Twentieth Century

1899AD First Hague Peace Conference. Boxer Rebellion in China and put down by European powers, USA and Japan. Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams. Gillette’s Sherlock Holmes in USA. “Savage South Africa: show in London, as part of the Greater Britain Exhibition.. Luscombe Searelle’s Music Hall is taken over by Harry Stodel. Johannesburgse Toneelvereniging founded. The Wheelers open the Earl’s Court Garden Theatre. Enoch Santonga writes “Nkosi Sikilel’ iAfrika”. The Mount Nelson Hotel opens in Cape Town. Kruger issues an ultimatum demanding the withdrawel of British troops from the Transvaal border. On October 11 the Anglo-Boer War (The South African War) starts. Sir Redvers Buller takes charge of British troops.

1900AD Victor Emmanuel becomes king of Italy. Plank’s quantum theory. Between 1899 and 1902 formal professional theatre largely comes to a standstill, although “entertainments” were no doubt arranged by the military in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban, and Boer prisoners organized “konserte” in the concentration camps. The foundation stone of the Cape Town City Hall laid on 25th August. Lord Roberts arrives in Cape Town as commander in chief. Kimberley relieved, OFS annexed, Pretoria occupied. Roberts returns. Resistance continues and Kitchener institutes scorched earth policy, introduces concentration camps. Kruger in exile. Labour party founded in Britain. Boxer Rebellion begins in China.

1901AD Queen Victoria dies. Edward VII becomes king. Marconi’s transatlantic telegraph used for first time. Mann’s Buddenbrooks. First Nobel Prizes awarded. Boxing becomes a legal sport in Britain. Hemlines creep up to the ankle. First soluble “instant” coffee invented in USA. Strindberg’s A Dream Play Stephen Black’s Love and the Hyphen,, first really successful English play by a South African. The Empress Theatre in Pretoria renamed His Majesty’s Theatre. Emily Hobhouse visits the concentration camps in South Africa. The plague kills hundreds in S.A. Milner becomes High Commisioner responsible for the foremr Boer Republics. Boer Commandoes invade the Cape Colony. US President McKinley assasinated. Theodore Rooseveldt becomes president.

1902AD Turn-ups in men’s trousers first appear. Kipling’s “Just So” stories. Gorky’s The Lower Depths Rayne returns to SA, followed by 12-year old Freda Godfrey (Florrie). She appears as Dr Watson’s daughter in Sherlock Holmes in Cape Town. Edgar Wallace’s An African Millionaire premiéred (unsuccessfully) by Rayne in Cape Town. First version of Stephen Black’s Love and the Hyphen performed. Mambretti of Cape Town imports first motor-cycle. Edgar Wallace becomes first editor of the new Rand Daily Mail, replacing the old Standard and Digger’s News. Cecil John Rhodes dies in Muizenberg, aged 47. The Peace of Vereeniging ends the Anglo-Boer War. The Boer generals visit Europe in an effort to raise funds for the Boers who lost everything. Milner and his “kindergarten” start restoration work, including efforts at Anglicization of South Africa. Rhodes dies aged 49. Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria and Italy) renewed again for 6 years.

1903AD First flight by Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. First major clashes in the Suffragette movement in London. The first formal narrative movie: Edwin Porter’s The Great Train Robbery. Britain sets a 20 MPH speed limit for cars. His Majesty’s Theatre opens in Johannesburg. The Tivoli Theatre of Varieties opened in Cape Town by De Jong & Logan. The cultural journal De Goede Hoop established, publishing plays. As part of the general Afrikaenr cultural revival, Die Tweede Taalbeweging (the “Second Language Movement”) begins. First serious motor accident in SA: the Johannesburg express hits a car at the Maitland crossing, Cape Town. Lord Milner creates his own legislative assembly in Transvaal.

1904AD Trans-Siberian railway completed between Moscow and Vladivostok. A woman arrested in NewYork for smoking in public. Royal Academy of Dramatic Art formed in London. The Abbey Theatre opens in Dublin. Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. First Barker/Vedrenne season at the Royal Court in London First farces by Melt Brink published. President Kruger dies in Switzerland, buried in Heroes Acre, Pretoria. Chinese Labourers imported for the Transvaal mines. Meetings of protest in England. Massive floods in Cape Town and Bloemfontein. Deneys Reitz returns to South Africa. Rhodes University evolves from St Andrew’s College. Jamieson prime minister of Cape Colony. Russo-Japanese war begins. Entente Cordiale signed between Britain and France.

1905AD Einsrtein’s Special Theory of Relativity published. Shaw’s Man and Superman. Max Reinhardt heads Deutsches Teater Berlin. Meyerhold at the Moscow Art Theatre The Cape Town City Hall opens. The Cullinan Diamond, the largest ever foud, discovered in Transvaal. Het Volk formally established by Louis Botha and Jan Smuts. Revolution breaks out in Russia on “bloody Sunday”. Japan defeats Russia in the naval battle of Tshusima Strait. IRA founded in Dublin.

1906AD World’s first radio broadcast of music and the voice at Brant Rock, Mass. The San Francisco earthquake kills 450. The permanent wave introduced by a London hairdresser. Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon. Lily Langtry in The Degenerates in Cape Town. The Grand Theatre opens in Bloemfontein. Paul Roos’s rugby team the first to wear the Springbok emblem when they play in Britain. Electric trams replace horse-drawn trams in Johannesburg. The first issue of the Sunday Times appears. The Carlton Hotel opens in Johannesburg. The British government grants responsible government to the Transvaal. Zulu riots in Natal. Mahatma Ghandi initiates the passive resistance movement among Indians in South Africa. Revolution in Persia leads to a constitutional monarchy.

1907AD Bergson’s Creative Evolution. Baden-Powell founds the Boy Scouts movement in Britain. Riots at opening of Synge’s Playboy of the Western World in Dublin. Strindberg & Falck open the Intimate Theatre in Stockholm Afrikaans-Hollandse Toneelvereniging founded in Pretoria by Gustav Preller and Harm Oost. Oost’s Ou Daniël performed. Langenhoven's Die Trouwbelofte and Die Water Zaak published. Percy FitzPatrick’s Jock of the Bushveld. Andrew Jephta of SA the first coloured man to hold a boxing title in Britain. The Transvaal Govt. sends back 50,000 Chinese. The British government grants responsible government to the OFS. Het Volk and the English Nastionalists coalition victorious in Tranvaal and Botha becomes Prime Minister. Abraham Fischer becomes prime minister in the OFS. Ghandi leads Transvaal Indians in passive resistance. Colonial Conference in London.

1908AD Sorel’s Reflections on Violence. Henry Ford produces the Model T. Stephen Black’s Love and the Hyphen produced at the Tivoli, Cape Town. First motor show in South Africa held at The Wanderers, Johannesburg. SA’s 1st participation at the Olympic Games in London. Sprinter Reggie Walker gets gold. John X. Merriman prime minister in the Cape Colony. First sitting of the National Convention. Ghandi leads the protest against pass laws with the burning of passes on 16th August in Newtown, Jhb. Young Turks’ rebellion seeks to rejuvenate the Ottoman Empire. The Congo Free State becomes the Belgian Congo. Lord Asquith prime minister of Britain.

1909AD Bleriot flies across English Channel. Bakelite invented in USA. Peary reaches the North Pole. T.H. Morgan begins research in genetics at Columbia. G.P. Baker’s 47 Workshop at Harvard Royal Hotel in Durban re-built. First powered flight in SA by visiting Frenchman Kimmerling at Nahoon racecourse, East London. 30 March 1909 - SA colonies meet to consider and adopt the South Africa Act, which leads to the Union of South Africa Howard Taft president in the USA

1910AD Halley’s comet appears. John Buchan’s Prester John. Mount Etna erupts. Stravinsky’s Firebird. The Wheeler brothers leave Cape Town. The Pageant of Union takes place in Cape Town. Black’s Helena’s Hope produced. South Africa’s car population is 2000. South African Railways and Harbours Administration established. The Union of South Africa created. And the Constitution accepted. Louis Botha’s Party wins the election and he becomes the first Prime Minister. Portugal’s monarchy overthrown. King Edward VII dies, his son George V succeeeds.

1911AD Rutherford’s model of the nuclear atom. Amundsen reaches the South Pole. Craig’s On the Art of the Theatre published. Richard Strauss writes Der Rosenkavalier. Rayne and Godfrey in The Drummerboy of the 76th. The Cape Town Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society founded. Marie Lloyd appears in SA, brought out by Harry Stodel. The suffragist pageant, The Pageant of Great Women (by Cecily Hamilton) , produced in Johannesburg. Langenhoven's series of short plays, including Die Tweetalige Vonnis and Die Kys about die Forro published and Die Familie Zaak performed in Oudtshoorn. First wholly SA built aircraft flown by John Weston at Kimberley. J.P. Souza Band visits SA. South African National Party (later SAP) formed, in opposition to the Unionist Party. Italy declares war against Turkey and attacks Tripoli.. Winston Churchillbecomes first Lord of the Admirality in Britain.

1912AD First successful para chute jump by US Army Captain Albert Berry. Scott reaches South Pole, but dies on way back. SS Titanic sinks. Lilian Bayless runs Old Vic. Paderwski and H.B. Irving visit SA. Matheson Lang and Hutin Britton arrive to play a season of Shakespeare. C.J. Langenhoven’s Die Hoop van Suid-Afrika (“The Hope of South Africa”) performed in Bloemfontein. South Africa gets its own defence force. The South African Native National Congress is formed in Bloemfontein. Balkan wars begin.. Treaty of Lausanne signed between Italy and France.

1913AD D.H. Lawrence’sSons and Lovers. Proust’s A la Recherchedu temps perdu (Vol. 1). Panama Canal completed. Birmingham Rep Theatre formed. Copeau opens Thèâtre du Vieux Colombier in Paris. “Draft Entertainments Bill” is passed, demanding that places of entertainment have to be licensed. Bella Donna opens in Cape Town, starring Muriel Alexander. The Thomas Quinton Opera Co. visits SA. I.W. Schlesinger forms the African Theatres Trust. For Unkulunkulu’s Sake performed in USA. Langenhoven's Die Hoop van Suid-Afrika and F.E Cilliers's Heldinne van die Oorlog performed on 16 December. The Pier Bandstand and Concert Hall opened in Cape Town. First definitive issue Union Stamps. African Mirror, an actuality film newsreel, is launched. The Johannesburg Market Building completed. Ghandi launches a passive resistance campaign. Imperial Troops are mobilized against strikeing miners on the Witwatersrand. A judicial enquiry leads to recognition of Trade Unions. The Natives Land Act passed, reserving certain areas of land for “natives” only. London Peace Treaty ends second Balkan War. British suffragetist Emily Davidson is killed when she runs in front of the King’s horse at Epsom. Woodrow Wilson becomes US president.

1914AD Matisse’s Les Poissons rouges. First films by Charlie Chaplin. Panama Canal opened to traffic. Tairov becomes director of Moscow Kamerny Theatre Everyone in uniform let into Leonard Rayne shows free. Entertainment Tax introduced. Cape Town Municipal Orchestra founded. Foster gang trapped in a cave and commit suicide. The Kimberley “Big Hole” closed for further mining. SA troops under Louis Botha invades German South West Africa at request of the British. Rebellion against war involvement led by former generals of Transvaal and Free State. De La Rey shot, De Wet arrested. Smuts crushes rand mine strikes using commandos, leaders banished, Jopie Fourie executed. Indian Relief act passed and Smuts-Ghandi agreement ends passive resistance. Ghandi returns to India. Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated at Sarajevo and World War I begins. Zeppelins carry out first air raids in Britain. Battle of the Marne.

1915AD Provincetown Players formed in USA. Di Voortrekkers (film) made by African Theatres. L. Rayne forms a Grand New Musical Company to tour The King of Cadonia etc. Various entertainments held to promote recruitment and raise funds for the war effort. The Graaff-Reinetse Letterkundige en Toneelvereniging founded. Nasionale Pers founded in Cape Town. Di Burger, its newspaper, is to become the mouthpiece of the new National Party. Germany surrenders unconditionally to SA troops in German SWA. The Cape Coloured Corps is formed. Junkers designs first fighter plane in Germany. Germans sink a British ocean liner, the “Lusitania” L Asquith heads a coalition government in Britain. Battle of Gallipoli. Poison Gas used for first time.

1916AD Einstein’ s General Theory of Relativity published. First woman elected member of US Congress. Maragret Sanger jailed in New York for opening a birth control clinic. Rasputin killed. Ether Irving and Gilbert Porteau in SA. L.Rayne produces Kismet. Muriel Alexander founds the Alexander School of Drama and Elocution Die Huisgenoot magazine launched. De Voortrekkers premiéres. Die Afrikaner Koffiehuis opens in Cape Town. First SA troops reach Nairobi, Smuts Commander in Chief, Imperial Army, East Africa. SA Brigade loses thousands of men at Delville Wood. Battle of Verdun. Battle of the Somme, where 1.3 million men on both sides are lost. Easter Rebellion in Dublin suppressed by British. Lloyd George heads coalition Government.

1917AD Freud’s Introduction to Psychoanalysis. The Zipper patented in the US. Berthe Goudvis’s A Husband for Rachel produced by the Jewish Guild. Brieux’s Damaged Goods produced by Stephen Black. USA and China enter war against Germany.The Turkjs take Jerusalem. Czar Nicholas II abdicates and Kerensky declares a Republic in Russia. The October Revolution overthrows Kerensky and Lenin becomes Chairman, with Trotsky and Stalin assisting.

1918AD US Post Office burns issues of a newspaper (Little Review) containing parts of James Joyce’s Ullyses. Spanish Flu sweeps the world. Theatre Guild formed in New York. Habima Theatre in Moscow opens. Meyerhold directs Mayakovsky’s Mystery Bouffe in Moscow. L.Rayne produces Milestones with Martha van Hulsteyn. She leaves SA to attain success in England as Marda Vanne. Theatres closed by the flu epidemic (“Die groot Griep”). Rayne and Godfrey in The Royal Divorce. Rayne dies. African Consolidated Theatres buy His Majesty’s Theatre in Pretoria and convert it to The Capitol??** Langenhoven writes Die Stem van Suid-Afrika. Founding of the Gamma Sigma debating societies. An armistice is signed, formally ending the First World War. US President Wilson proposes the Fourteen Points, precursior of the League of Nations.Czar Nicholas and family executed. Poland becomes a Republic, Yugoslavia and Czechoslavia gain independence.

1919AD First non-stop Atlantic flight by Alcock and Whitten-Brown. Violent race riots in Chicago. Cape Town Reps founded. Muriel Alexander produces Euripides’s The Trojan Women in Pretoria Town Hall (first Greek classical play performed in SA). Johannesburg Operatic and Dramatic Society (JODS) formed. South African Aerial Transports run by Major Miller, first airline to operate in SA. Louis Botha dies, succeeded as prime minister by Jan Smuts. Treaty of Versailles signed, containing a harsh program of reparation. The German Worker’s Party formed in Germany. Amitsar massacre of Ghandi’s followers in India

1920AD World’s first radio broadcasting station in Pittsburgh, USA. American women get the right to vote. Beginning of Prohibition in USA. Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones. The first Saltzburg Festival. Gémier founds Thèâtre National Populaire. Harry Lauder tours SA. Rent control introduced in the Union. Van Ryneveld and Brand complete first flight from London to Cape Town. League of Nations formally constituted. Palestine becomes a British mandate. Government of Ireland act provides for two separate parliaments for North and South.IRL founded by Michael Collins. Ghandi emerges as India’s leader in the struggle for independence. End of Russian Civil war. Irish Republican Army formed. The German Worker’s Party becomes the National Socialist (NAZI) Party.

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