Sharpeville massacre

The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960, at the police station in the South African township of Sharpeville in the Transvaal (today part of Gauteng). After a day of demonstrations, at which a crowd of black protesters far outnumbered the police, the South African police opened fire on the crowd, killing 69 people. Sources disagree as to the behaviour of the crowd; some state that the crowd were peaceful, while others state that the crowd had been hurling stones at the police, and that the shooting started when the crowd started advancing toward the fence around the police station.^[2] In present-day South Africa, 21 March is celebrated as a public holiday in honor of human rights and to commemorate the Sharpeville massacre.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpeville massacre