SAHO global search
17,854 records
PlaceQuaqua
Quaqua, or Qwaqwa, was a homeland created for the Southern Sotho people from a reserve in the Orange Free State (OFS) that had been granted to the followers of…
EventFearon Fallows, the first Astronomer Royal at the Cape, is born
Fearon Fallows, the first Astronomer Royal at the Cape, was born to John and Rebecca Fallows on 4 July 1789 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in England. He spent…
PlaceOld Lutheran Church, Kroondal
The Kroondal congregation was founded by a group of German speaking farmers, artisans and entrepreneurs living in and around the village of Kroondal, on 2…
EventAlbertina Sisulu addresses a major anti-apartheid rally in London.
For her very first trip abroad, Albertina Sisulu was accompanied by her Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) comrades, Sister Bernard Ncube and Jessie…
EventAfrican National Congress Youth League is founded
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress. It was formed in 1944 by members of the ANC who believed…
EventGideon Nieuwoudt dies
Location: back to this day in history search archive Gideon Nieuwoudt a former apartheid-era security police colonel, who was involved in the murder of several…
EventChief George Mzimvubu Mathanzima, former Prime Minister of Transkei, dies
The former Prime Minister of Transkei Chief George Mzivubu Mathanzima dies at Frontier Hospital in Queenstown. George Matanzima was born on 26 December 1918…
EventBeginning of the Waterberg Battle in the Herero Revolt
The German colonisation of Namibia, then German South West Africa, took place in 1884. The Herero, a pastoral and nomadic group, had begun to move into Namibia…
EventProf. James Smith, who identified the first coelacanth found in South Africa, is born
On 26 September 1897, Prof. James Leonard Brierly Smith was born in Graaff-Reinet in the Cape Province (now Eastern Cape). He studied chemistry at the…
EventYoussou N’Dour, Senegalese singer, is born.
Youssou N'Dour was born in Dakar, West of Senegal. He was a member of Star Band, Senegal’s most famous band. He left the band to form his own, Á‰toile de Dakar…
PlaceDurbanville
The site currently known as Durbanville was originally called: 'Pampoen Kraal'. On 2 September 1836 it was renamed; "D'Urban" in honour of Sir Benjamin D'Urban…
EventSouth Africa Freedom Day - 26 June 1950
In 1950, the apartheid government introduced the Unlawful Organisations Act and the Suppression of Communism Act. In March 1950, the African National Congress …
EventZuma announces freeze on university fees increase
When the government announced a 10.5% increase in tertiary education fees, due to the high inflation of the South African economy, the news fell on an already…
ANC Election victory party, 19 May 2010
With the number of ballots already counted following yesterdays local government elections signalling yet another convincing victory for the African National…
Place'Aardoringspruit', Brandfort in the Free State Province
This is a Watercourse extending East to West, 14 km West around the Area of Brandfort..The name is thought to be taken from the Walafrida Geniculata or 'Aarbos…
EventCricketer Omar Henry born
Omar Henry was born in Stellenbosch on 23 January 1952.[i] In 1987, at the age of 34, Henry became the first South African cricketer of colour to be selected…
EventZuma announces freeze on university fees increase
When the government announced a 10.5% increase in tertiary education fees, due to the high inflation of the South African economy, the news fell on an already…
EventFinal legal note on the SS Mendi
A brief report appeared on the 13th of November in the Times, which was the last of the legal conclusions around the sinking of the SS Mendi troopship, from…
ArchiveInterview with Peter Donald Hjul
Oral interview with Peter Donald Hjul who was a leading figure in the Liberal Party, which existed from 1953 until 1968. Born in Northern Rhodesia in 1929,…
PlaceBellville, a Suburb of Cape Town
It lies east of Cape Town City, within the Cape Peninsula urban Area. This Area was originally used as a wagon halt for farmers bringing their produce to…
EventSA artist, Lionel Davis, is born
Lionel Davis, a South African artist, was born in District Six, Cape Town on 21 June 1936. Davis became a political prisoner on Robben Island between 1964 and…
EventJohn Fairbairn (70), journalist and outspoken critic, dies in Cape Town
Regarded as the father of free press in South Africa, John Fairbairn left England and arrived in the Cape in1823. Soon after his arrival he founded a school…
PlaceGeorge Harrison Park
George Harrison and the history of Johannesburg are closely bound together: it was he who first found gold in 1886, a discovery that gave rise to the largest…
EventAnti-apartheid activist, Norman Levy is born
Norman Levy and his twin brother, Leon Levy were born in Johannesburg to Mary and Mark Levy, immigrants from Lithuania. Levy attended the Yeoville Boys’…
EventLanga, Uitenhage Massacre: 20 killed by police on Sharpeville Commemoration Day
25 years to the day after the infamous Sharpeville Massacre, in which 69 people were killed, the South African Police opened fire on a crowd of people in Langa…
EventFour political detainees escape from Pretoria Central prison in one of the most dramatic escapes in SA history
Four political detainees: Harold Wolpe, a listed Communist arrested on the Bechuanaland border; Arthur Goldreich, caught in the Rivonia raid; Moosie Moolla,…
EventSA artist Mmakgoba Sebidi is born
South African artist Mmakgoba Helen Sebidi was born in Marapyane (Skilpadfontein) in the Hammanskraal area. Her grandmother, a traditional artist, was her…
EventSA signs multilateral treaty on the civil liability for oil pollution damage
On 19 June 1975, South Africa signed a multilateral treaty on the civil liability for oil pollution damage. This treaty was drawn up in Brussels, to ensure…
EventNP presents its revised constitutional proposals
The National Party (NP) government put its revised constitutional proposals on the table during the Convention for Democratic South Africa (CODESA) discussions…
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…