The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeated the Mamluk Sultanate at the Battle of Ridaniya, bringing Egypt under Ottoman rule for the next four centuries.
HistoryOn this day — January 22 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
We are adding a source to every entry in this archive. 4 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.
Charles Edwin Fripp — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1879 Zulu forces won a decisive victory over British troops at the Battle of Isandlwana, one of the most significant defeats inflicted on the British Empire by an indigenous army.
Source: Britannica
History
Painting by Alphonse de Neuville — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1879 Hours after Isandlwana, a small British garrison successfully defended the mission station at Rorke's Drift against a much larger Zulu force through the night.
Sources: Britannica ; National Army Museum
History
RuthAS — CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 1973 A Boeing 707 chartered from Alia Royal Jordanian and flying for Nigeria Airways crashed on landing at Kano in harmattan dust and high winds, killing 176 of the 202 aboard. Most were Nigerian pilgrims returning from the Hajj. It remains the deadliest air disaster in Nigeria.
Sources: Aviation Safety Network ; TIME
TragedyGeorge Foreman knocked down champion Joe Frazier six times in two rounds to win the world heavyweight boxing title in Kingston, Jamaica.
Sources: World Boxing Council ; Reuters, as printed in The Michigan Daily, 23 January 1973, p. 7 (Bentley Historical Library digital archive, University of Michigan) ; Same page, image view
Sports