Selected list of Events in our History
22 Jan 1879 - Zulus attack and massacre a British Army camp in Isandhlwana.
23 Jan 1900 - The British are defeated in the Battle of Spion Kop, which included Gandhi who was a stretcher-bearer in the Indian Ambulance Corps.
14 Jan 1902 - Canadian Mounted Rifles set sail out of Halifax on their way to South Africa to take part in the South African War (Anglo-Boer War).
25 Jan 1905 – A 3,106-carat diamond is discovered at the Premier Mine in Cullinan, South Africa, a during a routine inspection by the mine's superintendent. Weighing 1.33 pounds, and christened the "Cullinan," it was the largest diamond ever found.
1 Jan 1910 - French pilot Albert Kimmerling operates the first controlled powered flight in South Africa, in the vicinity of what was at the time the Nahoon Racecourse (and today the spot is marked by a nondescript concrete block across from Stirling High School, with a bronze plaque on the corner of John Bailie and Gleneagles roads). Some ten days earlier Kimmerling’s Voisin biplane had arrived in the harbour onboard the Kenilworth Castle (packed in 3 crates).
February 1657 - The VOC issued the first permits to free 9 company servants to farm along the Liesbeek River.
23 Feb 1900 -The Battle of Hart's Hill. The Boers and the British battle.
8 Feb 1921 - The South African Party, having absorbed the Unionist Party, won the most seats in the 1921 general election of the Union South African.
Feb 1928 - Lady Heath, nee Sophie Mary Pierce Evans, also Mrs. Elliott-Lynn, becomes the first woman to fly solo from Cape Town, South Africa to London, England. Flying an Avro Avian III, she left the Cape of Good Hope on February 12, 1928, and arrived in England on May 17 after being delayed at Cairo, where officials banned women flying through their airspace. When she reached Croydon, she announced: "Flying is so safe, a woman can fly across Africa wearing a Parisian frock and keeping her nose powdered all the way." She made the trip with a Bible, a shotgun, a couple of tennis racquets, six tea gowns and a fur coat, and alighted from the plane wearing said coat, a fashionable snug-fitting hat, stiletto heels and bright red lipstick. She was destitute when she died from poor health in 1939 at the age of 42.
6 Feb 1933 - From the 6th to the 8th February 1933, Gayford and Nicholetts made the first non-stop flight from England to South Africa in a Fairey Long-Range Monoplane.
March 1632 - 23 of a crew of Dutch sailors were killed when (it is said) they attempted to steal cattle without paying the owners.
25 Mar 1647 - The Haarlem, a Dutch ship, was wrecked in Table Bay on the 25 March 1647 on its way back to Europe. Two Dutch ships harboured in Table Bay took on board most of the crew and passengers, and 40 others were taken to Europe aboard two English ships. The remaining 60 men stayed to salvage the valuable cargo which was on board the Haarlem. The 60 men were led by Leendert Janssen (a junior merchant).
20 Mar 1651 - The Dutch East India Company decided to set up a refreshment station at the Cape (as a result of the report by Janssen and Proot).
4 Mar 1907 - Louis Botha is appointed Prime Minister of the Transvaal.
14 Mar 1914 - The Comforter, Frederick Samuel Modise, is born in Rooiberg in the Transvaal province of South Africa. Modise would later found the International Pentecost Church.
10 Mar 1920 - The National Party won the most seats in the 1920 general election of the Union South African – by a margin of 3.
20 Mar 1920 - Two South African pilots complete the first flight from Britain to South Africa after a flying time of four days, 13 hours, 30 minutes.
4 Mar 1932 - Jim Mollison leaves Lympne (Kent, England) to begin a record-breaking attempt to fly to South Africa. Mollison took 4 days, 17 hours, and 19 minutes flying in a D. H. 80A Puss Moth (G-ABKG), which was specially modified as a long-range single seater.
5 April 1652 - On about the fifth glass of the Afternoon watch, the chief mate of the Dromedaris saw Table Mountain rise above the horizon.
6 April 1652 - Johan Anthoniszoon van Riebeeck sailed into Table Bay with his fleet of 2 ships (the Drommedaris & the Reijger) and the yacht Goede Hoop. Just before dawn the Drommedaris's Captain Coninck went ashore with 6 armed soldiers and some sailors. The group caught some fish and collected 3 letters which were left in a box on the 26th February.
8 April 1652 - Work started on erecting the wooden house and store shed near the mouth of the Fresh River. 100 men from the vessels were housed on shore in tents and worked on constructing the fort, near where the fruit stalls are today in the Grand Parade.
25 Apr 1899 - Danie Theron, a Krugersdorp attorney, was found guilty of assaulting Mr W. F. Monneypenny (the editor of The Star newspaper) and fined £20. Monneypenny, who had been in South Africa for 2 months, had written a highly derogatory editorial against the "ignorant Dutch". Theron pleaded extreme provocation and his fine was paid by his supporters in the courtroom.
1 April 1927 – The African Broadcasting Corporation was formed.
30 Apr 1928 - The daughter of an Irish peer, Lady Mary Bailey, becomes the 1st woman to fly solo from England to South Africa; in a de Havilland Moth. The route she followed took her through Sudan and down the side of Lake Victoria to Tanganyika and on to Cape Town. She then turned back and flew back over the Belgian Congo and the Sahara. At Khartoum, Lady Bailey crossed paths with Lady Heath.
11 Apr 2001 - During a league match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, 43 soccer fans die at Ellis Park stadium from being crushed, as the stadium is filled beyond capacity by fans forcing their way through perimeter security and into the packed ground.
18 Apr 2009 - The Indian Premier League's 20/20 competition starts in South Africa.
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