Time
|
Event
|
3,200,000 BC
|
Human ancestors in Africa (“Lucy”, Australopithecus afarensis)
|
130,000 BC
|
San people spread throughout Africa
|
25,000 BC
|
Rock art created by San in South Africa
|
6000
|
Emergence of River people along Nile and Congo
|
6000-4000
|
Rise of agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa
|
4000-1000
|
Rise of kingdoms along the Nile
|
3500
|
First known written documents
|
1000-800 BC
|
Bantu migrate into South Africa, Angola, Namibia, and Botswana
|
300 AD
|
Rise of the Ghana Empire of Soninke people
|
600 AD
|
Bantu cities, Great Zimbabwe, Dhlo-Dhlo, Kilwa, Sofala, flourishing through 1600 AD
|
639-641
|
Khalif Omar conquers Egypt with Islamic troops
|
700-800
|
Islam spreads through most of Africa
|
700-1911
|
Slave trade from 700-1911
|
800
|
Trade in gold, kola nuts, and slaves from sub-Saharan Africa flourishes
|
1000
|
Ghana empire at it’s height
|
1200
|
Mali Empire, 1235 – 1600
|
1375
|
Songhai empire separates from Mali Empire
|
1439
|
Portuguese exploration
|
1441
|
Portuguese slave trade
|
1550
|
Other European slavers
|
1591
|
Fall of Songhai Empire
|
1652
|
Dutch (Boer) Colonize South Africa (Natal?)
|
1700-1717
|
Rise of Ashanti Empire
|
1700-1800
|
Atlantic Slave Trade
|
1795-1815
|
British seize control of Cape Colony (South Africa) from Dutch
|
1818-1828
|
Shaka unified Nguni people, rise of Zulu kingdom. Shaka assassinated in 1828
|
1830
|
Mzilikazi, a Shaka lieutenant, founds Ndebele state
|
1830-1834
|
Boers move north across Orange River, establish Orange Free State and Transvaal
|
1852
|
British grant limited self-government to Transvaal
|
1856
|
Boers proclaim Transvaal a republic
|
1867
|
Diamonds discovered at Kimberly
|
1870
|
Ndebele capital moved to Bulawayo
|
1871-1912
|
Global European Imperialism at its height:
|
1874
|
Britain defeats Ashanti Kingdom
|
1877
|
Britain annexes Transvaal
|
1879
|
Zulu war with Great Britain
|
1884-1885
|
Europe divides up Africa at Berlin Conference. No Africans invited.
|
1886
|
Gold discovered in Transvaal
|
1890
|
Cecil Rhodes conquers Ndebele state
|
1899-1902
|
Anglo-Boer war
|
1910
|
Formation of South Africa
|
1922
|
British settlers vote to secede from South Africa
|
1934
|
Racial laws forbid blacks from running business in Rhodesia
|
1948
|
Apartheid policy established
|
1950's
|
Jomo Kenyatta, wars for Kenya independence
|
1957
|
First independent Black state
|
1958
|
South Africa independent from Britain
|
1958-1990
|
Apartheid enforced, blacks resettled in 'homelands'
|
1960
|
Mali becomes independent
|
1964
|
Northern Rhodesia secedes and becomes Zambia
|
1965
|
Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) declares (white minority) independence from Britain
|
1966-1968
|
Lesotho, Botswana, and Swaziland become independent states
|
1970
|
Portugal loses African colonies
|
1980
|
Zimbabwe gains independence from white minority rule (Robert Mugabe)
|
1990
|
Nelson Mandela freed
|
1991
|
Apartheid abolished
|
