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South African Hisorty Timeline

By casperlorenzen19
  • Aug 21, 1488

    1488 The Portuguese came to South Africa

  • 1652 the Dutchmen came to South Africa

    1652 the Dutchmen came to South Africa
  • Period: to

    1652

  • 1852 The British took control of Cape Town

  • 1886 Gold was discovered in Johannesburg, making the city rich.

  • 1899 - 1902 Dutch settlers fight the British in the Boer War. Britain eventually gains control of South Africa

  • 1910 South Africa became an independent nation.

  • 1948 Apartheid was introduced. Laws legally and physically separated different racial groups

  • 1952 The African National Congress, a black civil rights group, began a Campaign for Defiance of Unjust Laws as a protest against apartheid. Nelson Mandela was one of its leaders.

  • 1962 Mandela was arrested for plotting against the government. Though he said active politically, he would spend 27 years in prison.

  • 1990 President F.W. de Klerk announced the end of apartheid. Mandela was freed from prison after serving 27 years.

  • 1994 South Africa holds its first elections in which all races could vote. Nelson Mandela was elected as President.

  • 1999 Mandela steped down as President.

  • Period: to

    2010

  • 2010 World Cup (soccer)