After the Herero people of German South West Africa (Namibia) rebel against colonial rule, Carl Hugo Hahn, who established a mission in Herero lands in 1844, urges peace talks. Hahn is now the Cape Colony, South Africa Governor’s Special Commissioner for the Walwich Bay (Walvis Bay) Territory, and has the political clout as well as the moral authority to be heard. He will be sent to negotiate an end to hostilities next month, in February 1882.
South Africa’s first automobile is exhibited at Wanderer’s Sports Club in Johannesburg. The 1,5 h.p. 1896 Benz Voiturette has been imported from Germany.
Sierra Leone’s Railway Workers' Union goes on strike. In support of the strikers, rioting breaks out in Freetown. The educated Creole elite, whose mid-19th century influence in governance vanished when Britain proclaimed the country a protectorate in 1898, for the first time joins peasant workers in a cause, and supports the strikers. British officials feel the strike threatens government itself, and suppresses it, first with police and then with soldiers.
U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to set foot on African soil, when he lands in Gambia for a one-night stop-over en route to Casablanca for a summit of World War II leaders. Returning from the Morocco meeting, Roosevelt will again over-night at Gambia on 25 January before he embarks upon the first official trip by a U.S. president to a sub-Saharan African country, Liberia, on 26 January.
The first coup d’état occurs in an African country that was formerly a British or French colony. The body of Togo’s first president Sylvanus Olympio is found by the U.S. Ambassador outside the U.S. Embassy. Olympio has had friendly relations with the U.S., and had a productive meeting with U.S. President John Kennedy a few months ago (pic). He was assassinated by Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who wants to build up the Togolese military. Olympio wanted a small army. Eyadéma will run the country from 1967 to 2005, but for now his goal is only to remove Olympio. He transfers power to an interim government headed by Nicolas Grunitzky, who will be elected president in May 1963.
Four years to the day after assassinating Togo’s first president Sylvanus Olympio in a coup d’état, Gnassingbé Eyadéma (pic) removes Togo’s second president Nichlas Grunitsky in a bloodless coup d’état. This time he assumes power for himself. He rules until his death in 2005.
A bloodless coup d’état in Ghana puts in power its leader, Ignatius Kuktu Acheampong. He will rule until he is deposed by other military leaders in 1978, and executed by firing squad. Ghana's democracy will in effect be suspended from today until 2001 under a succession of military governments.
Ethiopia’s worst railway disaster occurs when an express train is speeding too fast as it crosses the curved bridge spanning the Awash River. The train plunges into the river gorge, killing 428 and injuring more than 500.
To celebrate 36 years in power, Burkina Faso’s Gnassingbé Eyadéma, Africa’s longest reigning ruler, is given a parade by the country’s military, which has long kept him in power. Under his rule, Togo’s per capita income has fallen from US$600 in the 1980s to less than US$300 in 2003.
Angola’s Luanda Railway resumes regular freight and passenger service after being closed for 18 years due to the Angolan Civil War and six years of repair work that began in 2005. The rehabilitated railway has 16 new stations, 16 new bridges and 424 kilometres of tracks.
Senegalese superstar musician and entrepreneur Akon finalises plans with Senegal’s government to build a US$6billion solar-powered sustainable development he names after himself: Akon City. Designed with futuristic architecture and featuring a university, a stadium and Africa’s largest hospital, the project will be stalled for two years when the Covid pandemic strikes, and will have the opening of phase 1 – aimed at tourism – rescheduled for 2026.
Egyptian singer, actor and composer, in Cairo, Egypt. Bringing a fresh, modern talent to Egyptian entertainment in the 1950s and 1960s, he reinvigorated dance music and movie musicals by composing some of Egypt’s most popular dance tunes.
South African biologist, in Germiston, Transvaal, Union of South Africa. A pioneer in molecular biology, he did groundbreaking work to determine the human genetic code in the 1960s. His DNA research earned him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2002.
Nigerian author and publisher, in Oguta, British Nigeria. “The mother of modern African literature” was the first African woman to have a novel published in English in Britain. She established a publishing house in Nigeria in 1970 that promoted women authors.
Lifelong Senegalese politician from the Independence movement onward, in Kédougou, French West Africa. Forced into exile from 1960 to 1977, he was first elected to parliament in 1983. He served as Minister of Urban Planning under President Abdoulaye Wade before he became critical of Wade’s arrogance, famously saying, “If Wade had become president of Senegal in the 1960s, he would have proclaimed himself emperor."
