The Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, is established on a hilltop five kilometers south of Cape Town. What will become the oldest continuously-operating scientific facility in Africa, the observatory will expand the science of astronomy by fixing star positions and publishing the first photographic catalogue of the stars. From astronomy in the 19th century, the facility will turn to astrophysics in the 20th century. In 2023, the facility will have the name the South African Astronomical Observatory.

Pasha Muhammed Ali seeks to expand his empire from Egypt and Sudan by conquering Greece. His ambition ends today when the entire Egyptian fleet he has sent to invade Greece is sunk by the European Allied fleet during the Battle of Navarino.

The last major battle of the Congo-Arab War occurs at the Luama River. While Belgian forces fail to achieve a victory, the leader of the opposing Arabian forces, Zanzibar slave trader Sefu bin Hamid (pic: seated in centre), is killed. Sefu’s death demoralises his troops.

The name Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) is first officially used to designate the British-held territory south of the Zambezi River. (pic: the Zambezi with Mosi-oa-Tunya waterfall separating Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia.

The Masabalala Riots result when a crowd of black and mixed-raced workers try to break union leader Makama Martin Masabalala out of Port Elizabeth jail (pic) in South Africa. Masabalala formed South Africa’s first union for black and mixed-raced workers, and has been arrested to prevent him from calling a strike for higher wages. Stones are thrown at police, who respond by firing upon the workers. 21 workers and killed, and three white bystanders. A commission of inquiry will later determine the police action was unjustified, and while Port Elizabeth authorities deny culpability, the city will direct that £2857 be paid to the families of those killed. Of this, £2327 will go to the families of the white victims, £377 will go to the families of three mixed-race victims, and the remaining £152 will be given to the families of the 18 black victims (equal in the year 2023 to £465 or US$567 for each black family).

‍

The British governor of The Kenya Colony declares a State of Emergency in response to the Mau Mau Rebellion. The anti-colonial uprising is now engaged in guerilla warfare, which will continue for a decade.

This day when Britain’s Labour Party condemns South Africa as a “police state,” Johannesburg police respond to 1,000 black South Africans protesting the treason trial of Nelson Mandela and 155 other anti-apartheid activists by firing into cars and shops, injuring 14.

Runner Kipchoge Keino brings world awareness of Kenyan athletics with his spectacular gold medal win of the 1500 metres at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City. At the race’s finish he outpaces the American favourite and world record holder by an amazing 20 metres.

The first commercially distributed feature film by a woman director from Sub-Saharan Africa, Kaddu Beykat, is released in France. The film brings international acclaim to its Senegalese director, Safi Faye.

Malawi’s first Minister of Justice and first Attorney General, Orton Chirwa, who has been a political prisoner for eleven years, dies in prison. After a disagreement with Malawi’s autocratic ruler Hastings Banda in 1980, he and his wife were forced into exile. They were then kidnapped by Banda’s agents in Zambia, returned to Malawi, and condemned to death. Known as “The Father of Malawi,” Chirwa was instrumental in guiding the country to Independence.

Deposed Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi is discovered by the National Transitional Council forces after his convoy is struck by NATO jets near Sitre. He is brutalised and murdered by revolutionary fighters, who take souvenirs like his gold pistol.

Burundi’s traditional drums were declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2014 by UNESCO. Today, a Presidential Decree declares that all commercial performances using drums must pay the treasury US$280. Shocked Burundian musicians decry the decree as “drums no longer belong to us, the people; they belong to government.”

The final phase of the world’s largest solar array begins electricity production in Morocco. The 150 MW Noor Ouarzazate III solar tower power plant’s 7,500 mirrors cover 550 hectares.

Malawian pastor and media celebrity Shepherd Bushiri, on trial in South Africa along with his wife for fraud and money laundering, is arrested on additional charges of fraud and immigration violations. The couple is considered a flight risk and their passports are confiscated, but they will manage to flee the country in November.