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1889

In South Africa, the British Natal Colony agrees to extend its railway line from Ladysmith into the Boer republic of the Transvaal, where gold has been discovered and a boom is transforming Johannesburg. Rail service is urgently needed to transport goods, supplies and passengers.

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1889

1899

A 22-kilometre submarine telegraph line is laid from Cape Town to Robben Island, which is being used a leper colony. The island is just a way-station on the cable’s longer trip to St. Helena. The laying of that cable starts on 26 November.

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1899

1935

West Africa has a regional airlines as the Elder Dempster Lines, a ship line that sails between England and West Africa, and Imperial Airways, the British inter-continental airline, create Elders Colonial Airways. The air service will connect cities in British Nigeria and the Gold Coast (Ghana). The airline’s flights are timed to match the schedules of arriving and departing Elder Dempster passenger ships, to provide a smooth transfer of passengers and goods. Flights will begin in 1937.

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1935

1943

The latest of South Africa's buildings showcasing the streamline-moderne architectural style is the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital, now completed in Johannesburg. The style’s curving lines are put to use as balconies resembling aircraft wings.

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1943

1962

South Africa’s apartheid government believes it has found a way to silence Nelson Mandela, the president of the liberation party African National Congress, by sentencing him to five years for leaving the country without a passport and inciting workers to strike.

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1962

1975

To assist the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War of Independence, Cuba sends its first combat troops to Luanda. These soldiers will be followed by a mechanised and an artillery battalion of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union is airlifting supplies into Angola, and is sending a naval force and 400 military advisors.

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1975

1987

After 30 years ruling Tunisia as its first and only president, Habib Bourguiba (pic: right) , unwilling to give up power despite failing health, is put under house arrest by his prime minister, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali (pic: left). Ben Ali will rule as an autocrat until he is removed from power in Tunisia’s 2011 popular uprising, the People’s Revolution.

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1987

1990

South Africa’s Dutch Reform Church, which enabled the crimes of apartheid for generations, offers a “confession of sin” to 81 religious groups at a conference in Rustenburg. The church admits that “apartheid is a sin.”

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1990

1994

Members of uMmkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the political party the African National Congress, are now integrated into the South African Defense Force. But some former guerilla fighters are undisciplined, and 2,000 will be dismissed.

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1994

2009

The Madagascar political crisis concludes with a power-sharing arrangement including Andry Rajoelina (pic: right), who took power in a coup d’état in January, and Mark Ravaliomanana (pic: left), the former president whom the military deposed before appointing Rajoelina.  A transitional parliament is also put in place.

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2009

2018

Cameroon journalist Mimi Mefo is arrested for her social media report that the Cameroon army was responsible for the murder of American missionary Charles Trumann. After an international outcry, the charges willl be dropped on 12 November 2018.

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2018

Births

1913
Albert Camus

Author, journalist and playwright, in Mondovi, Algeria. The recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, he authored such modern classics as The Stranger and The Plague that captured the anxiety and existential dread of 20th Century life.

1917
Helen Suzman

South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, in Germiston, Republic of South Africa. Elected to parliament in 1953, she was a lonely voice in opposition to government’s apartheid policies of white minority rule. When all members of her party lost their seats, she retained hers, and was the only opposition MP to the apartheid National Party for 13 years, from 1961 to 1974. Critical of the treatment of the black majority, she courageously endured years of misogynistic and racist behaviour from the ruling government, convinced that history was on her side. When apartheid champion Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd told her, "I have written you off,” she replied, "And the whole world has written you off."

1949
Thembi Mtshali

South African actress, in Vrede, Free State, South Africa. As a singer and playwright, she made her mark in the performing arts internationally in concerts, and in 1986 became popular on South African TV with her starring role in the the comedy Sgudi ‘Syasi and later film roles.