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EventRaymond Dart completes work on Taung skull
The skull, commonly called the Taung child, was found embedded in rock at a mine near Taung, a village 400 miles southwest of Johannesburg. When Raymond Dart,…
EventThe first radio licence in SA is issued to Dr J. van Rensburg of Carnarvon
On 16 August 1924 the first radio licence in SA was issued to Dr J. van Rensburg of Carnarvon. The first station in South Africa was put up by the South…
Zulu Chief Cyprian Bhekuzulu is born
EventJ.C. Smuts calls general election
After losing the Wakkerstroom and Oudtshoorn by-elections in April, prime minister and leader of the South African Party (SAP), J.C. Smuts, decided to hold a…
Richard Owen Dudley is born in Newlands, Cape Town
EventNatoo Babenia is born
Natoo Babenia, a political activist first in India, resisting British rule and later in South Africa against the Apartheid government, was born at Coedmore…
EventANC leader Wilton Mkwayi born
Wilton Z. Mkwayi, trade unionist, treason trialist and acting leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) was born in Middledrift in the Transkei. He was the eldest child…
EventThe first experimental radio broadcast in South Africa takes place
On 18 December 1923 the first experimental radio broadcast in South Africa took place in Johannesburg. The Broadcast was of a music concert and was made by the…
EventSA author, Nadine Gordimer, is born
South African author and winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize for Literature, Nadine Gordimer, was born in Springs, Transvaal (now known as Gauteng).One of South…
EventGifted writer and actor William Modisane is born
Journalist, short-story writer and actor William (Bloke) Modisane was born in Sophiatown, Johannesburg. Modisane left South Africa in 1959 and while in exile…
Native (Black) Urban Areas Act No 21 of 1923
EventReginald (Reg) September, prominent trade unionist and anti-apartheid activist, is born
Reginald 'Reg' September was a prominent trade unionist, the leader of the South African Coloured People's Organization and an executive member of the South…
EventThe first issue of the weekly periodical ‘TIME’ appeared on news stands
On this day in history, the first issue of the weekly periodical TIME appeared on newsstands. The first issue was 32 pages and featured a charcoal sketch of…
EventXhosa poet Nontsizi Mgqwetho mourns the death of her mother
On this date a poem by Nontsizi Mgqwetho lamenting the death of her mother was published. Mgqwetho was the first woman poet to publish in Xhosa. From 1920 to…
EventArchaeologists announce they have found treasures in the tomb of Tutankhamen in Egypt
EventBoutros Boutros Ghali, former UN Secretary General, is born
Boutros Boutros Ghali was born in Egypt on 14 November 1922 into a prominent Coptic Christian family. He studied International Law and International Relations,…
EventDr. Chris Barnard, medical practitioner who performed the first heart transplant, is born
Dr. Chris Barnard is born Christiaan Neethling Barnard, medical practioner who performed the first heart transplant, was born in Beaufort West, Western Cape…
EventSouthern Rhodesia rejects joining the Union of South Africa
Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) rejected joining the South African Union in a referendum. Voters had to choose between establishing self government, joining…
EventThomas Titus Nkobi is born
Thomas Titus Nkobi was born in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in Southern Matabeleland. At the age of ten, Nkobi followed his father who was a migrant…
EventThe inauguration of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) is celebrated
The inauguration of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits) was celebrated a few months after the University College, Johannesburg was granted…
EventSouth Africa concludes an agreement with the Marconi Company for a high
During the South African War in 1899, Marconi wireless equipment was tested in South Africa, with mixed results. Land-based military radio proved problematic,…
EventSheila Cussons is born
South African poet Sheila Cussons was born at Moravia, near Piketberg in the Cape Province. She studied fine arts at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg…
EventThe League of Nations hands over German colonies
The League of Nations, an international body which preceded the United Nations, agreed to hand over three former German colonies as mandates. Tanganyika, which…
EventThe South African Naval Service is founded
EventThe Rand Revolt Ends
The strike by mineworkers on the Witwatersrand, also known as the Rand Revolt, ended on March 18 1922. The rebellion was a response by White mineworkers to a…
EventLabour pioneer Samuel Long is arrested
Samuel Alfred (Taffy) Long, heralded as one of South Africa's greatest working-class martyrs, was arrested after the defeat of Fordsburg during the Rand Revolt…
EventThe Rand Revolt strikers’ stronghold at Fordsburg Square falls to the government
The Rand Rebellion of 1922 was an armed uprising, also referred to as the Rand Revolt or Red Revolt, which occurred during a period of economic depression…
EventA strike by White mineworkers turns into open rebellion
Angry White workers, on strike since 28 December 1921, stormed and occupied police stations, railway installations and mines on the Witwatersrand. They also…
EventWits attains full university status
The University College in Johannesburg attained full University status under the name the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg. The origin of…
EventThe Rand Mine Workers Revolt intensifies
The Rand mineworkers revolt intensifies when 3 mineworkers are shot and killed outside the prison in Boksburg. Read our features on the Rand Rebellion.