Cullinan Diamond
The Cullinan diamond was found below the surface at Premier Mine in Cullinan, Transvaal Colony, by Frederick Wells, surface manager at the mine, on 26 January 1905. It was approximately long, wide, deep, and weighed . Newspapers called it the "Cullinan Diamond", a reference to Sir Thomas Cullinan, who opened the mine in 1902. It was three times the size of the Excelsior Diamond, found in 1893 at Jagersfontein Mine, weighing . Four of its eight surfaces were smooth, indicating that it once had been part of a much larger stone broken up by natural forces. It had a blue-white hue and contained a small pocket of air, which at certain angles produced a rainbow, or Newton's rings.
Thomas Cullinan (diamond magnate)
Sir Thomas Cullinan (12 February 186223 August 1936) was a South African diamond magnate. He is renowned for giving his name to the Cullinan Diamond, the largest diamond ever discovered, and as owner of the Premier Mine, now renamed the Cullinan Mine, from which the famous gem was extracted on 26 January 1905. He also gave his name to the nearby South African town of Cullinan. He was honored by the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Tembisa which named their church after him (Sir Thomas Cullinan AME Church). This was after he played a very big role towards building the church.