On this day: January 15 in African history

Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded at Howard University, becoming the first Greek-letter organization established by African American college women.

Sources: BlackPast ; African American Registry

Photo by Eliot Elisofon, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Nigeria's First Republic was overthrown in a military coup, and Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was assassinated along with several regional leaders.

Sources: Cambridge University Press ; Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Biafran leader Philip Effiong formally surrendered to Nigerian General Yakubu Gowon at a ceremony in Lagos, ending the Nigerian Civil War after 30 months of fighting.

Sources: Britannica ; International Journal of History and Philosophical Research (O. S. Osadola, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, 2022)

Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed

Read the full article: The End of the Nigerian Civil War and Gowon's 'No Victor, No Vanquished' Policy

The Alvor Agreement was signed, granting Angola independence from Portugal and setting the stage for the Angolan Civil War among rival independence movements.

Sources: Jacobin ; CEDIS, NOVA School of Law, Universidade Nova de Lisboa ; Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State

Ingoman (James Dahl), Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Al-Shabaab fighters overran a Kenyan army base at El Adde in Somalia, inflicting the heaviest single loss in the Kenya Defence Forces' history. Kenya never published a death toll. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud put the Kenyan dead at 180 or close to 200, a community leader in El Adde told the BBC he had counted about 190 bodies, two officials familiar with the recovery operation told CNN at least 141 died, and al-Shabaab claimed about 100.

Sources: International Peace Institute ; BBC News ; CNN

Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed

Moshoeshoe II, King of Lesotho, died in a car accident at age 57.

Sources: Britannica ; South African History Online