The Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, now established in the Jewish calendar, is observed at the newly built el Ghriba synagogue on North Africa’s Mediterranean coast in what will become Djerba, Tunisia. This year saw the destruction of the holy city of Jerusalem by Babylonian and Roman forces, and the exile of the people of Israel to Babylon; an event which will be commemorated as the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. The el Ghriba synagogue will survive in 2023 as the world’s oldest existing synagogue still in continuous use.

‍

The South African gold rush officially begins when Transvaal President Paul Kruger declares nine farms along a 48-km ridge south of Pretoria to be mining concessions. The ridge, named Witwatersrand (white water ridge) will be found to contain the world’s largest deposit of gold ore.

As it is every year to mark the end of Ramadan, the Sikukuu, or Eid El-Fitr, is a joyous traditional celebration on Zanzibar. The event has become the island’s biggest annual festival.

King’s School is opened in Lagos, British Nigeria. Although a lecture hall with chemistry lab and administrative offices (pic) will be built at the cost of £10,001 (equal to £1,523,049 in 2022, when the school’s name is King’s College, Lagos), which will hold 300 students, the original student body is just eleven students, including Isaac Lapido Oluwole. The school’s first senior prefect, as a medical doctor Oluwole will play a significant role in the development of public health in Nigeria.

‍

The Battle of Zanzibar, a major naval engagement during the East African Campaign of World War I, is a victory for the German battleship SMS Königsberg (pic). In a trade of canon fire, the Königsberg sinks the British cruiser HMS Pegasus.

Publication of the first edition of what will become one of the world’s most influential literary journals, Black Orpheus, at the University of Ibadan in British Nigeria. By shining a light on African writers and essayists, the journal will discover generations of African literary talent. New and established writers will contribute, like Chinua Achebe, Amos Tutuola, Aimé Cesaire, and Léopold Senghor, while Nigeria's Wole Soyinka and South Africa's Es’kia Mphahlele will edit future editions.

One of the first undersea telephone cables to link Europe with Africa is laid between Sicily and Tripoli, Libya.

Newly-independent Djibouti joints the United Nations.

The French military invades Central African Republic to oust dictator Jean-Bédel Bokassa. He is replaced with President David Dacko, who was overthrown by Bokassa in a 1965 coup d’état.

On an official state visit heavy with symbolism, Britain’s Prime Minister John Major (in pic with South Africa President Nelson Mandela at 10 Downing Street, London) addresses the South African parliament. Britain was a colonial occupier of the country, and London’s anti-apartheid stance was inconsistent as policy shifted during liberal and conservative governments. South Africa signs various bilateral cooperation memorandums with Britain.

The political manipulations of future South African President Jacob Zuma (pic right) pay off when the National Executive Committee of South Africa’s ruling party the African National Congress votes to “recall” President Thabo Mbeki (pic left). Mbeki announces his resignation, which will take effect on 25 September.

The Addis Ababa Light Rail line opens in Ethiopia’s capital. The 17-km line runs from the city centre south into the industrial section. This is Sub-Saharan Africa’s first light rail rapid transit system.

Zimbabwe’s Assistant Inspector of Police Annah Chota receives the International Female Police Peacekeeper Award for activism against gender-based violence. Through community workshops and campaigns, she educates Zimbabwean women on their rights. The workshops also instruct about such abuses as marital rape, a crime that women are now reporting due to Chota’s initiative.

Construction begins on Ethiopia’s longest bridge, the Bahir Day Abay Bridge, in the Amhara state.