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1867

The ruler of Egypt and Sudan under the Ottoman Empire, Isma’il Pasha, is received by Queen Victoria and the Lord Mayor of London on a visit to Britain after he tours the Exposition Universelle in Paris. His projects to modernise his country, such as the Suez Canal, are putting his government severely in debt to European banks, a situation that Britain will use to its advantage.

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1867

1882

A British naval bombardment of Alexandria ends with the destruction of the Egyptian port city, but begins a new age in news dissemination using electronic technology. The British public receives hourly reports on the bombardment via telegraph, “even the minutest detail.”

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1882

1892

A railroad connecting South Africa’s rival British and Boer colonies is opened by the British Governor of Natal and the Boer President of the Orange Free State. The line will be extensively sabotaged when the Second Anglo-Boer War begins in 1899, but then repaired and extended.

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1892

1894

Upper Ubangi in Central Africa becomes a separate colony within the French Congo, as France seeks to end a territorial dispute with Belgium over the area. In 1960, it will become part of Central African Republic. (pic: An Ubangi husband and wife)

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1894

1913

A major strike of black workers is underway at the source of South Africa’s wealth, its mines. British Imperial troops have been used to force miners to work because “colonial troops” are in sympathy with the miners. That sympathy is deserved, Britain’s High Commissioner to South Africa says in a cable to London today. The strikers are not after money but safety in the notoriously dangerous South African mines, which are completely unventilated. Over a quarter of miners die in their work: 229 out of 1000 on average per year, compared to the still high 71 deaths out of 1000 miners recorded in Central African mines. The London Daily Mail reports the striking miners “say openly that they will die an early death under present conditions, and that it is better to be shot in attempting to secure better conditions.” (pic: only one miner has protective headgear at Crown gold mine Johannesburg)

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1913

1929

One of Africa’s most important private airlines, Wilson Airways, is founded, in Nairobi, Kenya Colony. With capital provided by Mrs. Florence Wilson and piloted by Captain M.C.P. Mostert, the airline would begin a multiple-stop service to Johannesburg in 1930. The company will establish several other African air routes for the first time, including from Zanzibar to Dakar via the Belgian Congo in 1931, and in 1932 from Nairobi to Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.

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1929

1937

Construction begins on a large monument dedicated to the Afrikaner migrants of 1835-1854, the Voortrekkers, on a hilltop outside Pretoria.

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1937

1943

The U.S. Air Force builds a landing field in Liberia for use by B-47 Stratojet bombers during World War II, giving Monrovia Africa’s longest runway. In the 1970s, the runway will be designated as an emergency landing site for the U.S. Space Shuttle. The facility will be converted to civilian use as Monrovia’s airport, named the Roberts International Airport, after Liberia’s first president Joseph Jenkins Roberts.

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1943

1955

France outlaws the pro-independence political party the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon. In response, the party will become militant, and launch a guerilla war.

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1955

1973

South Africa’s National Arts Festival is founded, in Grahamstown. The annual performing arts festival, the largest in Africa, also includes visual arts, handicraft and other attractions. Its popularity in years ahead will make it one of the world’s largest festivals in terms of attendance.

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1973

1977

The Ogaden War begins. The Somalia army invades Ethiopia to annex a border area, Ogaden, which was once a Somali reserve and is predominantly populated by Somali people. A local rebel group there, the Western Somali Liberation Front, has been fighting a war with Ethiopia’s military-run government.

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1977

1980

The movie The Gods Must be Crazy is released. The Botswana-South Africa co-production’s dialogue in Afrikaans is dubbed into English for international screenings. Smashing box office records in South Africa, the film starring N!xau is the first South African-produced movie to make money.

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1980

2003

U.S. President George Bush concludes a two-day visit to Nigeria after a meeting with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. Because of its oil resources, Nigeria is an important ally of the West.

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2003

Births

1908
Garfield Todd

Protestant missionary, Teacher and Prime Minister of Rhodesia (1953-1958), in Invercargill, New Zealand. Arriving as a missionary to Southern Rhodesia in 1934, he taught school, with future Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as a pupil. As prime minister he used his power to pursue a liberal agenda to allow multi-racial trade unions and expand the number of black voters. He used colonial and property tax funds to boost black education. He established a policy that every black child should receive an education, and he dropped the ban on liquor sales to Africans. After five years of such black empowerment, the white population rebelled, and his entire cabinet resigned. A new cabinet forced him out of power. Leaving office, he warned white Rhodesians, “We must make it possible for every individual to lead a good life, to win a place in the sun. We are in danger of becoming a race of fear-ridden neurotics – we who live in the finest country on Earth."

1913
François-Joseph Amon d'Aby

Pioneer of Ivorian theatre, in French West Africa. Co-founder of Le Théâtre Indigène de la Côte d'Ivoire in 1938, his plays were inspired by local folklore.xxx

1934
Wole Soyinka

Novelist and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate, in Abeokuta, Nigeria. His 1957 debut novel, Things Fall Apart, was the seminal work of modern African literature. One of the world’s most influential writers of the 20th century, he became the senior statesman of African literature.

1956
Koffi Olomidé (Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba)

Congolese musician, singer and composer, in Kisangani, Belgian Congo. The self-taught musician earned a Master’s Degree in Mathematics at the University of Paris, but was drawn to music when he returned to Congo. He formed one of Central Africa’s most influential bands, Quartier Latin International, in 1986. His style, Tcha Tcho – his version of Congolese fast-tempo rhumba called Soukous – which he played in concerts and recordings, earned him popular followings in Africa and Europe