The following is a timeline of the history of Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
Prior to 19th century
1510 – A Portuguese force led by Francisco de Almeida is defeated in the Battle of Salt River by the indigenous Goringhaiqua Khoikhoi clan. 1647 – The ship Nieuwe Haerlem is wrecked near what is today Bloubergstrand. This shipwreck ultimately leads to the establishment of a colony. 1648 – Fort Zandenburgh built by the stranded sailors of the Nieuwe Haerlem. 1651 – Jan van Riebeeck visits the Cape as part of a rescue mission to save stranded sailors. 1652 6 April: Jan van Riebeeck of the Dutch East India Company arrives. Fort de Goede Hoop built. 1653 – Arrival of the first slave, Abraham van Batavia. 1654 – Redoubt Duijnhoop built. 1658 – Conflict between the Khoi and settlers. 1679 Castle of Good Hope completed. Simon van der Stel becomes commander of Dutch colony. 1680 Eversdal started as a farm 1682 British East Indiaman Johanna wrecked off Cape Agulhas and salvaged by VOC officials returning 104 survivors to Cape Town 1688 – French Huguenot immigrants begin arriving. 1699 Dutch Reformed church built. Parade Ground laid out. 1705 Stellenberg today in Bellville land was awarded 1714 Kenridge then known as Blommesteijn started. It is now part of Bellville 1725 – Chavonnes Battery built.
1757 - During the Seven Years' War a naval action takes place off the Cape of Good Hope between British and unidentified (likely French) vessels. 1761 – Dessinian Library established. 1772 Freemasonry in South Africa started Hospital founded. 1780 – Lutheran Church built. 1786 – Committee of the High Court established. 1787 – Württemberg Cape Regiment in residence. 1790 – Castle of Good Hope rebuilt. 1792 The Lutheran Church in Strand Street was built 1795 British in power in Cape Colony. Johann Christian Ritter sets up printing press. 1798 Great fire of 1798 (Cape Town) Auwal Mosque built.
19th century
1802 – Freemason's Lodge built on Bouquet Street. 1803 – Dutch regain power in Cape Colony by the Treaty of Amiens. 1804 – Coat of arms of Cape Town in use. 1806 8–18 January: Battle of Blaauwberg - British victory over the Batavian Republic during the Napoleonic Wars. British in power in Cape Colony again. Noon Gun firing begins. 1807 Palm Tree Mosque congregation formed. Slave Trade Act passed. 1808 Perseverance Tavern founded. First Slave Revolt. 1814 – Cape Town ceded to Britain by the Anglo–Dutch Treaty of 1814. 1819 Commercial Exchange founded. Howell's bookshop in business. 1820 – Royal Observatory founded. 1821 South African Public Library founded. Flagstaff erected on Lion's Rump hill. 1823 – Population: 15,500. 1824 Green Point Lighthouse built. The South African Commercial Advertiser newspaper begins publication. South African Literary Society founded. 1825 – South African Museum founded. 1827 Colonist newspaper begins publication. Hoërskool Durbanville was founded. 1829 Vagrancy and pass laws of 1809 repealed. South African College Schools was founded. 1830 – Cape of Good Hope Literary Gazette begins publication. 1831 – De Zuid-Afrikaan newspaper begins publication. 1834 Slaves freed in British Empire. St. George's Church built. Popular Library established. 1839 – Cape Town Municipality established. 1840 Michiel van Breda became first mayor 1841 Cape Town Mail newspaper begins publication. Wynberg Boys' High School was founded. 1844 Maclear's Beacon was created Nurul Islam Mosque founded. Wynberg High School for Girls was founded. 1845 – Mutual Life Assurance Society of the Cape of Good Hope established. 1846 Gaslight introduced. South African Mining Company founded. 1847 – Anglican Diocese of Cape Town established. 1848 Hercules Crosse Jarvis becomes mayor. Botanic Garden established. St. George's Grammar School was founded.
1849 – Anti-convict demonstrations. Bishops Diocesan College was founded. 1851 – South African Fine Arts Association organizes exhibition in the Company's Garden. 1853 – Anti-Mormon riots. 1854 First establishment of the Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope Bookseller Jan Carel Juta in business. 1857 – Cape Argus newspaper and Cape Monthly Magazine begin publication. 1858 – Smallpox outbreak. 1859 – Prison built. 1860 Wellington-Cape Town railway begins operating. Harbor works begun. Public Library building constructed. Telegraph begins operating (Simon's Town – Cape Town). Cape Town High School was founded. 1861 Bellvile was founded first Railway station built. 1863 Horsecar trams begin operating. Grey Library opens. 1864 – Somerset Hospital opens. 1867 – District Six formed. 1868 – Population: 22,543. 1870 – Alfred Basin constructed. 1871 – South African Art Gallery founded. 1872 The Cape attains responsible government, led by its first Prime Minister John Molteno Cape Government Railways founded.Bond J.: They were South Africans. London: Oxford University Press. 1956. Chapter 19, The Makers of Railways: John Molteno. p.170. 1873 Founding of the University of the Cape of Good Hope, later UNISA First official use of Dutch in the Cape Parliament. 1874 Founding in Cape Town of the South African Teachers' Association. Founding of the Cape Government Railways The "Molteno Regulations", drawn up in Cape Town, establish the South African public library system.Friis, T. 1962. The public library in South Africa – an evaluative study. Cape Town: Afrikaanse Pers-Boekhandel. p.69 1875. Population: 33,000. The Cape's first water engineer, John Gamble, appointed by the Cape Government and begins work on Cape Town's water infrastructure. The Cape Town railway station built.Burman, Jose (1984), Early Railways at the Cape, Cape Town: Human & Rousseau, Opening of Cape Western railway line (11 May 1875), Cape Town Docks to junction with mainline, 7 miles 1 chain (11.3 kilometres).Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 181, ref. no. 200954-13 1876 Cape Times newspaper begins publication. Villagers Cricket Club is founded. Opening of the Cape Town to Worcester railway line (16 June 1876) The 2,700 ton steamer, Windsor Castle, sinks off Dassen Island, north of Table Bay (19 October 1876) South Africa's first official archives established by Cape Government in Cape Town.Cape Archives 1877 First South African International Exhibition is held in Cape Town. Cape Council of Education is established. 1878 Railway station enlarged. The first telephones are set up in the Cape. 1879 – Wesleyan Methodist Church built. 1880 – School of Art established. 1881 – Opening of the Molteno Dam in Oranjezicht 1884 Opening of the new Cape Parliament building Sea Point High School was founded. 1885 – Standard Bank of South Africa headquarters relocates to Cape Town. 1886 – Houses of Parliament built. 1887 – Kaapse Klopse minstrel festival begins. 1889 – Newlands Cricket Ground in use. 1890 – Newlands Rugby Stadium was opened. 1891 Valkenberg Hospital and Mountain Club founded. Population: 51,251. 1892 – The Franchise and Ballot Act of Cecil Rhodes places restrictions on the multiracial Cape Qualified Franchise 1894 Owl Club formed. Rustenburg High School for Girls was founded. 1896 – Electric trams begin operating (approximate date). 1897 Woodhead Dam constructed. Museum and General Post & Telegraph Offices open. Rondebosch Boys' High School was founded. 1898 – Jewish Tailors Union organized. 1899 – Mount Nelson Hotel in business. 1900 Boston was founded by Americans St. James Church built.
20th century
1900s–1940s
1901 – St. George's Cathedral, Cape Town foundations laid. 1902 African Political Organization founded. Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science headquartered in Cape Town. 1904 Tivoli music hall opens. Population: 77,668. 1905 – Cape Town City Hall and Synagogue built. 1906 – Cape University buildings begun. 1910 Cape Town in Cape Province becomes capital of Union of South Africa. Groote Schuur becomes official Cape residence of Prime Ministers of South Africa. 1912 Rhodes Memorial dedicated on Devil's Peak. Trafalgar High School was founded. 1913 – Botanical Society organized. 1914 Cape Philharmonic Orchestra active. Koopmans-de Wet House museum opens. 1915 – Die Burger newspaper begins publication. 1916 – Steenbras Dam, tunnel through the Hottentots Holland mountains and a 64 kilometre long cast iron pipeline to supply Cape Town with water. 1918 University of Cape Town active. Langa (suburb) established. 1919 – Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union founded. 1922 Pinelands (suburb) South Africa's first Garden City established and the first house built at 3 Mead Way. Herschel Girls' School was founded. 1926 – Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck was founded. 1928 – Table Mountain Aerial Cableway begins operating. 1930 The clay quarry and jail opened in Belville South African National Gallery building opens. 1934 – UCT Ballet Company established. 1935 Christmas fire of 1935 Trolleybuses begin operating. Windsor High School was founded. 1936 – St. George's Cathedral and Table Bay power station constructed. 1937 – Hoërskool Bellville was founded. 1937 - Just Nuisance born in Rondebosch (the world's first and only dog enlisted as Able Seaman in the South African Navy) 1938 – Groote Schuur Hospital founded. 1939 – Catholic Vicariate of Cape Town active. 1940 – Mutual Building constructed. 1942 – Varsity student newspaper begins publication. 1944 Just Nuisance the world's only canine Able Seaman in a Navy dies and is buried with full military honors in Simon's Town, aged 7. 1945 Duncan Dock constructed. Standpunte literary magazine begins publication. 1946 Wingfield Aerodrome active (approximate date). Publisher Balkema in business. Population: 383,891 city; 470,930 urban agglomeration. 1948 – Nyanga (suburb) established.
1950s–1980s
1950s – Cape Flats populated per race-based legislation. 1950 – Maynardville Open-Air Theatre founded (1 December 1950), by the Athlone Committee for Nursery Education.History of Maynardville – Old Wynberg Village"Arts Page, Official Opening of the Maynardville Theatre". Cape Times. 27 November 1950. 1951 Population: 441,209 city; 577,648 urban agglomeration. Hoërskool D.F. Malan was founded. Harold Cressy High School was founded. 1952 Athlone Teachers' Training College founded (February 1952), South Africa's first college for coloured teachers of pre-school children, using money raised from the Maynardville Theatre's performances.Maynardville Theatre – History (City of Cape Town Website) "Arranged for Athlone Nursery School". Cape Times. 1 December 1950. Pinelands High School was founded. 1953 Coloured People's Organisation active. Westerford High School was founded. 1954 D.F. Malan Airport opens. Hoërskool Tygerberg was founded. J.G. Meiring High School was founded. 1956 Karl Bremer Hospital opened its doors Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital opens. Maynardville Open-Air Theatre holds its first Shakespeare performance (29 January 1956), circa five years after its founding.Cape Times, Arts Supplement. 1950–56. p.14 (var.) Clarke's Bookshop in business. Africa South magazine begins publication. 1958 – Gugulethu (suburb) established. 1959 Milnerton High School was founded. Groote Schuur High School was founded. 1960 Sentinel News and Contrast magazine begin publication. University College of the Western Cape opens. Milnerton Lighthouse commissioned. Hoërskool Eben Dönges was founded. 1961 City becomes part of the Republic of South Africa. Cape Town railway station rebuilt. Gardens Commercial High School was founded. Oude Molen Technical High School was founded. Sans Souci High School for Girls was founded. 1962