Conquering Egypt, Napoleon Bonaparte mounts an elaborate celebration in Cairo to mark the anniversary of the founding of the French Republic in 1792. A Triumphal Arc is decorated with scenes from the Battle of the Pyramids. The extravaganza is flattering to the French, but is insulting to Egyptians.
Shaka kaSenzangakhona (aka Shaka Zulu), founder of the Zulu Kingdom, is assassinated at KwaDukuza, South Africa. One of the Zulu Kingdom's greatest leader, his military genius made him a feared opponent for other Southern African nations. In the end, his greatest enemy proves to be his own royal family. He is killed by his half-brothers, Dingane and Mhlangana.
The British military government of South Africa’s Transvaal Province during the Second Anglo-Boer War announces that “camps for Boers who have voluntarily surrendered are being set up in Pretoria and Bloemfontein.” These will be the world’s first concentration camps, and will be copied by Nazi Germany for the mass extermination of Jews during World War II. Afrikaner civilians and their black farm workers are interned under murderous conditions. By the end of the war in 1902, 26,370 women and children, 1,421 elderly men and at least 20,000 black prisoners will have died in these concentration camps.
A coup d’état in Ethiopia officially fails when Empress Zweditu publicly acknowledges the inevitability of Prince Tafari Makonnen becoming Emperor. Nevertheless, some of Zweditu’s followers arm themselves. Before they can attack, they are surrounded by the prince’s followers, who soon find themselves surrounded by more of Zweditu’s forces. At that moment, more of the prince’s forces arrive and surround the three rings of troops, and they prevail without a shot being fired because they bring with them an old World War I tank that still works. Ironically, the tank was a gift to Prince Makonnen from Italy, which will conquer Ethiopia in 1935 and force him into exile, five years after he is crowned as Emperor Haile Selassie in 1930.
Clashes erupt in Equatorial Guinea between Spanish colonial forces loyal to the Republic government and mutinying soldiers joining the fascist rebels. (pic: local boy bows to a Spanish delegation)
A bomb explodes in the Jewish quarter of Cairo, Egypt, killing 19 people. The Arab-Israeli War has inflamed anti-Jewish sentiment in Egypt.
Mali achieves national independence, from France. The capital is Bamako. The national population is 5,464,000.
After four years of painstaking work, Egypt's temples of Abu Simbel are now relocated to their new home. Built 3,200 years ago by Ramses II as monuments to himself and his queen Nefertiti, they have to be moved to escape flooding as the Aswan Dam is completed on the Nile River.
The main stadium of Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo), the 20 May Stadium in Léopoldville (Kinshasa), has been fully rebuilt by dictator Mobutu Sese Seko as a venue for the Muhammad Ali (pic) and George Foreman World Heavyweight boxing championship. Today, the refurbished stadium is officially presented to the Ministry of Youth and Sport.
In a brutal phase of the Algerian Civil War, Islamic guerillas enter the village of Benthala, and go from door to door massacring all residents, both adults and children. More than 200 are killed.
World Rhino Day is observed for the first time, established by the World Wildlife Fund to raise awareness of the five rhinoceros species and their closeness to extinction. From 500,000 that roamed Africa one hundred years ago, only 27,000 rhinos remain today.
Africa's first designed and manufactured motor vehicle, the boxy but rugged SUV the Mobius II, readies for production after its maker, Kenya’s Mobius Motors, secures a US$S20 million investment loan.
Morocco's Ismahane Elouafi becomes the first woman Chief Scientist of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organisation. Elouafi hopes her appointment is an endorsement of Africa's women scientist, and will inspire African girls to pursue careers in sciences.
Nigerian educationalist and politician, in Idoani, Ondo State, British Nigeria. After holding several university lecturing positions, he was elected Governor of Bendel State in 1979. He commenced a major expansion of the education system, founding Bendel State University and its three campuses, establishing several colleges and three polytechnics, and building 600 secondary schools. His reforms included free services and medicines at public hospitals, an end to secondary school fees and flat rate tax, and making remote rural areas accessible with a major road building effort.
Senegalese Olympic champion, in Dakar, Senegal. He was the first Senegalese athlete to win a medal at an Olympics when he took silver in the Men’s 400 metres hurdles at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games.
Ghanaian architect, in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. The British-Ghanaian architect is perhaps Africa’s best known building designer of the 21st century. He cemented his reputation with the commission from the U.S. government to build the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. (pic) His work is on display throughout the world in buildings and exhibits in the U.S., Asia, Europe and the Middle-East.
