The following is a timeline of the history of Cape Town, South Africa.
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 built.
Simon van der Stel becomes commander of Dutch colony.
1688 - French Huguenot immigrants begin arriving.
1699
Dutch Reformed church built.
Parade Ground laid out.
1725 - Chavonnes Battery built.
1755 - Town House built.
1761 - Dessinian Library established.
1772 - 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.
1795
British in power in Cape Colony.
Johann Christian Ritter sets up printing press.
1798
Fire.
Auwal Mosque built.
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
British in power in Cape Colony again.
Noon Gun firing begins.
1807
Palm Tree Mosque congregation formed.
Slave Trade Act passed.
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.
South African Commercial Advertiser begins publication.
South African Literary Society founded.
1825 - South African Museum founded.
1827 - Colonist newspaper begins publication.
1829
Vagrancy and pass laws of 1809 repealed.
South African College inaugurated.
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.
1841 - Cape Town Mail newspaper begins publication.
1844 - Nurul Islam Mosque 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.
1849 - Anti-convict demonstrations.
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
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).
1861 - 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.
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.
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.
Opening of Cape Western railway line (11 May 1875), Cape Town Docks to junction with mainline, 7 miles 1 chain (11.3 kilometres).
1876
Cape Times newspaper begins publication.
Villagers Cricket Club is founded.
Opening of the Cape Town to Worcester railway line (16 June 1876)
South Africa's first official archives established by Cape Government in Cape Town.
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
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.
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.
1896 - Electric trams begin operating (approximate date).
1897
Woodhead Dam constructed.
Museum and General Post & Telegraph Offices open.
1898 - Jewish Tailors Union organized.
1899 - Mount Nelson Hotel in business.
1900 - St. James Church built.
1902 - African Political Organization founded.
1904
Tivoli music hall opens.
Population: 77,668.
1905 - Cape Town City Hall and Synagogue built.
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.
1913 - Botanical Society organized.
1914
Cape Philharmonic Orchestra active.
Koopmans-de Wet House museum opens.
1915 - Die Burger newspaper begins publication.
1918
University of Cape Town active.
Langa (suburb) established.
1919 - Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union founded.
1928 - Table Mountain Aerial Cableway begins operating.
1930 - South African National Gallery building opens.
1934 - UCT Ballet Company established.
1935 - Trolleybuses begin operating.
1936 - St. George's Cathedral and Table Bay power station constructed.
1938 - Groote Schuur Hospital founded.
1939 - Catholic Vicariate of Cape Town active.
1940 - Mutual Building constructed.
1942 - Varsity student newspaper begins publication.
1945 - Duncan Dock constructed.
1946 - Wingfield Aerodrome active (approximate date).
1948 - Nyanga (suburb) established.
1950s - Cape Flats populated per race-based legislation.
1950 - Maynardville Open-Air Theatre founded (1 December 1950), by the Athlone Committee for Nursery Education.
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.
1953 - Coloured People's Organisation active.
1954 - D.F. Malan Airport opens.
1956
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.
Clarke's Bookshop in business.
1958 - Gugulethu (suburb) established.
1960
Sentinel News begins publication.
University College of the Western Cape opens.
Milnerton Lighthouse commissioned.
1961
City becomes part of the Republic of South Africa.
Cape Town railway station rebuilt.
1962
Athlone Power Station commissioned.
Naspers Centre built.
1964
Pollsmoor Prison established.
Robert Selby Taylor becomes archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town.
1967 - Cape Town Philharmonia Choir founded.
1968
Non-whites banned from District Six and houses demolished per race-based legislation.
Centre for Conflict Resolution headquartered in Cape Town.
1971 - Nico Malan Theatre Center opens.
1972
Student protest; crackdown.
Athlone Stadium and 1 Thibault Square built.
Waterworks Museum and Space Theatre founded.
1976
August: Racial unrest.
UCT Radio begins broadcasting.
Good Hope Centre built.
1978
Cape Argus Cycle Race begins.
Cape Town Civic Centre built.
1979 - Hout Bay Museum opens.
1986 - Desmond Tutu becomes archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town.
1987 - Table Talk newspaper begins publication.
1989
2 September: Purple Rain Protest.
13 September: Cape Town peace march.
1990
3 February: Peace Ritual begins.
11 February: Nelson Mandela gives public speech after his release from prison.
Women's Centre organized.
Club Eden opens.
1993 - Metlife Centre built.
1994
27 April: South African general election held.
District Six Museum opens.
1995
MFM 92.6 and Voice of the Cape radio begin broadcasting.
Two Oceans Aquarium opens.
1995 Rugby World Cup held.
1996
Cape Town/Central, Tygerberg, South Peninsula, Blaauwberg, Oostenberg, and Helderberg municipalities created.
Gallery Mau Mau active.
Flag of Cape Town redesign adopted.
Population: 987,007.
1997 - Cape Talk radio begins broadcasting.
1998
Table Mountain National Park established.
August: Restaurant bombing.
1999
Surfing competition begins.
National Library of South Africa, Cape Town Opera, and Ajax Cape Town football team established.
2000
City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality formed by merger of Cape Town/Central, Tygerberg, South Peninsula, Blaauwberg, Oostenberg, and Helderberg.
Central City Improvement District and Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign organized.
MTN Sciencentre and Canal Walk shopping centre open.
Homegrown (drum and bass event) begins.
Institute for Justice and Reconciliation established.
2001
Cape Town Pride parade begins.
Baphumelele Children's Home founded.
Gold Museum opens.
Population: 827,218.
2003
Mayoral Committee of the City of Cape Town active.
Die Son newspaper begins publication.
Cape Town International Convention Centre and Mzoli's open.
2003 Cricket World Cup held.
2004 - Africa Centre established.
2005
Cape Peninsula University of Technology and Cape Cobras cricket team established.
Daily Voice newspaper begins publication.
2006
Cape Town Book Fair begins.
Homeless World Cup football contest held.
Neighbourgoods Market in business in Woodstock.
2007
University of Cape Town's African Centre for Cities active (approximate date).
Isango Portobello theatre group active.
2008
Cape Town TV and Hillsong Church established.
Chavonnes Battery museum opens.
Spier Poetry Exchange (festival) and Infecting the City (arts festival) begin.
2009
Cape Town Stadium opens.
Dan Plato becomes mayor.
Silicon Cape Initiative founded.
Organised Chaos LAN Party begins (approximate date).
2010
June–July: FIFA World Cup held.
Chippa United Football Club formed.
2011
MyCiTi bus begins operating.
Patricia de Lille becomes mayor.
Timeline of Cape Town Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA