 1980. (Full article...)

Matei Ghica

• ... that in 1752, Matei Ghica (pictured) took the throne of Wallachia with support from his father-in-law, allegedly ignoring his late father's last will?
• ... that Gulhifalhu, previously uninhabitable, is now described by the Maldives Independent as "engineered for urban disaster"?
• ... that two sons of Ismail Thomas contested the 2024 regency election to succeed Fransiskus Xaverius Yapan in West Kutai, Indonesia, and the younger brother, Frederick Edwin, won?
• ... that Naughty Dog's first published game was initially planned to be distributed locally in Ziploc bags?
• ... that director Abel Ferrara "delayed" the 64th Locarno Film Festival by singing rock and roll songs?
• ... that all candidates in the 1982 Salvadoran presidential election were pre-selected by the military?
• ... that Ragıp Vural Tandoğan began his long-distance open-water swimming career in his fifties?
• ... that an oil rig trailer and winch were used to help build a Texas TV station?
• ... that the Brazilian Navy Nuclear Program attempted to hide their research, but their facilities became public knowledge even before they opened?

Robert Redford

• Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign an agreement to defend each other against attacks.
• American actor and filmmaker Robert Redford (pictured) dies at the age of 89.
• In boxing, Terence Crawford defeats Canelo Álvarez, becoming undisputed champion for his third weight class.
• In television, The Studio wins best comedy and The Pitt wins best drama at the Primetime Emmy Awards.

September 24: Heritage Day in South Africa; Independence Day in Guinea-Bissau (1973)

Battle of San Juan de Ulúa

• 1568 – At San Juan de Ulúa (present-day Veracruz, Mexico), a Spanish naval fleet forced English privateers to halt their trade (battle pictured).
• 1789 – The Judiciary Act of 1789 was signed into law, establishing the U.S. federal judiciary and setting the number of Supreme Court justices at six.
• 1903 – Alfred Deakin became the second Australian prime minister, succeeding Edmund Barton, who left office to become a founding justice of the High Court of Australia.
• 1950 – The "Great Smoke Pall", generated by the Chinchaga fire, the largest recorded fire in North American history, was first recorded in present-day Nunavut and may eventually have circled the entire globe.
• 1975 – Dougal Haston and Doug Scott of the Southwest Face expedition became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest by ascending one of its faces.