Today in History - August 4: Captain of sinking cruise ship abandons 400 passengers
On August 4, 1991, the cruise ship Oceanos sank off the coast of South Africa during a giant storm.
What began as a pleasure cruise for the vessels 400 passengers soon became a terror trip when it encountered massive swells.
The passengers were abandoned by the ship's captain and most of the crew who, realising the vessel was sinking, took to the lifeboats.
It was left to the Oceanos' entertainment director and a group of singers to distribute life jackets and organise rescue effort.
They manned the ship's radio and a mayday call alerted South African authorities.
Rescue helicopters successfully winched all the passengers and remaining crew to safety in a miracle rescue.
Following a tip-off, on August 4, 1944, the Nazi secret police captured Jewish teenager Anne Frank and her family who had been hiding in Amsterdam for two years.
During that time, Frank wrote a diary that becomes a classic piece of wartime literature.
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