In 1992 South Africans votes to end apartheid.  The apartheid was a political system of racial segregation in South Africa which suppressed black people’s rights in the country since 1948. Laws against the rights of the majority black population began in 1913 (just three years after their independence) but they became rigidly enforced when the Nationalist Party gained power in 1948. The relaxation of apartheid laws came about under the government of President F.W. de Klerk due to negotiations with Nelson Mandela. Mandela spent many years fighting the injustice of his country and spent 27 years in prison finally released in 1990. He was imprisoned for gorilla tactics against the oppressive government and was offered early release on several occasions if he agreed not to oppose their laws. He remained rigid in his fight for an end to apartheid and the vote that took place on this day by white South Africans to end the apartheid was the beginning of that end. In 1994 the first elections were held that allowed white and black South Africans to vote and the African National Congress (ANC) won the vote with Nelson Mandela as President.

In 1950 the people of Belgium voted in favour for the return of their exiled king. King Leopold III was exiled from Belgium after being accused of collaborating with the Nazis and fascist tendencies. He surrendered Belgium to Germany unconditionally and against the wishes of Parliament in 1940. He was imprisoned in Switzerland until 1945 when he was released by allied forces. He was banned from returning to Belgium without the authority of Parliament and a referendum was held to decide with voting being compulsory to the entire nation. The Government at the time was a coalition of the Catholic and Liberal parties. The Liberal Party said that the king should only be allowed to return if the majority in all regions voted yes, however although overall 53% voted for the Kings return, this was mainly due to a 72% majority in one area. Because of this the Liberal MP’s refused to enter parliament to recede the law and instead the government collapsed. King Leopold III did return in July 1950 with his son Baudouin ruling temporarily in his place. In July 1951 King Leopold III officially abdicated his throne and his son became king.

In 1766 Britain repealed the much hated stamp tax placed on the American colonies (America and Canada). Britain first introduced the stamp tax one year before on the 22nd of March 1765 in order to raise the money towards the 10,000 troops placed in the American frontier to defend and protect the colonies (the ‘Seven Years War’ and ‘French and Indian War’ had only ended in 1763 and Tensions still ran high between Great Britain and France). The tax was placed on any official document as well as newspapers and playing cards, but it was not the cost that the American people had a problem with but the way in which the tax was introduced. Other taxes in Britain’s colonies had been introduced by their elected representatives, but this tax had been introduced directly from Britain and not approved by an American legislator. This was seen as an insult to the Americans and many Britain’s and it implied that Americans were merely subjects with fewer rights than Britain’s. Former Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder gave a speech in Parliament in defence of America and their rights as equal citizens “This Kingdom has no right to lay a tax upon the colonies. They are the subjects of the kingdom equally entitled with yourselves to all the natural rights of mankind and the peculiar privileges of Englishmen. The Americans are the sons not the bastards of England.” The King also made his opposition to the tax known and on this day in 1776 it was repealed.