The Ottoman Empire, which has occupied much of Algiers since 1516, defeats the Spanish forces at the Peñón of Algiers, a fortress on a small island off the coast that has resisted Ottoman control. After 22 days of continuous bombardment and with only 25 men left alive, Spanish Governor Governor Don Martin de Vargas surrenders. He is immediately beaten to death by the Ottomans, who enslave the Christians men and order them to dismantle the fort and use its stones to build a seawall. Algiers will remain under Ottoman rule for three centuries, until its conquest by France in 1830.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s army reaches the Red Sea port of El Qosier, which is of strategic importance to block Egyptian insurgents and British forces seeking to interfere with France’s conquest of Egypt.

Three years after banning the import from India of indentured servants into British Mauritius because of abuses that made the system another form of slavery, Britain buckles under pressure from the islands’ sugar plantation owners seeking cheap labour, and ends the ban.

N’Djamena (the future capital of Chad) is founded by the French army as Fort-Lamy, at the spot where the Logone and Chari rivers meet. The territory is incorporated into French Equatorial Guinea. The settlement will soon develop into a major trading post and town.

The army of South Africa, administering South West Africa (Namibia), puts down an uprising of the Nama people. The Nama are angered by a dog tax intended to discourage traditional hunting and thus increase the pool of hungry men available for colonial labour. To end the revolt, South Africa carries out the first aerial bombardment in Southern Africa. Women and children are among the 100 killed. They are strafed by warplanes’ machine-gun fire and blown up by dropped bombs.

World War II Allied armies liberate the Ethiopian city Dire Dawa from the Italian forces that invaded and occupied the trade center in 1936.

As Egyptian ground forces approach Tel Aviv, the capital of the new state of Israel, the Israeli Air Force (established the day before), counters with air strikes, forcing back the Egyptian offensive. (pic: a downed Egyptian Royal Air Force plane)

France’s Fourth Republic falls, a victim of the Algerian Crisis of 1958 and government’s other crises regarding its African and other colonies. A new constitution will be drawn up for France.

The second edition of the Africa Cup of Nations is won by the host country, the United Arab Republic, a confederation (1958 to 1961) between Egypt and Syria. The victory makes Syria the only non-African nation to become an Africa Cup champion. All games are played in an African city, Cairo.

To protest apartheid, a three-day national strike begins in South Africa, called by the All-In African National Action Council. Hundreds of thousands of workers observe the stay-at-home. In Port Elizabeth, 75% of workers are absent from their jobs. Absenteeism is also high among university students.

For the sake of national reconciliation, Mali President Alpha Konaré pardons former president Moussa Traoré (pic) and his wife, who are serving life sentences for embezzling state funds.

Nigeria’s first cable-stayed bridge, the 1.36 kilometre-long Lekki-Ikoy Bridge in Lagos, is commisssioned. Nigerians are upset that a toll will be paid for use even though the bridge is built with public funds.