SAHO global search
2,221 records
EventDanie Malan, SA athlete, sets a new world record in the 1 000m event in Munich
On 24 June 1973, South African athlete Danie Malan set a new world record in the middle distance 1000m event in Munich. Malan was raised in the Boland area of…
Learning about local history through pictures
In this lesson we will investigate the history of different local areas and local events using these different sources.Let’s see if you can guess which local…
BiographyAlfred Milner
Alfred Milner, a statesman and colonial administrator, became Governor of the Cape and High Commissioner of South Africa in 1897. He pushed the Transvaal…
ArchiveAll That Glitters - What is industrialisation? by Emilia Potenza
From the book: All That Glitters by Emilia PotenzaDuring the course of the last century, industrialisation has affected the lives of everybody living in…
PlaceCenturion, Gauteng
Centurion is an area with 236,580 inhabitants situated between Pretoria and Johannesburg. The area’s proximity to Midrand and Pretoria makes it a popular…
PlaceBurundi
… the Kingdom of Burundi cemented its borders in the late 1600 CE [xviii] The kings of Burundi was referred to as …
BiographyChristiaan Rudolf De Wet
Christiaan de Wet was born at Leeuwkop near Smithfield, Orange Free State, on 7 October 1854. He received little formal education, spending his days helping…
ArticleNelson Mandela Timeline 1990-1999
1990 2 February, President F. W. de Klerk makes a speech at the opening of Parliament, announcing the lifting of a 30-year ban on the ANC, the Pan African…
African farmers in Southern Africa
… the way of life of the ancestors of the Tswana people in 1600 AD, about 200 years before Europeans first arrived in …
Contact, conflict and dispossession on the Cape eastern or northern frontiers in the nineteenth century
The situation in the Eastern Cape in the early late 18th and early 19th century (approximately1780 - 1850) was as follows: There were three groups of people: …
BiographyWinnie Madikizela-Mandela
Early YearsNomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela was born, the fifth of nine children, in the village of Mbongweni, Bizana, in the Transkei on 26 September 1936…
EventThe ship São José is wrecked
The Portuguese battleship São José Paquete Africa (also, São José-Paquete de Africa) was grounded in Camps Bay, Cape, with nearly 500 slaves on board. The ship…
ArticlePretoria (Tshwane): The Naming of a City
Introduction Pretoria is located in the north east of South Africa, to the north of Gauteng, and 60 Kilometres away from the north east of Johannesburg [i] …
Kingdoms of southern Africa: Thulamela
The city of Thulamela from the air. It has walled areas like the ruins at Great Zimbabwe, which separate royalty from commoners. Source: www.chico.mweb.co.za …
EventThe South African War: The lifting of the siege of Mafeking
The Siege of Mafeking (now known as Mafikeng) was an important battle in the South African War (Second Anglo-Boer War). The war began in late 1899; President…
ArticleKenyan Timeline
The earliest human ancestors (Homo erectus and Homo habilis) have their origin in East Africa more than 2 million years ago. Several human remains have been…
BiographyStella Nyanzi
Dr Stella Nyanzi was born in Masaka District, Buganda Kingdom in Uganda on 16 June 1974. Also known as Nnalongo (which means mother of twins), she is a medical…
BiographyEugène Ney Terre’Blanche
Eugene Ney Terre'Blanche was born in Ventersdorp to staunchly Afrikaner nationalist parents on January 31, 1944. The progenitor of the Terre'Blanche name was…
PlaceArtillery Road Barracks at the H.Q. of South African Defence
The first annexation of the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek by Sir Theophilus Shepstone in 1877 led to the establishment of a military camp on the present premises…
BiographyWendy Heather Woods
Wendy Heather Woods (neè Bruce) was born on 5 February 1941 in Mthatha (formerly Umtata), Transkei (now Eastern Cape Province). An outstanding pupil in school,…
PlaceKing Williams Town, Amatola
Founded as a Missionary Station in 1826, King William’s Town later (after 1835) served as a military headquarters for British Kaffraria and as a centre for…
ArticleDurban Timeline 1497-1990
1497 - 1699 1497 24 December, A flotilla of three Portuguese ships under the command of Capt Vasco da Gama sailed up the eastern seaboard of southern…
ArticleNelspruit Timeline 1815-1996
1815 Louis Trichardt and Hans van Rensburg cross the Oranje/Gariep river. June 1836, Van Rensburg leaves Trichardt while Potgieter goes on an expedition to…
ArticleGrade 8 - Term 3: The Scramble for Africa: late 19th century
The colonisation of Africa was part of a global European process reaching all the continents of the world. European colonisation and domination changed the…
Debating Lineages of Socialism in Africa Webinars
South African History Online, the Wits History Workshop, the Department of History at the University of the Free State, the Department of Development Studies…
BiographyMichael Guthrie Scott
This article was written by Ben Forstate and forms part of the SAHO Public History Internship Michael Guthrie Scott was born on 30 July 1907 in the village…
BiographyMohandas Karamchand Gandhi
*Note: The focus of this biography is on Gandhi's life and times in South Africa. Early life and education Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born to a…
PlaceMiddle Campus, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch
The Upper, Middle and Lower Campuses together are often referred to as the 'main campus' The Campus as it stands today was laid out by architect J.M. Soloman…
The National Arts Festival
In 1974, an inaugural festival titled the 1820 Settlers National Monument was opened as a memorial to the British immigrants in South Africa. They established…
ArticleEarly African Civilisations: Ancient Egypt, Nubia and Swahili
Ancient Egypt The ancient Egyptian civilisation grew for thousands of years intact because the Nile River Valley and Mediterranean and Red Sea border kept…