Bloemfontein Timeline 1824-2010

1824

The Matabele, underChief Mzilikazi, settle on Thaba Bosiu.

1833

The Baralong under Chief Moroka II settle at what was later known as ThabaNchu.

1846

Major Henry Douglas Warden appointed to set up a British residency in the area.

26 March, Warden's troops, known as the Cape Riflemen, arrive in Bloemfontein.

1848

The first NG congregation is formed.

1849

The First Raadsaal is built.

1850

Wesleyan priest arrives in Bloemfontein.

June, first municipal commissioner is appointed.

10 June, The first newspaper, The Friend of the Sovereignty and the Bloemfontein Gazette are printed.

1852

First Roman Catholic church is built in St George's Street

May, the NG congregation moves to their first church in Kerk Straat.

1854

23 February, the Bloemfontein Convention is signed, giving the Orange River Sovereignty self governing status.

May, Hoffman elected as first State President of the OFS.

1855

August, JN Boshoff succeeds Hoffman as President of the OFS.

1859

April, 5 municipalities are chosen.

April, Market starts

1860

MW Pretorius succeeded Boshoff as President of OFS.

The first market building was established

1861

Plans for Bloemfontein's first hotel, The Free State Hotel, are laid out opposite the market.

Three banks are established; The Bloemfontein Bank, Standard Bank and the London South African Bank.

1862

De Tijd, a German newspaper, begins to print in the OFS.

1864

JH Brand succeeds Pretorius as OFS President.

1866

The new Anglican Cathedral is opened in St George's Street.

1867

The first hospital, St George's Cottage Hospital, is opened in Bloemfontein.

A traveling library is established.

1868

Basotholand (today Lesotho) becomes a British Protectorate.

1867

The first hospital, St George's Cottage Hospital, is opened.

1874

A telegraph service starts. The service eventually connected Bloemfontein to other Free State towns and to the rest of South Africa.

1873

A weekly transport service is introduced to transport goods between Bloemfontein and the diamond fields.

1875

First post office is accommodated in the Old Parliament building on Market Square.

The Weslyan and Lutheran church buildings are completed.

The Basotho monument, on the hill near the Fort, is unveiled in memory of the Burghers that lost their lives during the Basotho war of 1865-1866.

1877

The National Museum is established in the former First Raadsaal.

The Government's building (which included the Third Raadsaal) is built at the top end of Maitland Street.

The National Bank is established.

1880

Bloemfontein receives municipal status with a population of about 2567, and Robert Innes is chosen as the first Town Mayor.

N.G Church established.

A system of refusal removal was introduced.

A passenger transport services was introduced between Cape Town and Bloemfontein via Kimberly.

1881

The Church of the Sacret Heart is established.

1883

An institution for the mentally ill is established.

A new Town Hall is built.

Paraffin lamps are installed to light up Bloemfontein's streets.

1888

A passenger service, known as the Free State Line, is introduced between Bloemfontein, Johannesburg and Pretoria.

14 July, President Brand dies of a heart attack.

December, Francis Willem Reitz is elected as the fifth President of the OFS.

1890

The railway line from Colesburg to Bloemfontein is completed, later extended to the Vaal River.

1892

First traffic regulations for the town of Bloemfontein are introduced; traffic speed in the town limited to approximately 10km/h (6m/h) and wagon drivers and horsemen had to keep to the left. In addition the cracking of whips was prohibited in town.

1892

22 June, New Post office building is opened.

1893

31 October, The first government hospital, the Volkshospitaal, is opened.

1895

The right to establish an electrical plant is granted to Delfos Bros and Co.

1899

January, A leprosy hospital is opened.

1900

An electricity system is put into place.

1912

8 January, The South African Native National Congress (later renamed the African National Congress) is formed in Bloemfontein, with John Langalibalele Dube elected as the first President.

1913

28 May, A group of women from the urban Waaihoek Location protest against pass laws by taking a passive resistance stance, and refusing to carry permits. After this demonstration, unrest spread to other towns in the OFS province, the only province that enforced passes for Black women at this time. Hundreds of women are arrested.

1914

1July, the National Party (NP) is formed in Bloemfontein.

1916

28 November, Marthinus Theunis Steyn, last President of the OFS dies in Bloemfontein.

1917

Labour organiser, Henry Selby Msimang, leads a strike of municipal workers in Bloemfontein, for which he was arrested and detained.

1918

The pass for Black women in the OFS requirement is withdrawn, after Charlotte Maxeke leads a deputation to Prime Minister Louis Botha to plead the women's case.

1920

A 'national' Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) is established at a conference in Bloemfontein. The ICU was originally established as a Cape Town labour union. H.S Msimang is elected president of the national ICU, known as the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union of South Africa (ICWU).

1935

The All African Convention (ACC) is formed in Bloemfontein. More than 400 delegates from the ANC, CPSA, various ICU's the Native Advisory Boards, African Vigilance Associations and African religious groups are in attendance; the convention is opened by the Mayor of Bloemfontein.

1950

18 March, The University of the Free State is founded.

1955

December, The African National Congress holds its 44th annual conference in Bloemfontein.

1983

A railway line 1km from Bloemfontein is maliciously damaged and a locomotive and two trucks are derailed.

1994

December, The African National Congress holds its 49th conference in Bloemfontein.

2010

Bloemfontein hosts a number of FIFA World Cup games at its Free State Stadium.

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