Roman Emperor Octavian accuses Roman General Marc Antony in Egypt of being “a slave to his Oriental Queen,” Cleopatra, ruler of Egypt.

Law signed by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, The Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves, goes into effect. Some smuggling of enslaved Africans continues until the U.S. Civil War is fought to end slavery.

South Africa’s major towns are now connected by rail as the line built by the Netherlands-Southern Africa Railway Company is opened between Pretoria, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. Trains have been traveling between the Transvaal Republic and the Natal Colony since 1892.

The Sakalava people of Madagascar begin a rebellion against the French invasion of their country begun four months before (September 1895). They seek France’s expulsion, a rejection of Western beliefs and a return to traditional religion of ancestral veneration. The Menalamba Rebellion, named after the shawls stained with red soil worn by rebels, is underway today, the day France officially annexes Madagascar as its possession. The uprising will spread throughout the island by March. France responds with the militarisation of the country. Although the rebels reject local politicians and the royal family, whom they accuse of being Westernised, France finds the royal government convenient scapegoats for the rebellion, and begins summary executions. (pic: Malagasy Prince Prince Ratsimamanga and the Minister of the Interior are executed under orders of French General Galliéni for opposing France's annexation of Madagascar)

Construction begins on a British-built railway line through Sudan’s Nubian Desert. An army engineer, Lieutenant Percy Girouard, has determined that the line is possible despite difficult terrain and lack of water along the route.

Following the fifth Anglo-Ashanti War, when the forces of the Ashanti Empire (Ghana) were defeated by the British, their lands are incorporated into Britain’s Gold Coast colony.

The Sidi Rached Viaduct is completed in Constantine, Algeria, after four years’ constriction. It is the world’s largest concrete bridge with its opening today.

A count of German military personnel and African military recruits comprising the Schutztruppen (security force) of Dar es Salaam and three other German East African towns finds 68 officers, 42 medical officers, 126 non-commissioned officers, and 2,472 Askari (African enlisted men).

The first of the Babar children’s books is published in France: Histoire de Babar le petit éléphant. The series about Babar, the African Elephant King, by Jean de Brunhoff, will become a worldwide success, continuing for generations and into the 21st century by his son. The stories are a good-humoured mix of colonial attitudes (Western education, dress and technology are required for civilisation), affection for Africa and respect for African independence.

South Africa’s Black (Native) Laws Amendment Act goes into effect, prohibiting black South Africans from purchasing land in urban areas from non-black owners.

Representatives of 26 countries meet in the U.S. capital Washington to establish an international body by signing a “Declaration of the United Nations." The new body will derive its name from the title of the declaration. Because the African continent is almost entirely occupied by colonial powers, South Africa is the only African signatory.

East African Airways, formed by British colonial authorities as a means to handle passenger and cargo air service in the region following World War II, begins operations with a flight out of Nairobi. The airline will be run as a joint venture between Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda when those nations achieve national independence in the 1960s.

South Africa’s Bantu Education Act, written by the “Architect of Apartheid” Prime Minister H.F. Verwoerd, goes into effect, creating a separate education system for black South Africans that will prepare them to serve a white-run economy and learn basic skills to use in “native homelands.”

Sudan achieves national independence, from Britain and Egypt. The capital is Khartoum and a nation’s census begin in 1955 finds a population of 10.2 million.

South Africa’s new taxation law goes into effect, requiring each adult to pay a minimum tax of £1,15 shillings. Because of economic inequality under apartheid, many poor or unemployed black South Africans are instantly criminals due to tax delinquency. This is in part the law’s intention.

Cameroon achieves national independence, from France (administrator of a UN trusteeship). The capital is Yaoundé. The national population is 5.2 million.

The tri-nation University of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland (UBBS) is founded at the three Southern African British protectorates (Lesotho, Botswana and Eswatini).

The Naira becomes the currency of Nigeria, replacing the Nigerian Pound at a rate of ₦2 to 1 pound. The Federal Commissioner for Finance when the currency was being developed, Obafemi Awolowo, is credited with inventing the name Naira from the word Nigeria. (pic: workers stack sacks of groundnuts onto Kano State’s famous peanut pyramids on the reverse side of a new Naira note)

Indigenous languages are given their own television stations when South African Broadcasting Corporation begins TV2 (broadcasting in isiXhosa and siZulu) and TV3 (broadcasting is Sesotho.)

Public television begins in Seychelles as government’s Ministry of Information launches Radio Television Seychelles (RTS). Broadcasts are on weekends only, from Friday to Sunday.

The University of Abuja, Main Campus, is founded. Academic work commences in 1990.

Egypt’s Boutros Bourtos-Ghali becomes the first African Secretary-General of the U.N.

Ghana’s Kofi Annan becomes the first U.N. Secretary General from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Senegalese wrestling’s “Fight of the Century” pits the two reigning stars of the sport, Yékini (pic: right) and Mohamed “Tyson” Ndao (pic: left). A capacity crowd fills Léopold Sédar Senghor Stadium in Dakar to watch the two titans who have brought 14th century Senegalese wrestling into the 20th century with additions like boxing. Yékini is the victor.

The opening of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, in Meyerton, Gauteng, South Africa. The school evolved from a discussion the U.S. TV personality had in 2000 with South African President Nelson Mandela. Winfrey calls the school her “greatest legacy.”

The U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - 17 targets to be met by the world’s countries to achieve sustainable global growth and which were approved by world leaders in September 2015 - officially come into force today.

The first freight train on Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway system departs Mombasa at 5:30 am, and arrives in Nairobi at 2:20 pm. The train hauls nearly the same amount of cargo as what is carried by trucks on the Mombasa-Kenya highway every day. Up to four trains are scheduled to operate daily.