On this day in 1960, the Sharpeville Massacre occurred at a police station in Sharpeville, South Africa when police fired into a crowd of anti-apartheid protesters, killing 69 people and injuring at least 180 more.

The protests were organized by the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), a black nationalist rival to the African National Congress (ANC). More than 20,000 protesters showed up at the police station in opposition to apartheid.

The unarmed crowd was met with armored police armed with Sten submachine guns and Lee–Enfield rifles. After F-86 Sabre jets and Harvard Trainers flew low over the crowd, within a hundred feet of the ground, in an attempt to scatter it, the crowd began throwing rocks at police.

The police responded by opening fire on the crowd, killing 69 people and injuring 180 others. 29 children were casualties of the violence, and many people were shot in the back as they fled.

A storm of international protest followed the Sharpeville shootings, including sympathetic demonstrations in many countries and condemnation from the United Nations. Sharpeville marked a turning point in South Africa's history; the country found itself increasingly isolated in the international community.

The Sharpeville Massacre contributed to the banning of the PAC and ANC as illegal organizations. The massacre was one of the catalysts for a shift from passive resistance to armed resistance by both of these groups.

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