Under threat of a British naval bombardment of Lagos, Nigerian leader Oba Dosunmu signs the Lagos Treaty of Cessation that makes Lagos (Nigeria) a British Protectorate.

Europe’s fascination with Egypt is reflected in three separate and popular Egyptian-themed exhibits at the Exposition Universelle in Paris: the Egyptian exhibit itself, the “Cairo Street” reconstruction and the Suez Canal Company’s pavilion (pic) designed to resemble an ancient Egyptian temple.

In his annual report on the small Southern African country Swaziland (Eswatini), currently a British protectorate, the British Resident Commissioner records that mining leads the country’s economy. Cassiterite tin is Swaziland’s main export, extracted from five white-owned mines. The largest of these, Swaziland Tin Limited, employs nearly 1000 people, including 882 “Coloured” (i.e., Swazi) miners. (pic: Queen Regent Labotsibeni with nine year-old King Sobhuza II)

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British and French troops in West Africa during World War I send a demand of surrender to German Togoland, and receive no reply. When they invade tomorrow (7 August), they will learn why: Germany has no army there. Only a German police commander, a deputy commander, 10 sergeants and 660 Togolese officers (pic) have been policing the entire country. They will surrender without a fight.

Merchant ships are bombed off the port of Algiers, French Algeria by Italian aircraft. The Italians are responding to the call from their ally, Spanish Nationalist general Francisco Franco, for Italy to attack ships in the Mediterranean Sea that are bringing aid to his foes, the army of the Republicans. Because the attacks happen in Algeria’s territorial waters, North Africa becomes a casualty of the Spanish Civil War.

The first nuclear weapon used in warfare obliterates Hiroshima, Japan during World War II. Uranium to power the bomb was mined in the Belgian Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo). Since 1921, millions of dollars’ worth of uranium have been mined from Congo, with no profit or benefit going to the Congolese people.

In Ibadan, Nigeria, West Africa’s first skyscraper opens. Built with the profits earned by the Western Region from cocoa exports, the 26-storey building is named Ile Awon Agbe (House of Farmers), but will have its name changed to Cocoa House.

The Pretoria Minute is signed by South Africa’s apartheid government, which agrees to end the State of Emergency put in place to suppress anti-apartheid activitism. The co-signee, the liberation party the African National Congress, agrees to end the armed struggle of its military wing uMkhonto we Sizwe. (pic: South African President F.W. de Klerk, left; ANC President Nelson Mandela, right)

Davis Kamoga becomes first Ugandan to win a medal at an Athletics World Championship when he takes silver in the Men’s 400 metres.

Mauritania's Presidential Guard seizes power with a coup d’état, arresting President Sidi Abdallahi. In a presidential decree yesterday, Abdallahi fired officers of the Presidential Guard.

In Rwanda, the World Health Organisation reports significant advances in children's health. At independence from Belgium in 1962, nearly a quarter (222 of 1000) of Rwandan children died before their fifth birthdays. Today, the figure is 39 of 1000, helped by advances against malaria.

For the first time, a dinosaur is given an isiXhosa name: Ngwevu intloko ("grey skull"). The fossil of a 200 million year-old dinosaur dug up in 1978 at a South African farm has been found to have been misidentified. Paleontologist at Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand determine the fossil is not only a brand new species but also a new genus of dinosaur.