Work is underway to expand the Great Mosque of Kairouan in what will be Tunisia. Located on the Western end of the Islamic world, its design will be duplicated by other mosques in the region.

The Seychelles archipelago is politically separated from Mauritius. A part of Mauritius until today, Seychelles is now an independent Crown Colony of Britain. This will have great significance for the future, because Seychelles and Mauritius will develop and be granted independence as separate countries. (pic: the port town Victoria on Seychelles’ main island Mahé)

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The first naval battle of World War I occurs, and it is on African soil. The British steamer HMS Gwendolen disables the German gunship Hermann von Wissmann (pic) on Lake Malawi at Liuli, Tanganyika, and bombards the German port.

The first International Convention of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, led by U.S. black rights leader Marcus Garvey, concludes with the adoption of The Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World. The convention opened on 1 August with New York’s largest parade, led by the Mayor of Monrovia, Liberia, and featuring marchers from British Nigeria. A black-green-red flag is also approved as “the official banner of the African race.” The flag will be adopted in the 1960s as a Black Liberation Flag by Pan-Africanists.

An historic rivalry begins as South Africa’s rugby team the Springboks plays New Zealand’s All Blacks for the first time, in New Zealand, with three matches. South Africa is defeated 13-5 today, but will win 9-5 on 27 August. The 27 September game will end in a draw. New Zealand’s team includes several black Maori players, who are not allowed to participate because of South Africa’s objections to having its racially-segregated, all-white team share the playing field with blacks.

Two weeks of rioting begin in British Mauritius as small sugar cane farmers protest the prices they are paid, and workers at the major sugar plantations protest working conditions. The staff at the Union-Flacq sugar refinery shoots at protestors, killing four. The country has alternated between British and French colonial rule for centuries, and Britain backs away from labour reforms after the big plantation owners threaten to push for French governance once more. In 1938, despite threats by the islands’ plantation-owned oligarchs, Britain will lift a ban on labour unions.

South African soldiers are fully deployed in East Africa to fight Nazi Germany and fascist Italy during World War 2. 27,000 troops shipped to Kenya are assembled as the 1st South African Division and the 11th and 12th African Divisions of the British Army. Each brigade group consists of three rifle battalions, an armoured car company and signal, engineering and medical units.

Central African Republic achieves national independence, from France. The capital is Bangui. The national population is 1,502,000. (pic: David Dacko, who will become Provisional President tomorrow - 14 August - speaks to Independence Day crowd)

International Lefthanders Day is established by International Lefthanders, Inc., at a time when myths about being left handed stigmatisel eft-handed people in many parts of Africa. Influential left-handed Africans include South African liberation leader and future president Nelson Mandela (pic), Indian community activist in Mauritius and South Africa Mahatma Gandhi, future Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and future Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernard Membe among many others in the past and future.

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In a sign that other nations are accepting South Africa back into the international community, as negotiations with democratic forces move toward ending white minority rule, Turkey establishes diplomatic ties with Pretoria, a week after Argentina did so and a week before Finland will do so.

The Likoni Riots pitting Kenya’s Digos against other ethnic groups begins with an attack on two police posts. After weeks of violence around Mombasa’s coastal resort section, 140 people will be dead. Kenya’s tourism industry immediately shuts down.

The UN Security Council praises Cameroon and Nigeria for peacefully resolving their century-old border dispute involving the Bakassi Peninsula, by employing the International Court of Justice.