Kimberley School of Mines opens

Background. Kimberley is the capital and largest city of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The city has considerable historical significance because of its diamond-mining past and the siege during the Second Boer War. The discovery of diamonds there proved to be the first step in the transformation of South Africa from an agricultural into an industrial country, and Kimberley has had a profound effect on the course of history in Southern Africa.

Institutional Lineage. The school founded in Kimberley in 1896 is recognized as a precursor to the University of the Witwatersrand, which is the third oldest South African university in continuous operation. South Africa's first school of mines opened in Kimberley and later relocated to Johannesburg, becoming the core of the University of the Witwatersrand. The Johannesburg campus was subsequently reincorporated as the South African School of Mines and Technology.