Turn685 / Avenhar — CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 2007 A general strike began across Guinea as unions demanded that President Lansana Conté resign amid economic crisis and mismanagement, escalating into weeks of unrest.
PoliticsOn this day — January 10 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Turn685 / Avenhar — CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 2007 Benin's government officially recognized Vodun as a national religion, establishing January 10 as Fête du Vodoun, an annual national holiday celebrated with festivities centered in Ouidah.
CultureElspeth Huxley, Kenyan-born English writer known for her memoirs of colonial East Africa including The Flame Trees of Thika, died at age 89.
Death
Fortepan / Zoltán Szalay — CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 1915 Dean Dixon, pioneering African American orchestral conductor who found greater acceptance in Europe than in the segregated U.S. classical music world, was born (died 1976).
Birth
Photo by Carl Van Vechten — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1916 Eldzier Cortor, African American painter celebrated for his depictions of Black life and the female form, was born (died 2015).
Birth
Classical Numismatic Group — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1358 Abu Inan Faris, Marinid sultan who expanded Moroccan rule across much of the Maghreb, died at age 29.
History