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South Africa

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South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. The country consists of nine provinces, and is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 miles) of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. South Africa also encloses Lesotho.

Text from the Wikipedia article South Africa, CC BY-SA 4.0

Built from Wikidata: an event or person is listed when Wikidata links them to this page, as shown next to each one. Many aren’t recorded there, so this list is incomplete.

Showing 216 years

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  1. 1838Battle of Blood RiverSouth AfricaThe Battle of Blood River, or Voortrekker–Zulu War, (16 December 1838) was fought on the bank of the Ncome River, in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa between 464 Voortrekkers ("Pioneers"), led by Andries Pretorius, and an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 Zulu.Source: Wikidata (country)
  2. 1879Battle of IsandlwanaIsandlwanaThe Battle of Isandlwana (alternative spelling: Isandhlwana) on 22 January 1879 was the second major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom – the Battle of Nyezane having been fought and won earlier on the same day by Colonel Pearson's Coastal Column.Source: Wikidata (country of the location)
  3. 1879Battle of KambulaKambulaThe Battle of Kambula took place on 29 March 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War, when a Zulu military force attacked the British camp at Kambula, having routed the mounted element of the British force at the Battle of Hlobane the day before. The battle was a severe Zulu defeat and the warriors lost their belief in victory. The war ended after the Zulu defeat at the Battle of Ulundi on 4 July 1879.Source: Wikidata (country)
  4. 1879Battle of Rorke's DriftRorke's DriftThe Battle of Rorke's Drift, also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was an engagement in the Anglo-Zulu War. The successful British defence of the Swedish mission station and British supply depot at Rorke's Drift, it was carried out by a vastly outnumbered British force under the command of Lieutenants John Chard of the Royal Engineers and Gonville Bromhead of the 24th Regiment of Foot.Source: Wikidata (country of the location)
  5. 1879Battle of UlundiUlundiThe Battle of Ulundi (also known as the Battle of kwaNodwengu or the Battle of oCwecweni) took place at the Zulu capital of Ulundi (Zulu: oNdini) on 4 July 1879 and was the last battle of the Anglo-Zulu War. The British Army broke the military power of the Zulu Kingdom by defeating the main Zulu army and capturing and burning the royal kraal of oNdini.Source: Wikidata (country)
  6. 1880 – 1881Basuto Gun WarSouth AfricaThe Basuto Gun War, also known as the Basutoland Rebellion, was a conflict between the Basuto and the British Cape Colony. It lasted from 13 September 1880 to 29 April 1881 and ended in a Basuto victory.Source: Wikidata (country)
  7. 1880Battle of BronkhorstspruitBronkhorst SpruitThe Battle of Bronkhorstspruit was the first major engagement of the First Boer War. It took place by the Bronkhorstspruit river, near the town of Bronkhorstspruit, Transvaal, on 20 December 1880. Threatened by the growing numbers of militant Boers in the Pretoria region, the British recalled the 94th Regiment of Foot, which had several companies garrisoned in towns and villages across the wider area.Source: Wikidata (country of the location)
  8. 1899 – 1902Second Boer WarSouth AfricaThe Second Boer War was a conflict fought between 1899 and 1902 between the British Empire and the Boer republics (the South African Republic and Orange Free State), triggered by the discovery of gold in the Transvaal, specifically the Witwatersrand gold fields, and the ensuing political dispute over the voting rights of British expatriates (Uitlanders).Source: Wikidata (country)
  9. 1899Battle of MagersfonteinMagersfonteinThe Battle of Magersfontein ( MAH-khərss-fon-tayn) was fought on 11 December 1899, at Magersfontein, near Kimberley, South Africa, on the borders of the Cape Colony and the independent republic of the Orange Free State (now in Sol Plaatje Local Municipality, Northern Cape).Source: Wikidata (country)
  10. 1899Battle of StormbergChris Hani District MunicipalityThe Battle of Stormberg was a British assault on Stormberg Junction on 10 December 1899 during the Second Boer War. At that time, the Boers had taken control of Molten and the heights around Stormberg Junction, as part of their invasion of Cape Colony.Source: Wikidata (country)
  11. 1899Boer WarsSouth AfricaThe military history of South Africa chronicles a vast time period and complex events from the dawn of history until the present time. It covers civil wars and wars of aggression and of self-defense both within South Africa and against it. It includes the history of battles fought in the territories of modern South Africa in neighbouring territories, in both world wars and in modern international conflicts.Source: Wikidata (country)
  12. 1899Second Battle of ColensoColensoThe Second Battle of Colenso, also known as the Battle of Colenso, was the third and final battle fought during the Black Week of the Second Boer War. It was fought between British and Boer forces from the independent South African Republic and Orange Free State in and around Colenso, Natal, South Africa on 15 December 1899.Source: Wikidata (country)
  13. 1899 – 1900Siege of LadysmithLadysmithThe siege of Ladysmith was a protracted engagement in the Second Boer War, taking place between 2 November 1899 and 28 February 1900 at Ladysmith, Natal.Source: Wikidata (country)
  14. 1899 – 1900Siege of MafekingMahikengThe siege of Mafeking was a 217-day siege battle for the town of Mafeking (now called Mahikeng) in South Africa during the Second Boer War from October 1899 to May 1900. The siege received considerable attention as Lord Edward Cecil, the son of the British prime minister, was in the besieged town, as also was Lady Sarah Wilson, a daughter of the Duke of Marlborough and aunt of Winston Churchill.Source: Wikidata (country)
  15. 1900Battle of PaardebergSouth AfricaThe Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain", 18–27 February 1900) was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near Paardeberg Drift on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free State near Kimberley (now in Letsemeng Local Municipality, Free State).Source: Wikidata (country)
  16. 1900Battle of Spion KopSouth AfricaThe Battle of Spion Kop (Dutch: Slag bij Spionkop; Afrikaans: Slag van Spioenkop) was a military engagement between British forces and two Boer Republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, during the campaign by the British to relieve the besieged city Ladysmith during the initial months of the Second Boer War.Source: Wikidata (country)
  17. 1902Treaty of VereenigingMelrose HouseThe Treaty of Vereeniging was a peace treaty, signed on 31 May 1902, that ended the Second Boer War between the South African Republic and the Orange Free State on the one side, and the United Kingdom on the other.Source: Wikidata (country of the location)
  18. 1906Bambatha RebellionColony of NatalThe Bambatha Rebellion (also known as the Zulu Rebellion) was a 1906 uprising against colonial rule in the British colony of Natal led by the Zulu chief Bhambatha, who lived in the Mpanza Valley (now a district near Greytown). It was sparked by unpopular taxation policies levied by the Natal colonial administration, which exacerbated ongoing economic crises.Source: Wikidata (country)
  19. 1914 – 1915Maritz rebellionSouth AfricaThe Maritz rebellion, also known as the Third Boer War, or the Five Shilling rebellion, was an armed pro-German insurrection in South Africa in 1914, at the start of World War I. It was led by Boers who supported the re-establishment of the South African Republic in the Transvaal.Source: Wikidata (country)
  20. 1960Sharpeville massacreSharpevilleThe Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960, when police opened fire on a crowd of people who had assembled outside the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng) to protest against the apartheid system and its pass laws.Source: Wikidata (country)
  21. 1976Soweto uprisingSowetoThe Soweto uprising, also known as the Soweto riots or the Soweto rebellion, was a series of demonstrations and protests led by black school children in South Africa during apartheid that began on the morning of 16 June 1976.Source: Wikidata (country)
  22. 1996African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone TreatyPelindabaThe African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Pelindaba establishes a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Africa. The treaty was signed in 1996 and came into effect with the 28th ratification on 15 July 2009.Source: Wikidata (country of the location)
  23. 2001Cape Town TreatyCape TownThe Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment, or Cape Town Treaty, is an international treaty intended to standardize transactions involving movable property.Source: Wikidata (country of the location)
  24. 2001World Conference against RacismDurbanThe World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) is a series of international events organized by UNESCO to promote struggle against racism ideologies and behaviours. Five conferences have been held so far, in 1978, 1983, 2001, 2009 and 2021.Source: Wikidata (country of the location)
  25. 20042004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamiIndonesiaOn 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a Mw 9.2–9.3 earthquake struck with its epicenter off the west coast of Aceh, in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the scientific community as the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, was caused by a rupture along the fault boundary between the Burma plate and the Indian plate, and reached a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX in some…Source: Wikidata (country)
  26. 2010First World Cup in AfricaSouth AfricaSouth Africa hosts the first World Cup on the African continent. Spain wins its first title.Source: Wikidata (country)
  27. 2012Marikana massacreMarikanaThe Marikana massacre was the killing of thirty-four miners by the South African Police Service (SAPS) on 16 August 2012 during a six-week wildcat strike at the Lonmin platinum mine at Marikana near Rustenburg in South Africa's North West province.Source: Wikidata (country)
  28. 2020COVID-19 pandemicWorldwideA new coronavirus spreads worldwide. Lockdowns, remote work and fast-developed vaccines reshape daily life.Source: Wikidata (country)
  29. 20212021 South African unrestGautengThe 2021 South African unrest, also known as the July 2021 riots, the Zuma unrest or Zuma riots, was a wave of civil unrest that occurred in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces from 9 to 18 July 2021, sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma for contempt of court.Source: Wikidata (country)
  30. 20212021 Table Mountain fireSouthern SuburbsThe 2021 Table Mountain fire (also known as the Rhodes Memorial fire or Cape Town fire) was a major fire that started on 18 April 2021 in and around Table Mountain National Park and the neighbourhoods of Newlands, Rosebank, Mowbray and Rondebosch in Cape Town, South Africa.Source: Wikidata (country)
  31. 20222022 KwaZulu-Natal floodsKwaZulu-NatalIn April 2022, days of heavy rain across KwaZulu-Natal in southeastern South Africa led to deadly floods. Particularly hard-hit were areas in and around Durban. At least 436 people died across the province, with an unknown number of people missing as of April 22. Several thousand homes were damaged or destroyed.Source: Wikidata (country)
  32. 20232023 Johannesburg building fireAlbert Street Pass OfficeOn 31 August 2023 at around 01:30 SAST, a fire engulfed an illegally occupied government-owned building in Johannesburg, South Africa; 77 people were killed and 88 others were injured. It was one of the deadliest fires in South African history.Source: Wikidata (country)