The Battle of Wolfa is fought by Portuguese forces invading the Ottoman Empire Sultanate of Adal (Eritrea). The sultanate forces led by Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi are victorious, forcing the Portuguese to leave their weapons behind as they flee. Ahmad shows no mercy toward the enemy commander Cristóvão da Gama, torturing and then executing him.
Zulu King Chetswayo, a fugitive from Zululand in South Africa after his army was defeated by the British army invading from the Natal colony, is captured. He is sent to prison in Cape Town.
The speed of a Raleigh bicycle is demonstrated by an East African boy laughingly outdistancing a charging lion in an advert for the British bikemaker’s all-steel models. The memorable image boosts bicycle sales.
Aspiring Nigerian writer Flora Nwapa sends the manuscript to her first novel, Efuru, to Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, who has had success with his own first novel, Things Fall Apart, since its publication four years ago. He encourages her to submit the work for publication, and he sends her money to post the manuscript to Britain. Efuru will become the first novel published in Britain in English by an African woman author, and will become a pioneering milestone for African women writers.
Radio Free Africa goes on the air, covering the Lake Victoria area and broadcasting in Kiswahili. Full programming commences in January 1996.
The Arusha Accords negotiated by former presidents Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania are signed, ending the Burundian Civil War. The horrific ethnic conflict has killed 300,000.
At the Summer Olympic Games, Morocco runner Hicham El Guerrouj wins the Men’s 5000 metres, one week after also taking gold in the Men’s 1500 metres. He becomes the first person in 80 years to win both Olympic events in the same year.
The U.S. government adds Joseph Kony, the head of Uganda’s terror group the Lord’s Resistance Army, to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Being placed on the list brings financial sanctions and other penalties.
Sudan wins its first medal at an Olympics when Ismail Ahmed Ismail takes silver in the Men’s 800 metres at the Summer Olympic Games.
The new Uganda Airlines has its first commercial flight, from Entebbe to Nairobi, Kenya. Eight passengers are on board.
South African singer, in Ladysmith, South Africa. He founded a Zulu singing group in 1958, named it Ladysmith Black Mambaso in 1960, and led the group to local and, in the 1980s, international fame. The popular group has won five Grammy Awards in the World Music category.
President of Angola (1979-2017), in Luanda, Angola. While enjoying international respect for guiding his country through the conclusion of a long civil war and into the 21st century, he also used the country’s oil wealth and its national treasury to enrich his family and cronies. Decades of corruption under his administration resulted in the majority of Angolans remaining in poverty.
