1795    The first occupation by United Kingdom of Cape Colony, South Africa with the Battle of Hout Bay, after successive victories at the Battle of Muizenberg and Wynberg, after William V requested protection against revolutionary France's occupation of the Netherlands.

1815    The East Indiaman ship Arniston is wrecked during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, near Cape Agulhas, present-day South Africa, with the loss of 372 lives.

1829    South African College is founded in Cape Town, South Africa; it will later separate into the University of Cape Town and the South African College Schools.

1838    Battle of Blood River: Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius combat Zulu impis, led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

1899    Second Boer War begins: In South Africa, a war between the United Kingdom and the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State erupts.

1900    British troops are defeated by Boers at Ladysmith, South Africa.

1900    Second Boer War: In South Africa, 20,000 British troops invade the Orange Free State.

1900    In South Africa, Boers and British troops fight in the Battle of Hart's Hill.

1900    Second Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronje at the Battle of Paardeberg.

1902    Second Boer War: The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the war and ensures British control of South Africa.

1905    The Cullinan Diamond is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa.

1909    Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.

1913    Mohandas Gandhi is arrested while leading a march of Indian miners in South Africa.

1914    World War I: South African troops open hostilities in German south-west Africa (Namibia) with an assault on the Ramansdrift police station.

1914    World War I: South African troops land in German South West Africa.

1925    The government of South Africa declares Afrikaans an official language

1926    Gold is discovered in Johannesburg, South Africa.

1931    Start of "Die Voortrekkers" youth movement for Afrikaners in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

1938    Discovery of the first modern coelacanth in South Africa.

1939    World War II: South Africa declares war on Germany.

1950    Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed formally segregating races.

1960    Hendrik Verwoerd announces a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic.

1960    Apartheid: Massacre in Sharpeville, South Africa: Police open fire on a group of unarmed black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180.

1961    South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.

1961    Republic of South Africa created.

1964    Anti-apartheid activist and ANC leader Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison for sabotage in South Africa.

1964    South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games due to the country's racist policies.

1966    In Cape Town, South Africa, the architect of Apartheid, Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, is stabbed to death during a parliamentary meeting.

1967    At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, a transplant team headed by Christiaan Barnard carries out the first heart transplant on a human (53-year-old Louis Washkansky).

1967    Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, after living for 18 days after the transplant.

1976    Soweto uprising: a non-violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa turns into days of rioting when police open fire on the crowd.

1977    Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under the Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967 in King William's Town, South Africa. He would later die of the injuries sustained during this arrest bringing attention to South Africa's apartheid policies.

1977    South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko is killed in police custody.

1977    South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country.

1979    South Africa grants independence to the "homeland" of Venda (not recognised outside South Africa).

1980    The African National Congress in South Africa publishes a call to fight from their imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela.

1981    South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).

1983    Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa becomes the first African boxing world heavyweight champion.

1986    In South Africa, police fire tear gas into a church service for families of those held under the government's emergency decrees.

1986    Desmond Tutu becomes the first black man to lead the Anglican Church in South Africa.

1988    South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town

1989    After a stroke, P.W. Botha resigns party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

1989    Largest anti-Apartheid march in South Africa, led by Desmond Tutu.

1990    Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa.

1990    Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.

1991    Apartheid: the South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act which required racial classification of all South Africans at birth.

1991    South Africa is readmitted into the Olympic movement after 30 years of exclusion.

1991    The Greek cruise ship {{Ship|MTS|Oceanos}} sinks off the Wild Coast of South Africa.

1994    More than seven million people from the former Apartheid Homelands, receives South African citizenship.

1994    In South Africa, Zulus and African National Congress supporters battle in central Johannesburg, resulting in 18 deaths.

1994    South African general election, 1994: The first democratic general election in South Africa, in which black citizens could vote.

1994    Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black president.

1995    Former South African defence minister General Magnus Malan and 10 other former senior military officers are arrested and charged with murdering 13 black people in 1987, (all the accused are later acquitted).

1998    Apartheid: In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents its report, which condemns both sides for committing atrocities.