Seeing this photo and others of Ethiopian soldiers mounted on a decorated donkey and with leather shields that are no match against bullets, Italians are convinced they have nothing to fear as they prepare to invade Abyssinian next month. The Italian army will receive a brutal surprise when it suffers a defeat so historic that it will topple the government in Rome in 1896.
A British army patrol in British Nigeria finds a miner named Campbell brutally murdered after claimed rights to lands belonging to the people of Nasarawa. The soldiers kill or wound 179 Karu people. The incident will be condemned in the British parliament as “a murderous raid on the native population in order to assert the dignity of the white man.” The British Secretary of State for the Colonies will respond, “It is essential that the murderer of an Englishman should be swiftly punished.” (pic: illustration of the practice of making Nigerian leaders prostrate themselves in public before British authorities)
World War I Battle of Tanga ends with vastly outnumbered German forces and their African recruits defeating British forces on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The British are fighting to capture German East Africa (Tanzania). The armaments left behind by the retreating British are salvaged by the Germans and will be used to repel further British attacks.
With the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, Britain takes control of Egypt, and installs the Sultanate of Egypt to rule. The Khedivate of Egypt is abolished.
American-built passenger planes begin flying in Africa when the first DC-3 Dakota makes a charter flight for East African Airways. The Nairobi-based airline reports a 63% increase in passengers from 1948, with cargo up 81% and airmail up 28%.
British and French paratroopers take over Egypt’s Suez Canal after Egyptian President Gamal Nasser nationalises the canal as a means to finance the Aswan Dam on the Nile, and in retaliation for Britain and U.S. breaking their pledge to loan money for the dam. Britain and France were financial stakeholders in the canal. However, pressure from the U.S. will led to their withdrawal.
Perhaps the most artistically significant statue done of Queen Elizabeth II is unveiled in Nigeria’s House of Representatives. The statue is a gift from Britain’s monarch, who commissioned Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu (pic working on statue) to do the work.
A bomb destroys the statue of Ghana’s President Kwame Nkrumah in front of Parliament House in Accra. The bombers message is that not all Ghanaians support Nkrumah. Despite the incident, British security will allow Queen Elizabeth’s State visit to proceed as scheduled on 9 November.
After leading Tanzania since independence in 1961, Tanzania President Julius Nyerere retires. Nyerere’s vice president Ali Hassan Mwinyi (pic) becomes the second President of Tanzania.
16 founding member states sign the COMESA Treaty in Kampala, Uganda, to create the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.
Ethiopian judge Meaza Ashenafi (pic) is appointed as the country's first Federal Supreme Court President, by Prime Minsiter Abiy Ahmed. He has appointed women to fill half his cabinet positions. In October, Sahle-Work Zewde will became Ethiopia's 1st woman president.
The last of the Ayyubid rulers of Egypt (1245-1249), in Cairo. He lived in a tumultuous time of political change, when the Crusaders from Europe failed to conquer Egypt but the Ayyubid dynasty was faced with ambitious Mamluks, a group of freed slaves who had existed as soldiers and administrators for Arab nations but wished a nation of their own to rule. Ayyub’s death led to the Mamluk’s 550-year rule over Egypt.
Gabonese writer and the first black author to win the Prix Gancourt for literature, in 1921. Born at sea on a ship sailing for Martinique, he grew up in Gabon before moving to France and achieving fame as a poet – his first collection was published in 1909 - and as a novelist. His attacks on colonialism inspired the African Diaspora in Europe and the U.S. He he was one of the intellectuals who stimulated the 1920s Harlem Renaissance in New York, according to U.S. civil rights pioneer W.E.B. Du Bois, who wrote, “Maran's attack on France . . . marks an era. Never before have Negroes criticised the work of the French in Africa."
Ghanaian football star, in Kyebi, Ghana. The captain of the Ghana national football team, he is considered one of the greatest players of his generation and one of Africa’s greatest football players of all time. He was chosen CAF’s Footballer of the Year in 1991, 1992 and 1993.
Nigerian rapper, model, actress and TV presenter, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
