X-Nico

80 unusual facts about Johannesburg


1132 Hollandia

It was discovered by H. Van Gent on September 13, 1929 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

1268 Libya

The asteroid was discovered on April 29, 1930 by C. Jackson in Johannesburg.

2013 Soweto Open

It took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 29 April – 5 May 2013 for the men's event and 6–12 May 2013 for the women's event.

46 South African Brigade

46 SA Brigade is a composite brigade consisting of a headquarters in Kensington, Johannesburg and a Brigade Administrative Area at Wallmansthal.

Africa.com

The Africa.com organization has representation offices in Johannesburg, South Africa; Lagos, Nigeria; and New York, United States.

Afropsipyla similis

It was described by Balinsky in 1994, and is known from South Africa (it was described from Johannesburg).

Ahnabith Gish

Cian Rafferty Haley was also born in Calgary but was raised in Johannesburg, SA.

Alan van der Merwe

Alan van der Merwe (born 31 January 1980 in Johannesburg) is a South African race car driver.

Alfred Hollins

In 1907, 1909 and 1916 he went to South Africa to give a series of concerts at Johannesburg and Cape Town, giving the opening recital for the organ at the new Town Hall in Cape Town.

Andrew Surman

Surman was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, where his parents had moved to from Britain, whilst his father worked for an insurance company.

Australian cricket team in South Africa in 2005–06

The 5th One Day International cricket match between South Africa and Australia, played on 12 March 2006 at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, has been acclaimed by many media commentators as being one of the greatest One Day International matches ever played.

Beat the Drum

A young South African orphan named Musa (Junior Singo) leaves his AIDS-ravaged village in KwaZulu-Natal, taking along only a drum given to him by his father, for the gritty streets of Johannesburg in search of work and his uncle.

Blood Knot

The play was most recently performed in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2010 as part of Mandela Day celebrations, with Michael Brando playing the lead role of Morris.

Brian Gavin

In the late 1930s Deutz was brought to South Africa to teach diamond cutting along with his brother-in-law, Solly Neuwit, at Majestic Diamond Cutting Works in Johannesburg.

Bruce Wilkinson

Believing that Africa should be the next focal point for evangelical efforts, Wilkinson moved to Bryanston, Johannesburg, in 2002, and started an organization called Dream for Africa, which included the launch of the Never Ending Gardens.

C. Brooke Worth

As a Field Staff Member for the Rockefeller Foundation, Dr. C. Brooke Worth went to the South African Institute of Medical Research (SAIMR) in Johannesburg in the 1950s and was able to carry out a remarkable series of field studies in South Africa and Mozambique.

Carl Hertz

He also showed films to his audiences in Australia and Johannesburg, South Africa.

Charles Gore

In 1903 a college for training candidates for the Anglican priesthood (College of the Resurrection), was established at Mirfield, and, in the same year, a branch house for missionary work was set up in Johannesburg in South Africa.

Claude Buckenham

In four Tests, he took 21 wickets at 28 runs apiece, including five for 115 in the first South African innings of the third Test at Johannesburg.

Counting Headz: South Afrika's Sistaz in Hip Hop

Counting Headz was shot primarily in and around Johannesburg, the cultural and commercial capital of South Africa.

Craig Busch

In 2005, Busch arranged the exchange of New Zealand's first natively-born white tigers Tane and Aotea (born January 2005), and later Kiwi and Rongo (Born October 2, 2005) with a white lion cub named Gandor from the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve near Johannesburg.

Cup of Zimbabwe

Due to sponsorship, the competition has undergone a number of name changes: from its creation in 1962 until 1998, the cup was known as the Castle Cup, after its sponsor, the Johannesburg-based Castle Lager.

Do not look at the sun

It is distributed by a growing network of volunteers from locations that include New Delhi, Sydney, Johannesburg, and New York.

Doveton Sturdee

According to Anna Smith in her book "Johannesburg Street Names" (Juta, 1971), Sturdee Avenue in Rosebank, Johannesburg (South Africa), is "believed that it commemorates Admiral Sir Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee (1859–1925) of World Ward 1 fame. The Town Engineer in writing to the township-owners on 3 November 1919 stated that Sturdee was in the 'Falklands Battle'."

Durban International Airport

On 18 June 2008, a British Airways Boeing 737-400 (operated by Comair), operating as Flight 6203 from Johannesburg, skidded off the runway at Durban International Airport while landing under adverse weather conditions.

Egoli

eGoli is the alternative, Zulu name for Johannesburg, South Africa.

Emirates SkyCargo

In September 2004, the airline launched freighter services to Johannesburg and Lahore.

Ernest Griffith Price

In 1900 he married Maude Ethel Marshall, the daughter of an army Major and Justice of the Peace from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Ertuğrul Osman

He was married twice, first in New York City, New York, on 20 January 1947 to Gulda Twerskoy (Johannesburg, Gauteng, 20 March 1915 – New York City, 16 September 1985), without issue.

Fire Walker

The Fire Walker is a public art sculpture in Johannesburg’s inner city.

First National Bank of Tanzania

The bank is a subsidiary of the First Rand Group, a large financial services provider, with headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Garth Meade

Garth Meade (b. 1930 Johannesburg, South Africa) was a comedian and actor active in Australia from 1970.

Glynis Barber

When she was five years old, her parents divorced, and she and her mother moved to Johannesburg.

Hair theft

A number of inhabitants of Johannesburg and Durban had their dreadlocks stolen by "hair jackers", carrying out "cut and runs" using anything from knives to shards of broken glass.

Ian Fraser, Baron Fraser of Lonsdale

Fraser was the son of William Percy Fraser, a businessman of South Africa, who played a role in the development of Johannesburg.

Ina Millman

Ina Millman is a South African artist and a well established art teacher based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Innes Harold Stranger

While on an overseas trip in 1930 he was flying from Johannesburg to Victoria Falls when the aircraft developed difficulties and had to land in a jungle clearing.

International Year of Sanitation

Further development of these goals was discussed in 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, with the inclusion of access to sanitation as fundamental to achieving all goals surrounding bringing an end to poverty.

Jasminum multipartitum

Starry Wild Jasmine is naturally found in the woodlands of the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu Natal, as well as inland as far as Johannesburg.

Johannes Hermanus Michiel Kock

With the outbreak of the war he was in charge of the Johannesburg commando and German Corps.

John Murray, 11th Duke of Atholl

The Duke was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, as the only child of Major George Murray (1884–1940) and Joan (d.2000), the daughter of William Edward Eastwood, of South Africa.

Joop Carp

Johan Robert "Joop" Carp (January 30, 1897, Tjomal, Dutch East Indies - March 25, 1962, Johannesburg) was a sailor from the Netherlands, who represented his native country at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Ostend, Belgium.

Joseph Silver

In Johannesburg he operated a network of cafes, cigar shops and police-protected brothels.

Joyce Dattner

Driven by her commitment to helping people change themselves — and in the process, change the world — Joyce Dattner has become a leading practitioner of Newman and Holzman’s approach, now used in youth development programs, private and public mental health centers, alternative school initiatives, and agencies and organizations servicing diverse populations in varied settings—from New York City to Los Angeles to Johannesburg.

Kate Otten

She has designed community libraries, the waterfront development at Tzaneen, an art therapy centre in Soweto and the museum exhibition space at the former Women’s Jail at Constitution Hill which received a commendation from the South African Institute of Architects.

Kendra Oluchi Etufunwa

Etufunwa went on to further her education by signing up for a two year course in human resources at the London school of business located in Johannesburg South Africa.

Kine Centre

The Kine Centre is a skyscraper in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa.

KwaDukuza eGoli Hotel

KwaDukuza eGoli Hotel (Also known as the Johannesburg Sun Tower) is a skyscraper in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Leeuwenhosen

Following the Netherlands-Denmark match in Johannesburg, FIFA forcibly removed 36 female fans because they wore the dresses and detained and questioned the three Dutch nationals for three hours (the other 33 were South African).

Lillian Browse

In 1909 the family moved to South Africa, where her father had set up as a racehorse trainer, and she was educated at Barnato Park High School, in Johannesburg in the Transvaal.

Louis Lane

He was also principal guest conductor 1982-1983 and principal conductor 1984-1985 of the National Symphony Orchestra of the South African Broadcasting Corporation based in Johannesburg.

Lufthansa Flight 540

The flight was operating the final segment of its Frankfurt–Nairobi–Johannesburg route.

Lujo virus

Its name was suggested by the Special Pathogens Unit of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service (NICD-NHLS) by using the first two letters of the names of the cities involved in the 2008 outbreak of the disease, Lusaka (Zambia) and Johannesburg (Republic of South Africa).

Malibongwe Drive

The change was part of an ongoing plan by the city of Johannesburg to create politically neutral names to replace "upsetting" reminders of South Africa's racial past.

Marlene Behrmann

She received a B.A. in speech and hearing therapy from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1981; an M.A. in speech pathology from the University of Witwatersrand in 1984, and a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Toronto in 1991.

Mayor of Johannesburg

The Mayor of Johannesburg is the chief executive of the City Council and the highest elected position in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Mich d'Avray

Jean-Michel (Mich) d'Avray (born 19 February 1962 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a former professional association footballer who spent the majority of his playing career at Ipswich Town.

Michael Wines

Previously, he had been The New York Times 's bureau chief in Johannesburg and Moscow.

Molly Harrower

Dr. Harrower was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, the daughter of James Harrower and Ina White, while they were visiting.

Nagappan Padayatchi

The hall is located on the corner of Ferreira and Marshall streets in down town Johannesburg.

One Night in Eden

The premiere concert held in Johannesburg, South Africa was recorded in 1999 and has been released on DVD and VHS.

Philosophical Papers

Philosophical Papers is primarily based in the Department of Philosophy at Rhodes University in Grahamstown and it is jointly edited by the philosophy departments of Rhodes and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

Public art in Johannesburg

The city of Johannesburg is home to an extensive portfolio of public art.

Qkumba Zoo

Qkumba Zoo was a dance music trio from Johannesburg, South Africa, consisting of vocalist Levannah, dancer/sculptor Tziki and musician/producer Owl.

Ralph Lazar

Ralph Lazar was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1967, and has degrees in Law & Economics from the University of Cape Town, and a degree in Economics from The London School of Economics.

Raúl Castro

On 10 December 2013, Castro, in a significant moment shook hands and greeted American President Barack Obama at the Nelson Mandela memorial service in Johannesburg.

Raymond Keene

His tournament victories include Hastings Challengers 1966, Slater Challenge Southend 1968, Johannesburg 1973, Woolacombe 1973, Capablanca Memorial (Master Group) 1974, Alicante 1977, Sydney 1979, Dortmund 1980, Barcelona 1980, Lloyds Bank Masters 1981, Adelaide 1983 and La Valletta 1985.

Revive China Society

Yeung travelled to Johannesburg, South Africa, via Singapore and later to Japan, where he stayed from 1896–1899, to expand the Revive China Society and spread its ideas.

Sizwe Banzi Is Dead

The genesis of Sizwe Bansi Is Dead can be traced to Fugard’s experiences as a law clerk at the Native Commissioner’s Court in Johannesburg.

Sonja Schlesin

Schlesin died in Johannesburg in 1956 and her ashes were placed in a wall of remembrance at Braamfontein Cemetery in Johannesburg.

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Schlesin enrolled at the University College of Johannesburg which she funded with a loan that Gandhi arranged.

Standard Bank Centre

The Standard Bank Centre is a skyscraper in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa.

State of the City address

Other international cities have also adopted the tradition; for example, the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg has delivered a State of the City Address since 2002.

The Movement For a Democracy of Content

The Johannesburg group, founded by Afrikaans poet and activist Vincent Swart and his American wife Lillian, experienced particular success campaigning against the Apartheid government on several local issues.

Trunko

The photo had been snapped by Johannesburg photographer A. C. Jones, who had visited Trunko's remains while they were beached.

Trust Bank Building

Trust Bank Building is a skyscraper in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Upington Airport

Upington was chosen because of its strategic position, availability of land and comparatively lower height above sea level than Johannesburg.

Wal Campbell

Campbell was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, to John William Wallace Campbell, an Australian Boer War veteran, and Antonette Cholette, née Bleckmann.

World Doctors Orchestra

The concerts were on February 9, 2012 at Baxter Theatre Centre, Cape Town, on February 11, 2012 at the The Miracle, Elandsdoorn and February 12, 2012 at the Linder Auditorium, Johannesburg in co-operation with the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival with soloist Maria du Toit, clarinet, and the Ndlovu Youth Choir (director Ralf Schmitt).

Yekaterina Lobaznyuk

She had not one, but two surgeries, since the first one in Moscow, Russia was not performed properly; the second was done in Johannesburg, South Africa, while visiting the city and country for a rehabilitation stint.


Alfredo Jaar

His work has been shown extensively around the world, notably in the Biennales of Venice (1986, 2007), São Paulo (1987, 1989, 2010), Istanbul (1995), Kwangju (1995, 2000), Johannesburg (1997), and Seville (2006).

Annanias Mathe

He was re-arrested on 4 December 2006 (about two weeks after his escape), when he hijacked a car in the affluent Johannesburg suburb of Craighall.

Artisanal mining

350 km to the west of Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand reef (the ridge that contains the gold), the mines around Barberton contain visible nugget gold in quartz veins, in addition to fine particles, that are embedded in metamorphosed late Archaean age rocks dating to 3.2-3.4 billion years ago.

Beers

De Beers, a Johannesburg-based diamond mining and trading corporation

Crown of Beauty Theatre

before=Alexandra Palace
London, England (2002)

Sala Kongresowa
Warsaw, Poland (2006)

Gallagher Convention Center,
Johannesburg, South Africa

Currie Cup

Falcons (Afrikaans: Valke) - the East Rand and other municipalities to the east and south of Johannesburg (home matches in Brakpan)

DJ Roxxi

The event held at the Park Hyatt in Johannesburg profiled and introduced all 28 finalists, including Shannon Esra, Noni Gasa and Louise Carver.

Education in South Africa

This decree was unpopular with learners and teachers alike, particularly in towns like the Johannesburg township of Soweto, where practically no-one spoke Afrikaans.

Endre Szász

He had several exhibitions all over the world, including the Museum of Modern Art (Mexico City), Auschwitz Museum (Poland), the Hungarian National Gallery (Budapest), and also exhibited in Madrid, Copenhagen, Brussels, Berlin, Rome, Oslo, Johannesburg, New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Budapest, Amman (Jordan) and Tokyo.

Fordsburg Square

The workers did not just withdraw their labour but the a portion of the 20,000 white woprkers and the 180,000 black miners took over areas of Johannesburg and they were in control of Benoni, Brakpan suburbs of Fordsburg and Jeppe.

GIBS

The Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, a business school in Johannesburg, South Africa

Jewish Museum, Emmendingen

Emma Schwarz: Emmendingen - Gurs - Johannesburg, a Jewish woman from Emmendingen writes about her life under the Nazi regime and her later emigration with her son to South Africa.

Jo-Ann Strauss

In 2010, Jo-Ann presented the opening ceremony for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa for the German television network ZDF along with Thomas Gottschalk in a live broadcast from Johannesburg on 10 June.

Joburg Art Fair

Johannesburg, South Africa: Goodman-galery, Everard Read-gallery, David Krut, Warren Siebrits, Art on Paper, Rooke-galery, Gallery Momo, Art Extra.

Joel Pollak

Pollak was born in Johannesburg, South Africa but his parents emigrated to the United States shortly after his birth.

Kokan Popović

The lineup featured Belgrade musicians living in Johannesburg: Popović on rhythm guitar and vocals and Marka Benini on drums, with musicians from South Africa Derrick Skihippers (lead guitar) and Kahlan Merchant (bass guitar).

Light Horse Regiment

It is part of the South African Army Armour Formation and is based at Mount Collins in Sandton, Johannesburg.

Melanie Weisner

At the 2012 World Poker Tour in Johannesburg, South Africa, Weisner claimed her first major title, taking down the $1,000 no-limit six-max event for $41,289, defeating former EPT champion Lucien Cohen heads-up.

Pat Walkden

She was part of the South African team that won the Federation Cup in 1972 after a victory in the final over Great Britain at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Raymond Heard

in political science at the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) and then spent a year at Harvard on a Frank Knox Fellowship, where his teachers included Henry Kissinger and John Kenneth Galbraith.

Rensburg

William GL Janse van Rensburg (1939–2008), mayor of the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, from 1990 to 1991

Roberts International Airport

In the late 1970s and into the early 1980s, the airport became Pan Am's principal African hub, with a non-stop service from New York JFK connecting at Robertsfield to such destinations as Dakar, Accra, Abidjan, Lagos, and Conakry, among others, and continuing on to Nairobi and even at times Johannesburg, so that for many years virtually every Pan Am passenger to Africa passed through Robertsfield.

Ron Hoffmann

Between 1989 and 2001, he held numerous sub-Ambassadorial postings at Canadian missions in The Hague, Johannesburg, Beijing and London.

Roodepoort

Although Roodepoort has traditionally been regarded as being part of the West Rand, it was not made part of the West Rand District Municipality, instead being integrated into the City of Johannesburg Metropolitam Municipality, following the post-apartheid reorganisation of local government in the late 1990s.

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Roodepoort has a growing student population due to the presence of Monash University South Africa and has seen large population growth due to Johannesburg urban sprawl.

Sandringham High School, Johannesburg

The school is situated in middle-to-upper-class Johannesburg suburbia, and during the Apartheid years it reflected a traditional British style of education, with school uniforms and corporal punishment.

Soweto Open

It was held at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Centre in the Soweto urban area of Johannesburg, South Africa, from 2009 to 2011.

Susman Brothers

Max Sonnenberg controlled Cape Town stores, and Elie Susman controlled Transvaal stores which included Johannesburg.

The Mind in the Cave

The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art is a study of Upper Palaeolithic European rock art written by the archaeologist David Lewis-Williams, then a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Thomas Hezmalhalch

Lake and Hezmalhalch started their ministry at a rental hall in Doornfontein, a Johannesburg suburb, on 25 May 1908.

Trans Air Congo

Late 1997 saw the airline having to move temporarily to Johannesburg in South Africa to avoid a civil war.

Trans-Kalahari Corridor

The Trans-Kalahari Corridor is a paved highway corridor that provides a direct route from Walvis Bay and Windhoek in central Namibia, through Botswana, to Johannesburg and Pretoria in Gauteng province in South Africa.

World Health Summit

Makarere University of Uganda was admitted as the first M8 Alliance member from Africa in 2013, though foundation member Monash University has a campus in Johannesburg, South Africa.