Rhodesia (region) was first used to refer to the region by white settlers in the 1890s who informally named their new home after Cecil Rhodes, the Company's founder and managing director. It was used in newspapers from 1891 and was made official by the Company in 1895. To confuse matters, Southern Rhodesia, which became a self-governing colony of the United Kingdom in 1923, referred to itself simply as "Rhodesia" from 1964 to 1979, and in 1965 unilaterally declared independence under that name. It thereafter briefly renamed itself "Zimbabwe Rhodesia" in 1979. The usage of the term Rhodesia to refer to the historical
Miss Rhodesia Miss Rhodesia Miss Rhodesia, also known as Miss Coca-Cola Rhodesia, was the national beauty pageant of Rhodesia and its antecedents. It debuted in Miss World in 1959, but was not allowed to participate after 1965, when Rhodesia declared independence from the United Kingdom under a white minority government. In 1980, when Rhodesia transitioned to a majority democracy and became Zimbabwe, Miss Rhodesia was renamed Miss Zimbabwe. Miss Rhodesia was established as Miss Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1959, as an all-white beauty pageant. The winner debuted at Miss World 1959, with Vivien Lentin placing as a semifinalist. In 1960, Jenny Lee