1924, 1 April
Northern Rhodesia becomes a Crown colony after being formally transferred from the British South Africa Company.
1930, 1 April
Death of Empress Zawditu, the first reigning female monarch of Ethiopia (from 1916 to 1930). (also known as Zewditu or Zauditu.
1955, 1 April
South African government assumes direct control of Bantu schools across the country. The ANC responds by launching a boycott of Bantu Education by both scholars and teachers in Bantu schools.
1960, 1 April
French detonate their second nuclear bomb in the Sahara.
1961, 1 April
South Africa's Apartheid government declare Robben Island to be a prison, and will use it for both high risk and political prisoners. (See also Robben Island Prison Museum Gallery.)
1963, 1 April
Nationalist leader Joshua Mqabuko Nyangolo Nkomo is sentenced to six-months hard labour by court in Northern Rhodesia.
1972, 1 April
The official names of four South African homelands are changed:
- Basotho ha Borwa (Southern Sotho) to Basotho-Qwaqwa
- Tswanaland to Bophuthatswana
- Machangana to Gazankulu
- Zululand to KwaZulu
1982, 1 April
Four ANC leaders, including Nelson Mandela, are moved form Robben Island to Pollsmoor Prison, Cape Town.
