With the completion of its first building today, which is the 9th day of Ramadan, the University of Al-Azhar is founded. Named after Fatimah al-Zahra, by 2023 it will be Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and the world's second oldest degree granting university. The institutions will be considered the most prestigious university for Islamic scholarship.
Mombasa, the main port for East Africa coveted by regional and European powers, is annexed by Said bin Sultan of Muscat and Oman. (pic: Fort Jesus)
The Battle of Nezib is a dramatic victory for the Egyptian forces of Prince Ibrahim Pasha. The army of the Turkish Ottoman Empire that has controlled Syria is destroyed. When the Ottoman navy hears of the defeat, the commander sails to Alexandria, Egypt to surrender to Egypt’s ruler, Muhammad Ali. Britain panics. Fearing that Egyptian control of the Middle East will endanger its trade routes to its India colony, Britain becomes an ally of the Ottomans to prevent Egyptian expansion.
A surveying error results in a rail line under construction from Lourenço Marques (Maputo) failing to touch the border of South Africa’s Transvaal Republic. Claiming the concession agreement has not been met, Portugal confiscates the entire line, using troops. An international uproar follows, and Portugal agrees to compensate the railway builder’s shareholders.
An earthquake striking Aumane, French Algeria, kills 81. Although a large quake, it is centered 200 km southeast of Algiers, lessening property damage and loss of life.
Nigeria’s first political party, the Nigerian National Democratic Party, is founded, by Herbert Macaulay (pic). Its purpose is to oppose colonialism and promote democracy by increasing Nigerians’ political involvement. The party will win all seats to the Legislative Council of British Nigeria this year, and will win all seats in the next two elections, in 1928 and 1933.
A BOAC passenger airliner crashes as it departs Kano International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. 32 people are killed of the 45 passengers and crew on board.
Côte d'Ivoire’s controversial Our Lady of Peace Basilica, the world’s largest basilica built by 1,200 labourers working day and night for five years, is consecrated by Pope John Paul II. The Pope also gives his blessing to an adjacent hospital that was built to offset criticism that the basilica is a costly extravagance.
In its first major international sporting event since the end of apartheid, heavy with symbolism for the newly-democratic country, South Africa beats arch rival New Zealand to win the Rugby World Cup, led by team captain François Piennar (in pic with President Nelson Mandela).
The first videoconferencing call between Africa and North America is made at midnight in Cape Town (2 p.m. in San Francisco on the other end) employing a Picturetel system using a 128kb ISDN line. The call was part of a “Cybersafari Digital Be-In and Internet Love-Fest“
A U.N. proposal for autonomy for the disputed territory of Western Sahara, now administered by Morocco, is accepted by Morocco but rejected by the Polisario Front, which represents the Saharwi people.
Tanzania’s worst railway disaster occurs when a passenger train’s brakes fail on a steep incline at Igandu near Dodoma. The train speeds downhill, passes two stations and crashes into a freight train. 281 people die in one of Africa’s worst rail accidents.
Mohammed Morsi is announced the winner of Egypt’s first democratic elections. The new president is the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood, which seeks to make Coptic Christian Egypt an Islamic state. Morsi had to run as an Independent because the Muslim Brotherhood is banned from political activity.
West Africa’s largest solar power array goes on-line in Togo. The 50 megawatt facility will power 158,000 homes.
Sierra Leonean historian and Anglican priest, in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The brother of the first Yoruba medical doctor, he wrote a landmark history of the Yoruba people. When he died prematurely at 54, his brother, Dr. Obadiah Johnson, finished editing the work, A History of the Yorubas from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. When published in 1921, the sweeping history was favourably compared to Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Algerian painter who stoked nationalistic pride in paintings celebrating pre-colonial Algiers, in Algiers, French Algeria. His specialty was miniature painting, combining traditional and modern elements. From the first recognition of his talent in the 1930s, he became a major force in Algerian culture.
