SAHO global search
63,723 records
Voortrekker leaders punish Mzilikazi
General Piet Cronje, politician, military leader and general during Anglo Boer War is born
Sir William Cornwallis Harris, traveller, hunter and renowned artist, arrives in Algoa Bay to begin a hunting expedition
EventCharles Darwin and the HMS Beagle reached the Galapagos Islands
Darwin's experience in the Galapagos would be the principle inspiration for his work, On The Origin of Species, one of those rare scientific works that…
Adam Kok II, Griqua chief, dies at the Berg River
EventPort Natal is renamed Durban in honour of Sir Benjamin D’Urban, governor of the Cape Colony from 1834 - 1837
On 23 June 1835 Port Natal was renamed Durban in honour of Sir Benjamin D'Urban, governor of the Cape Colony from 1834 - 37. It is thought that the first…
Fingo leaders gather at Peddie
Xhosa King, Hintsa ka Phalo, is killed by British troops
EventSir Benjamin D’Urban accepts the Mfengu as British subjects
The Mfengu (or Fingo in the colonial lexicon) were defeated and left landless by King Shaka's Zulu army, and slowly arrived in Xhosa territory over a period of…
Alleged date of peace treaty between D’Urban and Hintsa
Newton Adams, missionary and first medical doctor in Natal arrives with his wife and other missionaries
EventSlavery is abolished at the Cape
On 1 December 1834, slavery came to an end in the Cape Colony. The move to abolish slavery in the Colony came a year after the Slavery Abolition Bill of 1833…
Slavery is abolished throughout the British Empire
The South Atlantic Island, St. Helena becomes a British crown colony.
EventSir Benjamin D’Urban, for whom the city Durban was named, assumes office as Governor of the Cape of Good Hope
Benjamin D'Urban was born in Suffolk, England and joined the British Army in 1793. He soon rose to prominence, serving in most major battles, including…
Moshoeshoe opens up to missionaries
Slave owners in Cape Town complain against slave regulation
EventThe first edition of the Graham’s Town Journal, mouthpiece of the Eastern Frontier settlers, is published
The Gramstown Journal, one of South Africa's important and influential early newspapers, ran from 1831- 1920. From its early days its editorial slant voiced…
Nat Turner leads a slave insurrection in Southampton, Virginia, USA
EventThe French Foreign Legion is founded
The elite French Foreign Legion was founded by King Louis-Philippe as a military unit to support the conquest of Algeria, which the French had invaded the…
The first edition of the Dutch newspaper De Zuid-Afrikaan is published in the Cape Colony
EventInauguration ceremony of the South African College School (SACS) takes place
The South African College School (SACS) was inaugurated at the Groote Kerk, giving impetus to the formation of the first school in Cape Town. The idea of…
EventFreedom of press is established at the Cape
The freedom of the press was established in the Cape Colony through the efforts of journalist John Fairbairn, founder of The South African Commercial…
Dr James Barry, Cape physician who performed the first successful Caesarean, leaves the Cape
EventShaka Zulu is murdered
Shaka Zulu, Zulu chief and founder of the Zulu empire, was murdered by his bodyguard, Mbopha, and his two half-brothers Dingane and Mhlangana after a…
Extension of Khoikhoi (then referred to as Hottentots) liberties
Event