One of the bloodiest battles ever fought on African soil unfolds today as Moroccan warriors at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir defeat 23,000 Portuguese invaders. Portugal’s King Sebastian, age 24, is killed, as are the entire group of Portuguese noblemen who accompany him (those not killed are among the 15,000 who are captured and sold into slavery). Not only are Portugal’s North African ambitions destroyed, but the defeat so weakens Portugal that it will be overrun by Spain and become Spain's vassal state.

Spain’s navy attempts to stop North Africa's Barbary Coast pirates from seizing Spanish ships, with a bombardment of Algiers. Minimal damage is incurred despite five days of attacks.

Algeria’s Superior School of Medicine and Pharmacy (pic), opened in 1833, receives official status within the French colonial system.

The first woman from an African nation wins an Olympics medal when Marjorie Clark earns bronze in the Women’s 80 metre hurdles at the Summer Olympic Games. However, she competes in South Africa’s team that does not permit black African athletes. No other African country competes in the 1932 Olympics held in Los Angeles, California in the U.S.

The African Development Bank is established as 23 African countries sign an agreement to join and support the institution that will provide financing to governments and private companies undertaking development projects in Africa.

‍

Stanleyville, Democratic Republic of Congo, falls to bloodthirsty rebels during the Simba Rebellion. The rebels execute all people who are educated, who worked with whites in the past or who are suspected of being insufficiently revolutionary. Between 1964 and 1968, rebels will kill 20,000 Congolese civilians, and leave occupied areas with no educated or technically-skilled people. Government’s counter-insurgency, led by Colonel Joseph Monzimba, will killed up to 70,000 civilians during those years. Monzimba’s command base will be nicknamed “The National Butchery of Kikwit.” (pic: forced labourers dig what will later be called “conflict minerals” to finance the insurgency in rebel-held areas)

Tanzania President Julius Nyerere visits U.S. President Jimmy Carter in Washington. Carter praises Nyerere as “a senior statesman whose integrity is unquestioned,” and seeks his support to find a non-violent solution to ending the white minority governments of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and South West Africa (Namibia).

The South African Defence Force launches Operation Moduler to protect the Angolan rebel army, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). Before its conclusion on 30 November, the operation will achieve its objective, but at the cost of 16 South Africans dead and 525 Angolans dead. The fighting will fail to destroy the Angolan army, as South Africa’s government hoped. The operation is condemned internationally. The U.N. on 25 November will call for South Africa’s immediate withdrawal from Angola.

The first black South African athlete wins a medal at an Olympics. Josia Thugwane takes gold in the Men’s Marathon at the Summer Olympics Games.

The first U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit is held in Washington. Hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama, it is the largest meeting ever between a U.S. President and African leaders.

Construction begins on Angola’s most ambitious hydroelectric project, as President Eduardo dos Santos breaks ground for the Caculo Cabaca dam. The US$4.5 billion project is financed by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and is being built by the state-owned China Gezhouba Group (CGGC). When complete, the dam will generate 2.2GW of electricity from the Kwanza River.