140 acres of West African coast in what will become Liberia are purchased to start a colony for African-Americans who have been freed from enslavement in the U.S. The purchaser is U.S. naval Lt. Robert Stockton, a commander of the U.S. anti-slavery fleet that intercepts slave ships and relocates their cargo of enslaved Africans to Liberia, and Eli Ayres, an agent of the American Colonization Society that is creating the Liberian colony. (pic: original purchase agreement)
South Africa’s first bank opens, in Grahamstown. The Eastern Province Bank (FNB in 2022) is established to serve the needs of the wool industry. (pic: a branch in 1890, after a name change to The National Bank.)
The significant growth in postage in Southern Nigeria during the last five years – 2,159,864 letters and postcards are sent this year vs. 978,928 sent in 1904 – is a measure of the progress in transportation, which enables mail to be moved, and the commercial and residential growth of the country. (pic: Lagos Post Office)
An international commission concludes its probe into allegations of slavery in Liberia, and finds, “Although classic slavery (slave-markets and slave dealers) no longer exists, there are cases of inter- and intra-tribal domestic slavery and cases of the pawn system (moving a person from one household to work in another as security against a loan)” as well as forced labour for public works projects. A preview of the commission’s findings was the final scandal of the troubled administration of President Charles King, who was forced to resign on 3 December 1930.
By 8 a.m. this morning, at least 51 centimetres of continuous rain have fallen on Blantyre in Nyasaland (Malawi) in the last two days, sweeping away the Commissioner of Prisons to his death and killing others, destroying the main road and all bridges, flooding the power station and ruining businesses and homes. The hills seem clawed by monsters, leaving brown slashes where rockslides carried away trees.
Spain’s dictator Francisco Franco is unwilling to allow independence for Spain’s African colonies, but a referendum in Spanish Equatorial Guinea approved today allows the West African country a degree of self-rule.
In one of the worst single attacks on civilians by rebel forces during the First Liberian Civil War, 48 men, women and children are killed in Monrovia.
Rwanda bans the import, sale and use of shisa, a popular and highly addictive tobacco pipe, after the World Health Organisation finds that smoking a shisa for one hour equals smoking 100 cigarettes.
More than 4,400 years after he was buried in the Saqqara pyramid near Cairo, the tomb of a Fifth Dynasty Egyptian priest is discovered in a major archaeological find.
African countries led by 100 delegates from Kenya at the COP 25 climate conference in Madrid request special consideration be given to African efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. Africa accounts for 4% of global emissions of greenhouse gases that are causing climate change. This year, two million people in Malaw, Mozambique and Zimbabwe were displaced by cyclones and flooding associated with global warming, while East African crops and food security were adversely affected.
Efforts to develop alternate energy production and reduce dependency on fossil fuels are continent-wide. Kenya launches a 50MW solar project in Garissa. 125 acres of solar panels will generate electricity for 25 years.
Congolese rhumba music is awarded listing on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Also designated a place on the list is Senegal’s fish and rice dish Thiébou Dieune.
Islamic scholar and the first Caliph of the Sokoto Caliphate, in Gobir (Nigeria). He avenged his exile to Gudu, where he was sent by Yunfa, the Sultan of Gobir, who feared Fodio’s large following. Fodio used his followers to create a new state, Sokoto, with himself as “Commander of the Faithful.” He declared a holy war upon all kings of the Fulahi states (Gobir, Duara, Kano, and Katsina). His forces conquered them all by 1809. Sokoto became prosperous as the world’s second largest slave state, possessing 2.5 million enslaved Africans by 1900. (The U.S. in 1860 possessed four million enslaved Africans.) Usman wrote extensively on Islam, and authored 480 poems in the Arabic and Hausa languages.
Algerian footballer, in Hussein Dey, Algeria. He was one of Algeria’s most prolific football players internationally in number of games and goals. He was chosen CAF’s Footballer of the Year 1987.
