The first Roman Emperor to set foot in Africa, Julius Caesar arrives in Egypt. He will have an affair with Egypt’s co-ruler, Cleopatra. They will have a son, Caesarion.

The colonial authorities in Swazieland (Eswatini) take steps to shut down the country in anticipation of hostilities between the British and Boer Republics across the border in South Africa. All government services end. The white population prepares to evacuate the territory. (pic: Swazieland flag)

As German troops carry out genocide against the inhabitants of colonial German South West Africa (Namibia), German General von Trotha issued the order, “Any Herero found within the German borders with or without a gun, with or without cattle, will be shot.” (pic: Namibian genocide memorial)

A New York Times review of British writer Evelyn Waugh’s new novel Black Mischief is another critical rave for the satirical look at a fictional state modeled after Abyssinia (Ethiopia). Western reviewers are unconcerned by the book’s colonialist viewpoint that Africa is a primitive continent where African leadership governs through murderous intrigue.

For the majority of Africa’s rivers, passage across for motor vehicles is by pole-propelled barges tethered to ropes, on a continent in great need of new bridges. (pic: Goshi River ferry, British Kenya)

In Swaziland (Eswatini), geographer George Murdoch arrives to take a British colonial job, and begins taking photographs of Bremersdorp (Manzini, pic) and surrounding areas, creating an historical archive of images of this time.

The Moroccan National Liberation Army is established to finally force France from Moroccan lands. The group’s rejection of Morocco’s independence deal with France, because it allows French troops to remain in the country, will lead to a 1958 revolt in the Morocco’s northern Rif Republic.

Guinea achieves national independence, from France. The capital is Conakry. The national population is 3,308,709.

Windhoek, the future capital of Namibia, officially registers its new coat of arms, which includes the city slogan “SUUM CUIQUE” – Latin for “To each his own.” The population of the greater Windhoek area is 50,000. In 2023, the number of residents will be 477,000.

The premiere of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o’s political play I Will Marry When I Want is seen by 10,000 theatregoers at Kamiriithu Community Education and Cultural Centre, in Kamiriithu, Kenya. The play’s political content is subtle and symbolic, but it is enough for Kenya’s Vice President Daniel Arap Moi to order the arrest of Thiong’o. The playwright will be imprisoned for one year.

The U.S. Congress passes the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, imposing sanctions against South Africa until five points are fulfilled by Pretoria’s white minority government that will end the system of apartheid in favour of a multi-racial democratic state.

Djibouti wins its first Olympics medal when runner Hussein Ahmed Salah captures bronze in the Men’s Marathon at the Summer Olympic Games.

On the second day of his invasion of Rwanda with Ugandan backing, charismatic General Fred Rwigyema is shot and killed at age 33 by a subordinate during a dispute over military tactics. A Rwandan, Rwigyema was forced to live in exile after his family fled the 1959 Revolution, and returned yesterday with an invasion force of 10,000. His death will be kept a secret for one month to preserve his fighters’ morale.

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The first state visit to the U.S. by the leader of a democratic South Africa takes place as President Nelson Mandela arrives to meet U.S. President Bill Clinton. He will be given the rare honour of addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress. Tomorrow he will address the U.N. in New York.

Africa’s most populous country, Egypt, has seen its population rise by 43% since 1990, reports the World Bank. Of Egypt’s 76.7 million people, 95% live along the Nile River. This is vividly seen from space at night when the country’s electricity users outline the course of the Nile River and the fan-shaped Nile River Delta.