Sharpeville massacre

The Sharpeville massacre occurs 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, a crowd of about 5,000 to 7,000 black protesters goes to the police station.

The South African police open fire on the crowd, killing 69 people.

Sources disagree as to the behavior of the crowd; some state that the crowd wereas 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.

In present-day South Africa, 21 March is celebrated as a public holiday in honor of human rights and to commemorate the Sharpeville massacre.