X-Nico

83 unusual facts about Johannesburg


1133 Lugduna

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.

Achille Mbembe

His work has also examined Johannesburg as a metropolitan city and the work of Frantz Fanon.

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.

Alex Forbes

He later emigrated to Johannesburg, South Africa, to coach children at a local private Jewish school, Yeshiva College of South Africa.

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.

Arte Sustenibile UNO

The exhibition was designed by referring to the definition of sustainability that was established by United Nations Organization at the two world conferences at Rio (Earth Conference, 1992) and Johannesburg (Rio +10, 2002).

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.

Big Fellas

The film was shot on various locations that range from Cape Town to Cango Caves to 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.

Celia W. Dugger

From 2008 to 2011, she and Bearak became bureau chiefs in 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.

Christian du Plessis

Born in Vryheid, South Africa, he studied in Johannesburg with Teasdale Griffiths and Esme Webb, and made his stage debut there, with the Transvaal Opera, as Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, in 1967.

Come Dine With Me South Africa

Episode 1 of the first series kicked off with two ladies from the South East of Johannesburg, Estie Matheus and Michelle Jordan, jointly winning and having to share the prizes and concluded with a celebrity special featuring M-Net presenter Ashley Hayden, SuperSport’s Neil Andrews, 94.7 Highveld Stereo’s Samantha Cowen and model Sashni Naidoo.

Diamond District

The area is one of the primary centers of the global diamond industry (along with London — rough stones; the Antwerp diamond district in Belgium — historical but waning; Mumbai, India — increasing in significance, Ramat Gan, Israel — also growing, and Johannesburg, South Africa — the major historical source), as well as the premier center for jewelry shopping in the city.

Dudu Pukwana

In 1962, he won first prize at the Johannesburg Jazz Festival with Moyake's Jazz Giants (1962 Gallo/Teal).

Edward Curtis Franklin

Franklin got invited to participate at the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Melbourne, Australia, and Johannesburg, South Africa.

Egoli

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

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.

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.

Frank Wild

He was cremated on 23 August 1939 at the Braamfontein Cemetery in Johannesburg.

Garry Allighan

After the affair, he moved to South Africa, where he became principal of the Premier School of Journalism in Johannesburg.

Glynis Barber

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

Great January comet of 1910

The first astronomer to study the comet properly was Robert T. A. Innes at the Transvaal Observatory in Johannesburg on January 17, after having been alerted two days earlier by the editor of a Johannesburg newspaper.

Hannah Botha

Hannah Botha (born in Dwarsderbos on 17 January 1923; died in Johannesburg on 16 April 2007) was a South African TV and film actress known for roles in Nommer Asseblief, Agter Elke Man and most recently the soap-opera Egoli: Place of Gold.

History of rugby league in South Africa

Part of this future, it was hoped, was that the nine teams located in the Johannesburg area would launch the 1963 season.

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.

Ipi Tombi

Ipi Tombi (also produced as Ipi N'tombi, both corrupted transliterations of the Zulu iphi intombi, or "where is the girl?"), is a 1974 musical by South African writers Bertha Egnos Godfrey and her daughter Gail Lakier, telling the story of a young black man leaving his village and young wife to work in the mines of Johannesburg.

Jason Johannisen

He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, but moved to Perth with his family when he was eight years old.

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.

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.

Joseph Silver

Joseph Silver (1868-1918) also known as the "King of Pimps", was a man who terrorized women in Johannesburg, South Africa during the late 19th century and early 20th century.

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.

Kevin Harmse

Born in Johannesburg, Harmse grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, and began his youth career training at the Roman Tulis School in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

Kine Centre

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

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).

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).

Lilian Baylis

They toured for some time but eventually settled in Johannesburg, where Baylis earned a good living as a music and dance teacher.

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.

Lockheed L-1649 Starliner

ZS-DVJ (c/n 1042), currently in Trek Airways colours, is at OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg and is continuously threatened by the airport authorities to be scrapped if it isn't removed from the airport grounds.

Loryma sinuosalis

It was described by P. Leraut in 2007, and is known from South Africa (the type location is Johannesburg).

Lufthansa Flight 540

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

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.

Mariano Tullio Troia

Italian police claimed Troia had moved to South Africa where he was being harboured by Salvatore Morettino, a naturalised South African citizen living in Houghton (a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg), according to Western Cape police intelligence in a March 1998 briefing.

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.

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.

Mighty Birds

Mighty Birds are a former South African football club from the Soweto area of Johannesburg.

Moira Lister

Born in Cape Town to Major James Lister and Margaret (née Hogan), Lister was educated at the Parktown Convent of the Holy Family, Johannesburg.

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.

Nigel Haywood

In 1992 he be became the Deputy Consul-General in Johannesburg and in 1996 he was appointed Deputy Head of the UK's Delegation to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna.

Phineas John

In April 1932, John travelled to South Africa, where he undertook three fights at City Hall in Johannesburg.

Pillow fight

The Johannesburg-based University of the Witswatersrand's Silly Buggers Society has held an annual Pillow Fight at the East Campus' Library Lawns since 2007.

Prenuptial agreement

In 2004, the High Court of South Africa upheld a cherem against a Johannesburg businessman because he refused to pay his former wife alimony as ordered by a beth din.

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.

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.

Robert T. A. Innes

In 1903 he took up the position of Director of the new Meteorological Observatory in Johannesburg.

Sheila Gordon

Sheila Gordon, a book person born in Johannesburg, South Africa on January 22, 1927, is the author of Waiting for the Rain, The Middle of Somewhere, and Unfinished Business.

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.

Swaziland Airlink

Swaziland Airlink started operations in July 1999 with a leased Fokker F28 aircraft from RSNAC linking Matsapha Airport with Johannesburg and Dar-es-Salaam.

The Brother Moves On

Nkululeko, Siyabonga and Zelizwe Mthembu grew up together in the East Rand of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Thillaiaadi Valliammai

She was born to R. Munuswamy Mudaliar and Mangalam, a young immigrant couple from a small village called Thillaiyadi in Nagappatinam near Mayiladuthurai in India to Johannesburg – the gold-city of South Africa to work for their way out of difficulty.

Trans Air Congo

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

Trunko

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

Ulf Andersson

Tournaments he has won or shared first include the 1969 Swedish Chess Championship, Göteborg 1971, Dortmund 1973, Camagüez 1974, Cienfuegos 1975, Belgrade 1977, Buenos Aires 1978, Hastings 1978–79, Phillips & Drew 1980, Johannesburg 1981, Phillips & Drew 1982, Turin 1982, Wijk aan Zee 1983, Reggio Emilia 1985, Rome 1985, and Rome 1986.

Verner Clapp

Clapp was the son of US-American parents, who returned to the US after his birth in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Véronique Tadjo

Tadjo is currently based in Johannesburg, where since 2007 she has been head of French Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Vilankulo

It is home to an a new international airport, which serves daily flights to several regional destinations, including Johannesburg, Maputo, Swaziland,and elsewhere.

Wal Campbell

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

What Happened to Burger's Daughter or How South African Censorship Works

The book was published in Johannesburg by Taurus Publications, a small underground publishing house established in the late-1970s to print anti-apartheid literature and other material South African publishers would avoid for fear of censorship.

Yeung Ku-wan

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.

Zulu Love Letter

Thandeka, a young black journalist, lives in fear of Johannesburg’s past.


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.

Apartheid

The best-publicised forced removals of the 1950s occurred in Johannesburg, when 60,000 people were moved to the new township of Soweto (an abbreviation for South Western Townships).

Barbara Becnel

On Sunday, June 25, 2006, Becnel and Neal released Williams' ashes into a lake in Thokoza Park, located in the black township of Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa.

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.

Brenda Kirk

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.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault

She worked in Johannesburg, South Africa, as National Public Radio's chief correspondent in Africa from 1997 to 1999.

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.

Deyan Nedelchev

Deyan is the only Bulgarian singer to record an album with Polygram, with whom he had a 3-year contract based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

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.

Gandhi House

Satyagraha House, a house built for Gandhi and Hermann Kallerbach in Johannesburg

Gift Leremi

On 3 September 2007, Leremi was returning home after a CAF Confederation Cup game in Cameroon against Astres FC when he was involved in a traffic collision in Alberton outside Johannesburg.

Global Leadership Adventures

Global Leadership Adventures was founded by Fred Swaniker as a precursor to the African Leadership Academy, based in Johannesburg, South Africa but became a separate entity in 2004.

Institute of International Education

Current REACs are located in the following cities around the world: Lima, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Budapest, Kyiv, Bratislava, Amman, Accra, Johannesburg, Lahore, Delhi, Beijing, Tokyo, and Kuala Lumpur.

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.

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.

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.

Makua people

Although the majority of the Makua people in South Africa were settled in Bayview, some live in Wentworth, Marianhill, Marianridge, Umlazi, Newlands East and West, Pietermaritzburg, Cape Town and Johannesburg.

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.

Rensburg

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

Ron Hoffmann

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

Roodepoort

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.

Royal Observatory

Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope (merged with the Republic Observatory, Johannesburg, formerly the Union Observatory, to form the South African Astronomical Observatory in 1972)

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.

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.

Skopos market insight

SKOPOS Market Insight is a global market research agency and communications research company with offices based in London, Cologne, Berlin, Paris, Johannesburg and Sydney.

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.

Upington Airport

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

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.