Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1941 British Commonwealth forces launched a general counter-offensive against Italian East Africa during World War II, beginning the campaign that would liberate Ethiopia.
PoliticsOn this day — January 18 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
We are adding a source to every entry in this archive. 1 of 5 on this page carry one so far. The rest were written before per-entry citations were recorded, so if you intend to rely on one, check it independently until its source appears here. See our sourcing methodology.
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1941 
Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 3.0 2002 President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah declared Sierra Leone's civil war over at a ceremony at Lungi, where about 3,000 surrendered weapons were burned. The war had run more than a decade and killed tens of thousands. The United Nations counted 47,076 fighters disarmed in the final phase of the programme, which the joint disarmament committee had declared complete the day before.
Sources: Sierra Leone Web ; United Nations Security Council (Secretary-General's thirteenth report on UNAMSIL, S/2002/267, 14 March 2002; mirrored on ReliefWeb) ; PBS NewsHour
Politics
Georges Boulougouris — CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1933 Emeka Anyaoku, Nigerian diplomat who served as Commonwealth Secretary-General from 1990 to 2000, was born.
Birth
Nightscream — CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 1971 Binyavanga Wainaina, acclaimed Kenyan author and founder of the literary magazine Kwani?, was born (died 2019).
Birth
Ricardo Stuckert/PR — CC BY 3.0 BR, Wikimedia Commons 1946 Henrique Rosa, businessman who served as President of Guinea-Bissau during its 2003-2005 transitional government, was born (died 2013).
Birth