16 April 1946
The 21.19 carat diamond that would come to be known as the Eureka Diamond was discovered by a young boy and his little sister as they played in their family farm along the Vaal River. The children often picked up rocks from the river to play with. A man named Schalk van Niekerk visited the farm and, suspecting the rock might be a diamond, offered to buy it from the children. Their mother decided to give it to him instead. Van Niekerk got the diamond verified and sold it for £ 500. The diamond made its way to Britain where it was displayed until 1967. The discovery of the Eureka diamond sparked mild interest in the mining industry, but it was only the discovery of another 83 carat diamond that saw locals and people abroad rush to Kimberly to mine diamonds. The Eureka diamond is now displayed at the Kimberly Museum after mining company De Beers bought it and brought it back to South Africa.
References

Davenport, J., Eureka – South Africa has diamonds!, from Mining Weekly, [online], Available at www.miningweekly.com [Accessed: 05 April 2013]|DS, A History of Diamonds in South Africa, from Diamond Source, [online], Available at www.diamondsource.co.za [Accessed: 05 April 2013]