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BC 3000

Today like every day, the clay ovens are being worked to bake bread to feed ancient Egyptians – with the process preserved in wall paintings.

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BC 3000

1872

The coronation of Yohannes IV, Emperor of Ethiopia. Twice he will successfully defend Ethiopia against invaders – during the only time Egypt and Ethiopia will ever go to war, when he pushed back a sizeable Egyptian army, and against Sudanese Mahdists in a conflict that will cost him his life.

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1872

1936

Italy continues to commit war crimes from the air in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. Italian planes drop two tons of mustard gas on Ethiopian soldiers.

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1936

1960

Bowing to international criticism of its brutal methods to suppress the anti-colonial Mau Mau Rebellion in British Kenya, Britain ends the eight year-old State of Emergency, and begins freeing the survivors of concentration camps where rebels and their sympathisers have been held and tortured.

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1960

1964

The Revolution of Zanzibar, led by Ugandan John Okello, deposes the last Sultan of Zanzibar, Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah. This ends the island’s 500-year rule by the Sultans, which has been a constant cause of resentment for Africans. As the revolution progresses, thousands of Zanzibaris, mostly Arabs and Indians, will be murdered. Okello calls upon Abeid Karume to serve as President. Karume skillfully calls in Tanganyika's police from the mainland to maintain order. When Okello leaves the country on a trip, Karume declares him an “enemy of the state,” and his supporters surrender to Tanganyikan police. In April, Karume and Tanganyika’s President Julius Nyerere will lead their countries into a joint union called Tanzania.

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1964

1968

The sixth edition of the Africa Cup of Nations begins in Ethiopia, expanded to eight teams. The Democratic Republic of Congo will win its first championship title when the final is played on 21 January.

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1968

1974

Libya and Tunisia announce they are merging, and will become The Islamic Arab Republic.

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1974

1989

Uganda’s former dictator Idi Amin sneaks out of his home in exile in Saudi Arabia and travels to Zaire using a fake passport, with the goal of mobilising a rebel force to retake Uganda. He is immediately recognised at the Kinshasa airport, and arrested for illegal entry.

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1989

2016

The Ethiopian government cancels plans to expand Addis Ababa over traditional Oromo lands. Police have killed 140 Oromo protestors demonstrating against the plan. However, government persecution of the Oromo nationwide has intensified, and international observers are condemning human rights abuses committed by government.

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2016

2019

Sudan’s dictator Omar al-Bashir, in power for nearly 30 years, orders police to fire tear gas and attack Muslims as they are emerging from prayer at mosques while protesting his regime with chants of “Peace! Freedom! Justice.” The Sudanese Professionals Association calls on Sudanese villagers to join the “uprising” against Bashir.

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2019

2019

The Democratic Republic of Congo, long under the authority of two generations of Kabilas, for the first time since independence in 1960 is on the verge of “its first peaceful, civilised handover of power,” reports the head of the Elections Commission.

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2019

2020

So stylish are its guest room bathrooms that Cape Town’s Hotel Silo becomes the most photographed hotel bathroom to be posted on the social media site Instagram.

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2020

2020

Dr. Jean-Claude Semuto and six other Rwandan scientists find a bacterial cause for tuberculosis, using DNA sequencing of patients who have been diagnosed with multidrug-resistant TB. Now treatment methods can be explored. TB killed 1.8 million people in 2018.

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2020

Births

1830
Isma’iI Pasha

Egyptian ruler, in Cairo, Egypt Eyalet. Known as Ismail the Magnificent, he was the Khedive (ruler) of Egypt under the Ottoman Empire (1863-1869). After conquering Sudan, he made strides to modernise both countries, investing heavily in economic and industrial development.

1916
P.W. Botha

South Africa’s Prime Minister (1978-1984) and State President (1984-1989), in Paul Roux, South Africa. A hard-line enforcer of apartheid policies, he oversaw a state apparatus of terror against black South Africans during the last decade of white minority rule.

1952
Rolly Xipu

South African boxer and political activist, in Payneville, Springs, South Africa. Earning South Africa’s Lightweight title during his 1972-1981 boxing career during the height of apartheid, he battled government’s policies of black oppression through secret activities like helping to form in 1987 the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, the country’s biggest single trade union.