Carthage (Tunisia) general Hannibal includes 37 North African elephants for some of his troops to ride to terrify Roman soldiers as he proceeds on his campaign to conquer Rome. Only one elephant will survive the journey across the Alpine mountain range.
Takyi Kuma is named the new king of Eguafo in Gold Coast (Ghana). The British and Dutch have ended the last of their four Komenda Wars to control the area’s trade. The British win. The Dutch supported Takyi Kuma when he launched a civil war in Eguafo in 1696 to seize the throne. (pic: Gold Coast, 18th Century)
A “Congolese Spotted Lion” supposedly captured in French Congo and on display in a London zoo is exposed as a fake. The animal was purchased in the U.S. from Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, which has been making money cross-breeding jaguars with lions. All males are born sterile.
The East African pavilion resembles a taxidermist showroom as the British Empire Exhibition opens for its second and final year in London. Although event is an attempt to project Britain as still the world’s foremost power, a sense prevails that times have changed. The fair seems a eulogy to Britain’s pre-World War I glory.
Italian forces complete their occupation of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), ending the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. For the next five years, Ethiopia will be called Italian East Africa.
Five months away from national independence, Nigeria joins the Commonwealth, becoming the 11th former British colony to do so. (pic: Lagos decorated for national independence in 1960)
Have been freed for three months following 27 years in prison for opposing apartheid, Nelson Mandela departs South Africa for the first time since 1962, on a six-nation tour of Africa.
Kinshasa, the capital city of Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo), is placed under quarantine in an effort to contain a deadly outbreak of Ebola.
The publication of the book Tyrants: The World’s 20 Worst Living Dictators. The section devoted to sub-Saharan Africa lists Cameroon’s Paul Biya (pic on left) as the region’s worst dictator, followed by Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema (pic on right).
South African Jacob Zuma is sworn in as the country’s third president, after successful political maneuvering to unseat former president Thabo Mbeki and after he received a landslide 66% majority vote in the 22 April national election.
Nigerian military leader and ruler of Niger (1996-1999), in Dogondoutchi, Niger, French West Africa. He came to power in a coup d’état against Niger’s first democratically-elected president Mahamne Ousmane. He was removed from office in 1999 when he was assassinated by his presidential guard.
Kenyan journalist and author, in Nairobi, Kenya. Beginning his journalism career in 2002, he wrote criticism and opinion pieces for various publications before expanding into Young Adult fiction, poetry and an Afro-futurism novel.
