Trade unionist, Lameck Koniwaka Kadali Muwamba, known by his adopted name, Clements Kadalie, was born in April 1896, near the Bandawe mission station in Nyasaland, now Malawi. After being educated at the Church of Scotland mission station, he was trained as a teacher. In 1915, he went to South African in search of work. Three years later, he had settled in Cape Town and had befriended Arthur F. Batty, who was a political activist and trade unionist. It was through Batty's encouragement that Kadalie established the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) in 1919.

The Girl Guide movement shares its roots with the Boy Scout movement that was founded by Baden-Powell during the South African War of 1899-1902. During the war Baden-Powell, a British officer enlisted boys to act as messengers and organised these messengers into patrols.

From the beginning of colonialism in the 1880s following the 'scramble for Africa', Congo had been regarded as King Leopold II's personal fiefdom. Leopold's administration of the Congo is reputed to have been ruthless and brutal. The decision to transfer Congo to the Belgian Government followed intense criticism of Leopold's policies toward the Congolese. Atrocities committed by colonial officials in the Congo were circulated in Europe, provoking widespread condemnation of Leopold's policies.

The inability of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR or Transvaal Republic) under President Francois Burgers to score a decided victory in the Sekhukhune War, presented the opportunity to the British to annex Transvaal in 1877. Soon afterwards, Britain declared war against King Sekhukhune, paramount chief of the Bapedi. After three unsuccessful attempts he was defeated by two British regiments under Sir Garnet Wolseley, assisted by 8 000 Swazis. About 1 000 Bapedi were killed, including Sekhukhune's heir, Morwamoche.

Founder of and first commander of Cape Town, Johan Anthoniszoon van Riebeeck, was born in Culemborg in the Netherlands on 21 April 1619. An administrator for the Dutch East India Company (DEIC), van Riebeeck landed at the southern tip of Africa on 6 April 1652 in order to create a settlement for the DEIC. His arrival therefore opened South Africa for white settlement. Van Riebeeck remains a prominent figure in the early history of colonial South Africa, and he was commander of the colony at the Cape of Good Hope from 1652 until 1662.

The Durban Declaration was a statement signed by over 5 000 people in the scientific community stating that HIV caused AIDS. The declaration was signed and published in response to then President Thabo Mbeki's AIDS denialism. Mbeki asserted the view that HIV was not the sole cause of AIDS and this viewpoint affected the South African government's response to the AIDS epidemic. Access to azidothymidine (AZT) was limited due to Mbeki's belief that it was toxic and not effective in dealing with HIV.

After South Africa's first national democratic elections in April 1994, Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa's first democratic President at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 10 May 1994.. He replaced the outgoing National Party leader F.W. de Klerk as President. Mandela spent the first 18 of his 27 years in jail at the Robben Island Prison. In June 1990 he retired from politics at the age of 80.

Fred M'membe is a Zambian journalist who founded the country's first independent newspaper, Zambia Post. As the only independent newspaper in Zambia, Zambia Post constantly clashed with the government, from the time of President Kenneth Kaunda up until President Rupiah Banda's rule. He has been arrested and prosecuted several times for his reporting. M'membe is the third recipient of the Media Institute of Southern Africa's Press Freedom Award in 1995. That same year, he also won the International Press Freedom Award.

Elsa the lioness was one of three orphaned lions whose mother was killed in self defence by George Adamson. Adamson was a wildlife conservationist based in Kenya. He was forced to kill Elsa's mother in self- defence when she tried to attack him. It was only after he had shot her that he realised the lion was protecting her three cubs. Adams took the cubs home and together with his wife, Joy, raised them. The two older cubs were later sent to a Rotterdam zoo, while Elsa remained with the Adamsons. Joy and Elsa developed a close bond as she slowly trained the lioness to survive in the wild.

Funmilayo Ransome Kuti was born Francis Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas on 25 October 1900 in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Kuti founded a women's organisation with 20 000 members that comprised of literate and illiterate women. The organisation was thrust into the public eye when it organised a rally of women against price controls which were hurting the female merchants of the Abeokuta markets.