January 4 in History

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general, statesman, and author who was the dictator of the Roman Republic almost continuously from 49 BC until his assassination in 44 BC. A member of the First Triumvirate, he led the Roman armies through the Gallic Wars and defeated his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil war. He consolidated power and was titled as dictator perpetuo in 44 BC, helping create the political conditions that led to the collapse of the Roman Republic and the emergence of the Roman Empire. For his role in these events, he is regarded as one of history's most influential figures.

The Battle of Reading was a victory for a Danish Viking army over a West Saxon force on or about 4 January 871 at Reading in Berkshire. The Vikings were led by Bagsecg and Halfdan Ragnarsson and the West Saxons by King Æthelred and his brother, the future King Alfred the Great. It was the second of a series of battles that took place following an invasion of Wessex by the Danish army in December 870.

Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland. After his father inherited the English throne in 1603, he moved to England, where he spent much of the rest of his life. He became heir apparent to the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1612 upon the death of his elder brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. An unsuccessful and unpopular attempt to marry him to Infanta Maria Anna of Spain culminated in an eight-month visit to Spain in 1623, which demonstrated the futility of the marriage negotiations. Two years later, shortly after his accession, he married Henrietta Maria of France. After his accession in 1625, Charles quarrelled with the English Parliament, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. He believed in the divine right of kings and was determined to govern according to his own conscience. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in particular the levying of taxes without Parliamentary consent, and perceived his actions as those of a tyrannical absolute monarch. His religious policies, coupled with his marriage to a Catholic, generated antipathy and mistrust from Reformed religious groups such as the English Puritans and Scottish Covenanters, who thought his views too Catholic. He supported high church Anglican ecclesiastics and failed to aid continental Protestant forces successfully during the Thirty Years' War. His attempts to force the Church of Scotland to adopt high Anglican practices led to the Bishops' Wars, strengthened the position of the English and Scottish parliaments, and helped precipitate his own downfall. From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the English Civil War. After his defeat in 1645 at the hands of the Parliamentarian New Model Army, he fled north from his base at Oxford. Charles surrendered to a Scottish force and, after lengthy negotiations between the English and Scottish parliaments, was handed over to the Long Parliament in London. Charles refused to accept his captors' demands for a constitutional monarchy, and temporarily escaped captivity in November 1647. Re-imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, he allied with Scotland, but by the end of 1648, the New Model Army had consolidated its control over England. Charles was tried, convicted, and executed for high treason in January 1649. The monarchy was abolished and the Commonwealth of England was established as a republic. The monarchy was restored in 1660, with Charles's son Charles II as king.

The Rump Parliament was what remained of the Long Parliament after Pride's Purge on 6 December 1648, when Colonel Thomas Pride commanded his soldiers to exclude from the House of Commons those members who were against the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason. The Rump was dissolved by Oliver Cromwell in 1653 and replaced by the Barebone's Parliament. After Richard Cromwell's removal from power in 1659, the Rump was briefly reinstated.

The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, also known as the United Provinces (of the Netherlands), and referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation and great power that existed from 1588 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands and the first independent Dutch nation state. The republic was established after seven Dutch provinces in the Spanish Netherlands revolted against Spanish rule, forming a mutual alliance against Spain in 1579 (the Union of Utrecht) and declaring their independence in 1581 (the Act of Abjuration), after which they confederated in 1588 (the Instruction of 12 April 1588) after the States General could not agree on a new monarch. The seven provinces it comprised were Groningen (present-day Groningen), Frisia (present-day Friesland), Overijssel (present-day Overijssel), Guelders (present-day Gelderland), Utrecht (present-day Utrecht), Holland (present-day North Holland and South Holland), and Zeeland (present-day Zeeland).

Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Europe and the fourth-most populous European Union (EU) member state. Spanning the majority of the Iberian Peninsula, its territory also includes the Canary Islands, in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean; the Balearic Islands, in the Western Mediterranean Sea; and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, in mainland Africa. Peninsular Spain is bordered to the north by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; to the east and south by the Mediterranean Sea, Gibraltar and Morocco ; and to the west by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. Spain's capital and largest city is Madrid; other major urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Zaragoza, Seville, Bilbao, Málaga, Murcia, Palma de Mallorca and Las Palmas.

Saima was a Swedish language weekly newspaper which was published in Kuopio, Finland in the 1840s. It was one of the first Swedish language newspapers in Finland. The paper adopted the libertarian theory of the press which would lead to its closure in 1846 soon after its start in 1844.

Solomon Northup was an American abolitionist and the primary author of the memoir Twelve Years a Slave. A free-born American of mixed race from New York, he was the son of a freed slave and a free woman of color. Northup was a professional violinist, farmer, and landowner in Washington County, New York. In 1841, he was offered a traveling musician's job and went to Washington, D.C. ; there, he was drugged and kidnapped into slavery. He was shipped to New Orleans on April 24, 1841 by James H. Birch aboard the Brig Orleans from Richmond, VA. Northup was purchased by a planter and held as a slave for nearly twelve years in the Red River region of Louisiana; mostly in Avoyelles Parish. He remained enslaved until he met Samuel Bass, a Canadian working on his plantation who helped get word to New York, where state law provided aid to free New York citizens who had been kidnapped and sold into slavery. His family and friends enlisted the aid of the governor of New York, Washington Hunt, and Northup regained his freedom on January 3, 1853.

The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands is an Australian external territory in the southern Indian Ocean. Discovered in the mid-19th century, the territory is a group of sub-Antarctic volcanic islands that lie on the Kerguelen Plateau. It is about 4000 kilometres (2500 mi) south-west of the Australian mainland and 1700 kilometres (1100 mi) north of Antarctica. The territory contains Australia's only active volcanoes and is home to its highest point outside the Australian Antarctic Territory, Mawson Peak. The territory is uninhabited and has been described as one of the most remote places on Earth.

The New Apostolic Church (NAC) is a Christian church of the Irvingian tradition. Its origins are in 1863, when some members of a newly formed group of apostles settled in Germany to freely continue its practices to teach and baptize. The split left the Catholic Apostolic Church on one side and the Hamburg congregation on the other. The church has existed since 1863 in Germany and since 1897 in the Netherlands. It came about from the schism in Hamburg in 1863, when it separated from the Catholic Apostolic Church, which itself started in the 1830s as a renewal movement in, among others, the Anglican Church and Church of Scotland. The Second Coming of Christ is at the forefront of the New Apostolic doctrines. Most of its doctrines are akin to mainstream Christianity and, especially its liturgy, to Protestantism, whereas its hierarchy and organisation could be compared with the Catholic Church. It is a central church in the Irvingian orientation of Christianity. The church considers itself to be the re-established continuation of the Early Church and that its leaders are the successors of the twelve apostles. This doctrine resembles Restorationism in some aspects. The official abbreviation in English-speaking countries is NAC (for New Apostolic Church), whereas it is NAK in German (Neuapostolische Kirche), ENA in French (Église Néo Apostolique), and INA in Portuguese (Igreja Nova Apostólica) and Spanish (Iglesia Nueva Apostólica).

The Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and a coalition led by the Russian Empire which included Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro. Precipitating factors included the Russian goals of recovering territorial losses endured during the Crimean War of 1853–1856, re-establishing itself in the Black Sea and supporting the political movement attempting to free Balkan nations from the Ottoman Empire. The Russian-led coalition won the war, pushing the Ottomans back all the way to the gates of Constantinople, leading to the intervention of the Western European great powers. As a result, Russia succeeded in claiming provinces in the Caucasus, namely Kars and Batum, and also annexed the Budjak region. The principalities of Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro, each of which had had de facto sovereignty for some years, formally proclaimed independence from the Ottoman Empire. After almost five centuries of Ottoman domination (1396–1878), Bulgaria emerged as an autonomous state with support and military intervention from Russia. Moreover, Greece annexed parts of Thessaly and Arta.

The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. It is related to radicalism, a left-wing liberal tradition.

The Sino-French or Franco-Chinese War, also known as the Tonkin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885 between the French Third Republic and the Qing dynasty for influence in Vietnam. There was no declaration of war. The Qing armies performed better than in their other nineteenth-century wars. Although French forces emerged victorious from most engagements, the Qing scored noteworthy successes on land, notably forcing the French to hastily withdraw from occupied Lạng Sơn in the late stages of the war, thus gaining control of the town and its surroundings. However, a lack of foreign support, French naval supremacy, and northern threats posed by Russia and Japan forced the Qing to enter negotiations. The Qing ceded to France its sphere of influence over Northern and Central Vietnam, which respectively became the protectorates of Tonkin and Annam. Both sides ratified the Treaty of Tientsin and no diplomatic gain was reaped by either nation. On another note, the war strengthened the dominance of Empress Dowager Cixi over the Qing government but France securing its strategic objective did not prevent the collapse of French Prime Minister Jules Ferry's government for whom the Tonkin Affair was ignominious.

Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the north, and Nevada to the west. In comparison to all the U.S. states and territories, Utah, with a population of just over three million, is the 13th-largest by area, the 30th-most populous, and the 11th-least densely populated. Urban development is mostly concentrated in two regions: the Wasatch Front in the north-central part of the state, which includes the state capital, Salt Lake City, and is home to roughly two-thirds of the population; and Washington County in the southwest, which has approximately 180,000 residents. Most of the western half of Utah lies in the Great Basin. Utah has been inhabited for thousands of years by various Indigenous peoples, such as the ancient Puebloans, the Navajo, and the Ute. The first Europeans to arrive – in the mid-16th century – were the Spanish. Because of the region's challenging geography and harsh climate, it only became a peripheral part of New Spain (and later of Mexico). Even while it was Mexican territory, many of the Utah region's earliest European settlers were from the United States; notable among these were Mormons who were fleeing marginalization and persecution in the United States and arrived via the so-called Mormon Trail. In 1848, after the Mexican–American War, the region was annexed by the U.S., becoming part of the Utah Territory, which included what later became Colorado and Nevada. Disputes between the dominant Mormon community and Congress delayed Utah's admission as a state: in 1896, after it agreed to outlaw polygamy, it was admitted as the 45th state. People from Utah are known as Utahns. Slightly over half of all Utahns are Mormons, the vast majority of whom are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which has its world headquarters in Salt Lake City; Utah is the only state where a majority of the population belongs to a single church. The LDS Church greatly influences Utah's culture, politics, and daily life. However, since the 1990s, Utah has become both more religiously diverse and more secular. Utah has a highly diversified economy, with major sectors including transportation, education, information technology and research, government services, mining, multi-level marketing, and tourism. Utah has been one of the fastest growing states since 2000, with the 2020 U.S. census confirming the fastest population growth in the nation since 2010. St. George was the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States from 2000 to 2005. It has the 12th-highest median average income and the least income inequality of any U.S. state. Over time and influenced by climate change, droughts in Utah have been increasing in frequency and severity, putting a further strain on Utah's water security and impacting the state's economy.

Topsy (c. 1875 – January 4, 1903) was a female Asian elephant who was electrocuted to death at Coney Island, New York, in January 1903. Born in Southeast Asia around 1875, Topsy was secretly brought into the United States soon thereafter and added to the herd of performing elephants at the Forepaugh Circus, who fraudulently advertised her as the first elephant born in the United States. During her 25 years at Forepaugh, Topsy gained a reputation as a "bad" elephant and, after killing a spectator in 1902, was sold to Coney Island's Sea Lion Park. Sea Lion was leased out at the end of the 1902 season and during the construction of the park that took its place, Luna Park, Topsy was used in publicity stunts and also involved in several well-publicized incidents, attributed to the actions of either her drunken handler or the park's new publicity-hungry owners, Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy. Thompson and Dundy's end-of-the-year plans to advertise the opening of their new park, by euthanizing Topsy in a public hanging and charging admission to see the spectacle, were prevented by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The event was instead limited to invited guests and the press only. Thompson and Dundy agreed to use a more sure method of strangling the elephant with large ropes tied to a steam-powered winch, with both poison and electrocution planned as backup, a measure supported by the ASPCA. On January 4, 1903, in front of a small crowd of invited reporters and guests, Topsy was fed carrots laced with 460 grams of potassium cyanide, electrocuted and strangled, the electrocution being the final cause of death. Among the invited press that day was a crew from Edison Studios who filmed the event. Their film of the electrocution part was released to be viewed in coin-operated kinetoscopes under the title Electrocuting an Elephant. It is probably the first filmed death of an animal in history. The story of Topsy fell into obscurity for the next 70 years, but has become more prominent in popular culture, partly because the film of the event still exists. In popular culture, Thompson and Dundy's killing of Topsy has switched attribution, with false claims that it was an anti-alternating current demonstration organized by Thomas Edison during the war of the currents. Edison was never at Luna Park and the electrocution of Topsy took place ten years after the end of the war of currents.

Aeneas Lionel Acton Mackintosh (1 July 1879 – 8 May 1916) was a British Merchant Navy officer and Antarctic explorer who commanded the Ross Sea party as part of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914–1917. The Ross Sea party's mission was to support Shackleton's proposed transcontinental march by laying supply depots along the latter stages of the march's intended route. In the face of persistent setbacks and practical difficulties, Mackintosh's party fulfilled its task, although he and two others died in the course of their duties. Mackintosh's first Antarctic experience was as second officer on Shackleton's Nimrod expedition, 1907–1909. Shortly after his arrival in the Antarctic, a shipboard accident destroyed his right eye, and he was sent back to New Zealand. He returned in 1909 to participate in the later stages of the expedition; his will and determination in adversity impressed Shackleton, and led to his Ross Sea party appointment in 1914. Having brought his party to the Antarctic, Mackintosh was faced with numerous difficulties. Confused and vague orders meant he was uncertain of the timing of Shackleton's proposed march. His problems were compounded when the party's ship, SY Aurora, was swept from its winter moorings during a gale and was unable to return, causing the loss of vital equipment and supplies. In carrying out the party's depot-laying task, one man died; Mackintosh barely survived, owing his life to the actions of his comrades who brought him to safety. Restored to health, he and a companion disappeared while attempting to return to the expedition's base camp by crossing the unstable sea ice. Mackintosh's competence and leadership skills have been questioned by polar historians. Shackleton commended the work of the party, and equated the sacrifice of their lives to those given in the trenches of the First World War, but was critical of Mackintosh's organising skills. Years later, Shackleton's son, Lord Shackleton, identified Mackintosh as one of the expedition's heroes, alongside Ernest Joyce and Dick Richards.

The Scout Association is a council that registers local Scout groups, which "are autonomous charities affiliated to The Scout Association". The organisation and its affiliated local groups have the largest enrolment within the Scout Movement in the United Kingdom. Following the rapid development of the Scout Movement from 1907, Robert Baden-Powell formed an advisory council in 1910, which was incorporated by a royal charter in 1912 under its previous name of The Boy Scouts Association. It is a founding member organisation of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.

The Finnish Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Parliament of Finland on 6 December 1917. It declared Finland to be independent from Russia, with reference to a bill simultaneously delivered to the Parliament to make Finland an independent republic instead.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many engaging in total war on an unprecedented scale. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the deaths of 60 to 75 million people, a majority of whom were civilians. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also referred to as Burma, is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has a population of about 55 million. It is bordered by India and Bangladesh to the northwest, China to the northeast, Laos and Thailand to the east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to the south and southwest. The country's capital city is Naypyidaw, while its largest city is Yangon.

The Korean War was an armed conflict fought on the Korean Peninsula between North Korea and South Korea and their allies. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union, while South Korea was supported by the United Nations led by the United States under the auspices of the United Nations Command (UNC).

Sputnik 1, often referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for three weeks before its three silver-zinc batteries became depleted. Aerodynamic drag caused it to fall back into the atmosphere on 4 January 1958.

Luna 1, also known as Mechta (Russian: Мечта [mʲɪt͡ɕˈta], lit.: Dream), E-1 No.4 and First Lunar Rover, was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of Earth's Moon, the first spacecraft to leave Earth's orbit, and the first to be placed in heliocentric orbit. Luna 1 was launched as part of the Soviet Luna programme in 1959. Initially intended as a Moon impactor, a malfunction in the ground-based control system caused an error in the upper stage rocket's burn time, and the spacecraft missed the Moon by 5,900 km (more than three times the Moon's radius). Nevertheless, Luna 1 became the first human-made object to reach heliocentric orbit and was dubbed "Artificial Planet 1" and renamed Mechta (Dream). Luna 1 was also referred to as the "First Cosmic Ship", in reference to its achievement of Earth escape velocity.

Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20 (Russian: Рейс 101/X-20 Аэрофлота Reys 101/X-20 Aeroflota) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Moscow to Alma-Ata via Omsk, Soviet Union, that crashed in low visibility conditions on 4 January 1965, killing 64 of the 103 people on board.

The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They are considered one of the most innovative, influential and controversial rock bands in history, primarily due to their pioneering experimentation with a great variety of musical styles and techniques and Morrison's lyrics and voice, along with his erratic stage persona and legal issues. The group is widely cited as a major representative of the era's counterculture.

Dame Rose Heilbron, DBE (19 August 1914 – 8 December 2005) was a British barrister who served later as a High Court judge. Her career included many "firsts" for a woman – she was the first woman to achieve a first class honours degree in law at the University of Liverpool, the first woman to win a scholarship to Gray's Inn, one of the first two women to be appointed King's Counsel in England, the first woman to lead in a murder case, the first woman recorder, the first woman judge to sit at the Old Bailey, and the first woman treasurer of Gray's Inn. She was also the second woman to be appointed a High Court judge, after Elizabeth Lane.

The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although centred in Northern Ireland, violence at times spilled into the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe. The conflict arose from political and nationalistic disputes with a strong ethnic and sectarian dimension. Unionists and loyalists, mostly Ulster Protestants, wanted Northern Ireland to remain in the United Kingdom, while Irish nationalists and republicans, mostly Irish Catholics, wanted it to join a united Ireland. Despite the division between Protestants and Catholics, it was not a religious war.

On January 4, 1987, two trains collided on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor main line near Chase, Maryland, United States, at Gunpow Interlocking. Amtrak train 94, the Colonial, traveling north from Washington, D.C., to Boston, crashed at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) into a set of Conrail locomotives running light that had fouled the mainline. Fourteen passengers on the Amtrak train died, as well as the Amtrak engineer and lounge car attendant.

On 4 January 1989, two Grumman F-14A Tomcats of the United States Navy shot down two Libyan-operated Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23ML Flogger-G which the American aircrews believed were attempting to engage and attack them, as had happened eight years prior during the 1981 Gulf of Sidra incident. The engagement took place over the Mediterranean Sea, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Tobruk, Libya.

The North American Ice Storm of 1998 was a massive combination of five smaller successive ice storms in January 1998 that struck a relatively narrow swath of land from eastern Ontario to southern Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in Canada, and bordering areas from northern New York to central Maine in the United States. It caused massive damage to trees and electrical infrastructure throughout the area, leading to widespread long-term power outages. Millions were left in the dark for periods varying from days to several weeks, and in some instances, months. It led to 34 fatalities, a shutdown of activities in large cities like Montreal and Ottawa, and an unprecedented effort in reconstruction of the power grid. The ice storm led to the largest deployment of Canadian military personnel since the Korean War, with over 16,000 Canadian Forces personnel deployed, 12,000 in Quebec and 4,000 in Ontario at the height of the crisis.

Jesse Ventura is an American politician, Vietnam veteran, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation, he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003. He was elected governor with the Reform Party and is the party's only candidate to win a major government office.

Trondheim, historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 1 January 2026, it had a population of 218,460. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is the fourth largest urban area. Trondheim lies on the south shore of Trondheim Fjord at the mouth of the Nidelva. Among the significant technology-oriented institutions headquartered in Trondheim are the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF), the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU), and St. Olavs University Hospital.

Spirit, also known as MER-A or MER-2, is a Mars robotic rover, active from 2004 to 2010. Spirit was operational on Mars for 2208 sols or 3.3 Martian years. It was one of two rovers of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Spirit landed successfully within the impact crater Gusev on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity (MER-B), which landed on the other side of the planet. Its name was chosen through a NASA-sponsored student essay competition. The rover got stuck in a "sand trap" in late 2009 at an angle that hampered recharging of its batteries; its last communication with Earth was on March 22, 2010.

Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009.

The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The apportionment of seats in the House was based on the 2000 U.S. census.

The Let L-410 Turbolet is a twin-engine short-range turboprop transport aircraft designed and produced by the Czech aircraft manufacturer Let Kunovice.

The Burj Khalifa is a megatall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Designed by the SOM architectural firm, it is the world's tallest structure, with a total height of 829.8 m and a roof height of 828 m (2,717 ft). It has been the tallest building in the world since its complete inauguration in 2011, surpassing Taipei 101, which had held the record since 2004.

On 4 January 2018, a passenger train operated by Shosholoza Meyl collided with a truck at a level crossing at Geneva Station between Hennenman and Kroonstad, in the Free State, South Africa. The train derailed, and seven of the twelve carriages caught fire. Twenty-one people were killed and 254 others were injured.