The Dutch colonized the southwestern part of South Africa in 1652 through the Dutch East India trading company. They controlled the Dutch Cape Colony for more than 150 years before British occupation.

The Dutch East India Company vessel “Haarlem,” or “Nieuw Haarlem,” stranded in Table Bay on the evening of March 25, 1647. The African Institute for Marine and Underwater Research ...

A mere 800m from where Cape Town’s disappearing gun was discovered, the city’s noon guns – appropriately named, as the cannons fire at 12:00 each day – are a daily reminder to both ...

Better known, or reviled, by its Dutch initials VOC, the company was set up on March 20, 1602 by small, independent trading companies with a government charter to a virtual monopoly on Dutch trade and ...

RICHMOND, VA—The Dutch East India Company established a small settlement at what is now Cape Town in 1652. The initial purpose of the settlement was to provide a rest stop and supply station for ...