In Nok, in what will become Nigeria, potters have become artists as they produce a variety of fantastical terracotta heads. Future anthropologists will conclude that these are for religious purposes.

The Cullinan Diamond (pic: held by Thomas Cullinan, and shown as a finished cut), the largest rough diamond ever found is given to England’s King Edward VII as a birthday present. The diamond was found two years ago in Cullinan, South Africa, on land belonging to but seized from the Pedi people.

Local militia headed by Omar Samatar attack and capture the town of El-Dhere in the Sultanate of Hobyo (northern Somalia). The act starts a popular uprising against Italian rule of the Sultanate.

“Black Sunday” in South Africa: Members of the African National Congress liberation party praying with participants in an anti-apartheid “Defiance Campaign” are fired upon by police in East London’s Duncan Village. After 14 people are killed, rioting erupts. Government facilities are burned, and some white people are killed. In response, police go on the rampage, and kill more than 200 villagers.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II arrives in Ghana for an 11-day visit, despite security concerns raised by a bombing a few days ago outside Parliament House. She tells British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan: "I am the head of the Commonwealth — and I am paid to face any risks that may be involved. Nor do I say this lightly. Do not forget that I have three children."

Planting season is underway in Tanzania, and sunflowers, introduced nearly a century ago to be grown for seed oil, have been shown to thrive in areas where maize and wheat struggle to grow. Small farmers are profiting from the crop. Half of Dodoma’s farmers are now growing sunflowers.

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh begin a state visit of South Africa, as guests of South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki.

Miriam Makeba, anti-apartheid activist and Africa’s first international superstar, dies at age 76 after giving a concert, the last in her memorable six-decade career, in Castel Volturno, Italy.

Angola’s handsome pink and white National Assembly Building is dedicated, as part of the Political Administrative Centre in Luanda.

In one of the last acts of his 37-year rule, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe officiates at the re-naming of the Harare International Airport as the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport. In ten days (19 November), he will be removed as head of the ruling party, and on 26 November he will be forced from power by the military.