1867
The foundation stone is laid for Lagos, Nigeria’s first Cathedral, the Anglican Cathedral Church of Christ. The church will be replaced by the current Cathedral that will be built from 1925 to 1946 (pic).
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1867
1887
International telegraph service arrives in Eritrea with a submarine cable laid from Yemen.
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1887
1947
The Malagasy Uprising begins when legal efforts by nationalists fail to move France toward independence for Madagascar. Malagasy men armed with spears attack French-owned plantations. Within a month, the rebellion spreads to the south. One million Malagasy eventually become nationalist fighters.
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1947
1953
A poorly maintained aircraft causes a Central African Airways flight from Blantyre, Nyasaland (Malawi) to Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika, to disintegrate in mid-air near Mkwaya, Tanganyika. The plane crash kills all 13 people on board.
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1953
1959
Central African Republic independence leader Barthélemy Boganda, who would have been the country’s first president, is killed in a plane crash months after France agreed to his terms for national independence. Traces of explosives will be found in the wreckage, but this information will be withheld from the public.
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1959
1961
Of the 28 South African anti-apartheid activists out of the 156 originally charged when their treason trial began in 1956, all are found not guilty. Previously, charges were dropped for the others. The prosecution fails to prove that Nelson Mandela and the other defendants committed acts of violence or that the African National Congress is a Communist organisation.
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1961
1964
The radio station Holy Quran Network begins broadcasting, from Cairo, Egypt, transmitting 24 hours a day.
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1964
1993
SAT-2, the first submarine cable to carry internet as well as telephone calls, connects South Africa to Europe via Portugal.
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1993
1998
U.S. President Bill Clinton is the first U.S. president to visit Botswana. He meets with Botswana President Quett Masire, and visits Chobe National Park.
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1998
2014
The leaders of Namibia’s Herero and Nama people recommit themselves to seeking reparations from Germany for the genocide German soldiers carried out against their people in 1904.
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2014
Births
1923
Thomas Lambo
Nigerian psychiatrist, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, British Nigeria. He was Africa’s first trained psychiatrist. A pioneer in ethno-psychiatry, in Nigeria he worked to reduce the stigma and superstition associated with mental illness with programmes to integrate the mentally ill into wider society. He worked with traditional healers to gain public acceptance of mental health hospitals.
1926
John Jacob Lavranos
Botanist specialising in African succulents and aloes, in Corfu, Greece. Traveling Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Kenya, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania and elsewhere, he collected 32,000 specimens of succulents for museums and his own research work.
1944
Nana Akufo-Addo
President of Ghana from 2017 to the present, in Accra, Gold Coast. His administration has been moderately progressive, and he has solidified Ghana’s reputation for peace and political stability.
1945
Joséphine Guidy Wandja
Ivorian mathematician, in Côte d'Ivoire. The first African woman to earn a PhD in Mathematics, she became the first African female mathematics professor, at the University of Abidjan. As president of the International Committee on Mathematics in Developing Countries, she worked to spread the teaching and appreciation of mathematics worldwide.
