16 June 1976
Source:
BG D49/952
The Soweto Uprising is also known as '16 June'.
On 16 June 1976 the apartheid police opened fire on youngsters in Soweto protesting against the compulsory use of Afrikaans in South African schools.
13-year-old Hector Pieterson went down in history as the first victim of police bullets in Soweto that day, thanks to a photo that went round the world.
Hundreds of others lost their lives and the world's eyes were opened to the brutality of apartheid.