Feared pirate Black Bart (Bartholomew Roberts) blocks Liberia’s Ouidah Harbour, where 11 ships are anchored. He demands a ransom payment in gold from their captains. When the captain of a slave ship refuses, he sets the ship on fire, indifferent to the lives of the 80 enslaved Africans in the cargo hold. Every African is burned alive, drowns, or is eaten by sharks that swarm when the ship sinks.
The East Indies Cape of Good Hope Station is created as the British Navy combines its Cape fleet and Indian Ocean fleet operations. Even after the Suez Canal is opened in Egypt, protecting the sea route around South Africa’s Cape is essential to East-West trade. (pic: HMS Warden, built in 1865 as a hybrid sail and steam-powered ship, shows the technological progress of warships of the day)
The Johannesburg Observatory (later the Union Observatory) opens. Built on the South African city’s highest point, it will remain active until 1971, when light pollution makes the facility unusable. The observatory’s discoveries will include the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri and a record number of minor planets.
Broadcasting in a South African indigenous language begins as the station of the Zulu Versatile Company goes on the air, in Natal. A half-hour daily programme (9:30-10 pm) is broadcast in isiZulu.
With the establishment of the Sudanese Women's Union, Sudan’s Fatima Talib becomes a founding member and first president of the movement that will become one of Africa’s largest women’s groups. It will be influential in the pro-Independence and Pan-Africanist movements. Talib was the first Sudanese woman to obtain a university degree, at London University; was the first Sudanese woman to be appointed headmistress of a secondary school; and was the first woman to join the radical political party, the Muslim Brotherhood.
Patrice Lumumba, independence leader and first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is assassinated after only 10 months in office; executed by a firing squad of Belgian and Congolese officers who were behind his ouster. The killing sparks international outrage, and brings some unification to DRC by creating the country’s first national martyr.
One of Africa’s most iconic nature photographs is taken of Kenya’s giant elephant Ahmed as he encounters one of his game ranger protectors. The man stands respectfully before him, and the bond between the two is clearly felt.
South African billionaire hotelier Sol Kerner admits to authorities investigating corruption charges against him that he did bribe Chief George Matanzima of the apartheid-created “homeland” Transkei. The bribe was paid for exclusive casino rights in the "country" for his resort. Named Sun City, the resort opened in 1979, and is being used by international performers to be paid handsomely by South Africans while pretending not to break the artistic boycott of the apartheid regime.
Gabon’s new stadium in Franceville, the Stade de Franceville, opens with a friendly game between the Gabonese and Sudanese national teams.
New photos from the International Space Station show the electrification of Egypt at night along the Nile River north of the Aswan Dam. 90% of Egyptians live along the Nile River.
South African journalist an apartheid critic, in Sophiatown, Union of South Africa. Victimised by the destruction of his home and the entire Sophiatown community to conform to apartheid racial segregation laws, he became a crusading and eloquent editor in the 1970s and 1980s. His newspaper column challenged the white minority government and was a prominent advocate for human rights.
Kenyan champion runner, in Nandi Country, British Kkenya. His spectacular gold medal wins at the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympic Games helped establish Kenya’s athletics reputation, made him an African hero known to all as "Kip."
Human rights and gay rights activist, in Lagos, Nigeria. After malicious student reporters “outed” him as a gay man in the University of Lagos campus magazine in 1993, he took it as a teaching moment and announced he was gay on national TV – the first Nigerian to do so. He became an activist during the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He left Nigeria after death threats in 2011, and found asylum in the U.K.
