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1898

The use of prefabricated sections of track, with wood rail ties attached to metal rails is speeding construction of the Uganda Railway in Kenya. Local men are recruited for work crews in addition to hundreds of imported Indians.

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1898

1924

The Kitchener School of Medicine, the first medical school in Sudan opens in Khartoum. Construction began in 1922. The school will become the leading facility in the Sudanese health system.

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1924

1931

Economists are tabulating the cost on East Africa of the Great Depression, which has caused price drops, company failures and unemployment worldwide. In 1930, Uganda’s exports fell to £2.1 million, from £4.3 million in 1929. The price of maize is down one-third from 1928; sisal’s price is down one-quarter, and the price of hides is down one-fifth; beans are down by 50%.

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1931

1948

Rioting spreads across Gold Coast (Ghana), sparked by the killings by British police of former soldiers who fought for Britain in World War II but have been denied their benefits. The Big Six activists of the United Gold Coast Convention party write to Britain’s Secretary of State: “Unless Colonial Government is changed and a new Government of the people and their Chiefs installed, the conduct of the masses, now completely out of control, will continue.” (pic: labour leader Kwame Nkrumah)

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1948

1948

Four cars of the express train from Cairo, Egypt to Haifa, in British Palestine, are derailed when bombs on the tracks are timed to destroy them after the rest of the train carrying civilians has passed. The Lehi group of Israeli nationalists carry out the bombing, which kills 27 British soldiers and wounds 35 soldiers. The act is in retaliation for a bombing last week in Jerusalem by Arab and British collaborators that killed 58 Jewish civilians.

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1948

1952

Today’s deadline for the repeal of “the six unjust laws” created by South Africa’s apartheid regime to oppress non-whites is ignored by the government of Prime Minister Magnus Malan. The demand was made in January by the liberation organisation the African National Congress.

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1952

1960

The most destructive earthquake in Morocco’s history destroys Agadir, on the Atlantic coast. Up to 15,000 people - a third of the city’s population - are killed outright, and 12,000 are injured. The hospital is destroyed, and the city is evacuated to prevent the spread of disease.

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1960

1960

Namibian independence leader and future president Sam Nujoma escapes South Africa’s apartheid authorities administering South West Africa (Namibia). He begins an odyssey that will take him through Bechuanaland (Botswana), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Belgian Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo) – eluding colonial authorities at each place – until he arrives in Tanganyika. There, independence leader and future Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere will arrange a passport to New York. Nujoma will address the U.N. Special Committee on South West Africa.

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1960

1976

The tenth Africa Cup of Nations begins in host country Ethiopia. For the first time, the national team of Morocco wins the title as Africa’s football champion.

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1976

1988

South Africa’s clergy has moved to the forefront of the movement to end government’s racist apartheid policies. Today, Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu (pic) is among clergymen arrested as five days of anti-apartheid demonstrations are held in Cape Town.

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1988

2004

South African actress Charlize Theron becomes the first African to win the Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Actress in a Motion Picture. Accepting the award in Hollywood, she gives a shout-out to South Africa.

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2004

2016

Seychelles’ cabinet approves legislation to remove homosexuality from the penal code. Although police have not arrested gay people in years, the removal of the law is required by the country to conform to the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights.

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2016

2020

Mahraganat, the street music of Egypt’s poor and marginalised who express their personal woes and political criticisms in song, is banned by the increasingly autocratic administration of President Abdel el-Sisi. Egypt’s religious authorities go further, issuing a fatwa against those who listen to these songs of the repressed.

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2020

Births

1912
Marcel Cabon

Mauritian writer and journalist, in Curepipe, Mauritius. After publishing his first poems at age 19, he emigrated to Madagascar to begin a journalism career. He moved back to Mauritius, becoming one of the country’s most influential editors before and after independence, and was appointed Chief of the Information Service in radio-TV.

1928
Seymour Papert

South African mathematician and computer scientist, in Pretoria, Union of South Africa. Working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S., he was one of the pioneers of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and was co-inventor of the Logo computer programming language.

1960
Khaled (Khaled Hadj Ibrahim)

Algerian singer and musician, in Oran, Algeria. One of the most important musicians in the history of Algerian Raï music, he was named King of Raï in 1985, only weeks after his national debut. Having sold more than 80 million albums, he is one of the best-selling singers in the history of Arab music.