Cape Town will forever be known for its hosting of the World Cup 2010 and the vuvuzelas which annoyed just about every viewer of the game. Cape Town has been under scrutiny for years as South Africa went from an apartheid state to Nelson Mandela becoming its president.
On this day April 6th, in 1652, Jan van Riebeeck sets camp with three ships at the future site of Cape Town. Van Riebeeck was born in the Netherlands to a surgeon and went on to become employed by the Dutch East India Company, a multinational trading corporation. Van Riebeeck fortified his site and allowed for it to be used by the Dutch East India Company. Van Riebeeck also ended up founding Cape Town.
As could be deduced by van Riebeeck’s ability to stop and setup camp, Cape Town is a harbor city. It is also the most popular tourist spot in all of Africa. In the 21st century Cape Town has become one of the most diverse places in the world with over 3.5 million people residing there. April 6th was formerly known as “Van Riebeeck’s Day,” as South African’s consider him the founding father, but eventually this day was eventually simply titled “Founders’ Day.”