Niccolò Caranti — CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 1938 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, the acclaimed Kenyan novelist, playwright, and advocate for writing in African languages, was born (died 2025).
BirthOn this day — January 5 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Niccolò Caranti — CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 1938 Amid the outbreak of the Somali Civil War, the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu was evacuated by helicopter airlift in Operation Eastern Exit.
Politics
George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1882 Edwin Barclay, who served as the 18th President of Liberia from 1930 to 1944, was born.
BirthKappa Alpha Psi, one of the oldest and largest historically African American fraternities, was founded at Indiana University.
Culture
United Press International — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1926 Hosea Williams, American civil rights leader and close aide to Martin Luther King Jr., was born (died 2000).
Birth