What happened in 1652 ad.

Date: 6 April, 1652

On 24 December 1651 Jan van Riebeeck set off, accompanied by his wife and son, from Texel in the Netherlands for the Cape of Good Hope having been appointed on a five-year contract as an employee of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). His task was to set up a refreshment station which could be used by VOC ships on their way to the spice-rich Far East.

His ship, the Drommedaris, sailed with two other ships, Reijger and De Goede Hoop, and Table Mountain was sighted on the 5th of April 1652. Within a week of his landing on 6 April, Van Riebeeck had begun work on the Fort of Good Hope.