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EventSkipper Bertie Reed passes away
Stanley John (Bertie) Reed (63), international sailing legend and one of the most popular skippers in single-handed racing around the world, died at his home…
PlaceIndigo Vats, Pinetown
In 1854 two Dutch Indigo Planters from Java, Mr Theodorus Colenbrander and Mr von Preen went into partnership with Mr Murray, of Pinetown. Locally grown indigo…
EventGeneral Motors fails to leave RSA quietly
General Motors (GM), the American owned automobile industry in South Africa, pulled out of the country amidst a series of disputes and strikes from workers…
EventState of Emergency enters 100th day
Location: back to this day in history search archive The state of emergency entered its 100th day after it was announced on July 20. P W Botha in an attempt…
EventThe Opening Ceremony of 2000 Olympic Games takes place
The 2000 Summer Olympic Games or Millennium Games, hosted by Australia, were officially opened in the capital Sydney. Australia won the right to host the games…
EventAt a summit SA Trade Unions resolve to defy apartheid and labour laws
Location: back to this day in history search archive During the summit conference organised by non-racial labour unions at Langa, Cape Town, Trade Union…
EventSA Olympic team leaves for Barcelona
The South African Olympic team of ninety-five members took off to participate in the 22nd Olympic games staged in Barcelona, Spain in 1994. This was South…
EventHunter and politician Johannes Viljoen dies
Big-game hunter, commandant, politician and scout Johannes Willem Viljoen (Jan) died in the Marico district, Western Transvaal. Together with three other…
EventFirst mines are proclaimed in Johannesburg
Though gold was discovered near Krugersdorp in July 1852 and mining activities started successively in various places on the Witwatersrand (meaning Ridge of…
EventSekhukhune successfully resists the Boers
Sekhukhune I, King of the Bapedi, successfully resisted the Boers during a protracted Boer/Bapedi land ownership dispute. On 16 May 1876, the Volksraad of the…
EventJacobus Johannes (Jim) Fouché is born in Wepener in the OFS.
On the 6 June 1898 1989, Jacobus Johannes Fouche was born in the Orange Free State (OFS) of South Africa. Fouche was elected as the second Sstate President of…
BiographyPatric Tariq Mellet
Patric Tariq Mellet was born and grew up in the working class districts of old Cape Town – Salt River, Woodstock and District Six. His family were poor working…
BiographyNithianandan ‘Elvis' Ganese Govender
Nithianandan Ganese Govender (Elvis) was born on 1 November 1958 in Esperanza, a village on the south coast of Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal – KZN), on the eastern…
ArticleThe history of Migrant Labour in South Africa
Introduction The migrant labour system marks a period in which African men were integrated into wage labour. Black men changed from being farmers in their…
ArticleThe Western Front
At the outbreak of the First World War, Germany put into operation the Schlieffen Plan. This plan was based on the assumption that in case of a war breaking…
ArticleWorld War I Timeline 1916
18 February The German colony of Cameroon falls to French and British forces after 17 months of fighting. 21 February–19 December The Battle of Verdun…
ArticleNamibian Timeline
Late Pleistocene (Early and Middle Stone Age) 800 000 years Artefacts in a…
ArticleSouth African Communist Party Timeline 1870-1996
Explore some of the key moments and events that have helped shape the course of South African Communist Party. Follow the links for more detail. 1870 …
EventThe Pope arrives in Lesotho
The Pope arrives in Lesotho Pope John Paul , leader of the Catholic Church arrives in Lesotho amidst a hijacking crisis that revealed Lesotho's dependence on…
23. Durban merchants plead for Sunday trading
From the book: A Documentary History of Indian South Africans edited by Surendra Bhana and Bridglal Pachai Two petitions were submitted to the Durban…
PlaceAngra das Voltas, Luderitz Bay- Namibia
Former name of Luderitz Bay. Portuguese for 'bay of tacks', this name was given in 1488 by the Portuguese mariner Bartholomeu Dias because contrary winds…
EventThe UN ends SA mandate over South West Africa
The United Nations (UN) debated the South West Africa issue (now Namibia) year after year with increasing acrimony. On 18 July 1966 the International Court of…
EventGen. Jannie Geldenhuys announces that CCB will be disbanded
In February 1990, President F.W. de Klerk appointed Mr Justice Louis Harms, a Supreme Court judge, to investigate into alleged hit-squads. On 11 February 1990,…
EventCape of Good Hope Royal Observatory is founded
On 20 October, 1820, South Africa’s first permanent modern observatory was erected at the Cape of Good Hope (now known as Cape Town) byFearon Fallows, a…
ABBREVIATIONS USED
ICFTU - International Confederation of Free Trade Unions IDAF - International Defence and Aid Fund ILO - International Labour Organization IMF - International…
EventThe National Library of South Africa is founded
The Governor of the Cape Colony in 1818 was Lord Charles Somerset. It was he who first issued a proclamation launching the first South African Public Library…
EventSecurity Council examines violence in South Africa
At the instigation of a letter titled the Question of South Africa from the Charge D'affaires of the permanent mission of Madagascar to the United Nations the…
EventThe first Comrades Marathon takes place
The first Comrades Marathon was run by Vic Clapham, ex World War One veteran and other 34 runners, who initiated it as a reunion. Clapham wanted to remember…
EventThe first cable connection between SA and Europe is launched
On 31 July 1879, the first cable connection between South Africa and Europe, via Aden, was launched. It was laid by the British electrical engineer Charles…
ArticleThe Berlin Conference
The Berlin Conference can be best understood as the formalisation of the Scramble for Africa. This British coined the term sometime in 1884, and it has since…