Halley’s Comet appears bright in the skies over Africa and the rest of the world.

Nur ibn Mujahid, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire’s Harar Sultanate (Eritrea), finally gets his revenge against the Ethiopians for defeating his uncle, the Sultan of Adal, in 1543. He engages the Battle of Fatagar with an army of 1,800 horsemen, 500 riflemen and infantry. Fatagar Emperor Galawdéwos is shot and killed. Nur cuts off Galawdéwos head, and sends it to another Sultan as a gift.

The first Anglo-Boer War ends with the first British military defeat since the American War of Independence a century before. Only 10 weeks long and with relatively little combat, the war was initiated by South Africa’s two Boer Republics against the British in the country. Their victory ensures the Boer nations’ independence in South Africa until the Second Anglo-Boer War is fought in 1899-1902.

Days after his term ends as President of the U.S., Theodore Roosevelt journeys to East Africa on a 3-month hunting expedition sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute, which will receive 11,000 specimens killed on the trip. Roosevelt and his sons alone kill 512 animals, including 43 birds, 29 zebra, 27 antelope, 17 lion, 11 elephant, 11 black rhino, 10 buffalo, 9 white rhino, 9 hyena, 7 cheetah and 3 leopard. No compensation is given to African peoples for the loss of so much wildlife.

The most important infrastructure project in the Dahomey (Benin) portion of West Africa is inaugurated: the Pont sur l'oueme (Bridge over the Oueme) allows the rail line to extend from the capital Porto Novo south to the port at Cotonou.

German forces in Tunisia engage U.S. troops in the World War II Battle of El Guettar. Fighting continues for a week before the German army retreats.

The Moroccan Riots of 1965 originate with a student protest in Casablanca against King Hassan II, after he authors a new constitution that gives him supreme governance authority. The protests spread throughout the country, embraced by the poorer and marginalized population. A brutal police response ends with up to 1,000 people dead.

Ethiopian and Cuban forces recapture two-thirds of the Ethiopian region of Ogaden from Somali forces that invaded in 1977, killing a third of the Somalia National Army and destroying half of the Somalia Air Force. The campaign ends the Ethio-Somali War (Ogaden War). (pic: Cuba's leader Fidel Castro, left, with Ethiopia's Mengistu Haile Mariam)

In Nigeria, Prince Solomon Aiseokhuoba Igbinoghodua Akenzua is installed as Erediauwa, the Oba of the Edo people. Well educated and with a background in business, the media-friendly king will raise the profile of traditional Nigerian royalty by activity promoting Benin culture and negotiating between feuding Nigerian politicians.

An ailing Shah of Iran, in exile since 1978 and drawing protests in every country he has visited, arrives in Egypt for cancer surgery. President Anwar Sadat offers him asylum. When the Shah dies on 27 July, he will be given a full state funeral in Cairo.

The Ogossagou Massacre in Mali: 160 Fulani herders are killed by rival Dogon hunters in a competition for water and land. The Dogons use the pretext that all Fulani support the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda. Government’s perceived inability to secure the country will lead to widespread protests, resulting in the resignation of Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubéye MaÏga and his Ruling Council.