Today marks exactly 30 years since a referendum on ending apartheid was held in South Africa. The referendum, interestingly, was limited to only white South African voters. The question asked of them was, "Do you support continuation of the reform process which the State President began on 2 February 1990 and which is aimed at a new Constitution through negotiation?"
The reforms were initiated by State President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Frederik Willem de Klerk in 1990. The apartheid system had been implemented in the country since the year 1948. The result was a huge victory for the "yes" side with 68.73 per cent votes. The referendum saw a huge majority of registered voters turning up (85.08 per cent of them). In the aftermath of the referendum, universal suffrage was introduced two years later and on April 27, 1994, South Africa held its first non-racial elections, resulting in a landslide victory for the African National Congress and the election of Nelson Mandela as the first black President of South Africa.
Italy diaries
It was also on March 17 that the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861 and it lasted until 1946. A national day in Italy, it celebrates the birth of Italy as a modern nation-state. However, the complete unification of Italy took place only in the next few years. The anniversary of the birth of the Italian state was solemnly celebrated in 1911, 1961 and 2011 to mark the 50th, 100th and 150th years.
The day is also significant in the history of science as in the year 1950, researchers at the University of California in Berkeley announced the discovery of the sixth transuranium element and named it Californium, after the US state.
