Ahmad I ibn Mustafa — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1846 The Bey of Tunis issued a decree abolishing slavery in Tunisia, making it one of the first countries in the world to formally end the practice.
HistoryOn this day — January 23 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
We are adding a source to every entry in this archive. 3 of 7 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.
Ahmad I ibn Mustafa — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1846 
Sanadalahlafi — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1943 Troops of the British Eighth Army captured Tripoli, Libya from the German-Italian Panzer Army during World War II's North African campaign.
History
ASC Leiden, Coutinho Collection — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1963 PAIGC guerrilla fighters attacked Portuguese Army forces stationed in Tite, officially beginning the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence.
IndependenceGeneral Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan, Siad Barre's son-in-law and his military governor in the north, sent the president a secret memorandum setting out measures against the Isaaq: economic strangulation, military assault, and a reorganisation of institutions to push Isaaq people out of them. It became known as the death letter. The campaign that followed between 1987 and 1989 killed an estimated 200,000 Isaaq civilians and levelled much of Hargeisa and Burao.
Sources: Isaaq Genocide Documentation Project ; The Nation / Pulitzer Center
TragedyMutinying Burkinabè soldiers led by Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba deposed and detained President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré amid widespread anti-government protests.
Politics
WOMEX — CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons 2018 Hugh Masekela, South African jazz trumpeter and outspoken anti-apartheid voice through music, died at age 78.
Source: Britannica
Death
Jshecket — CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 2019 Oliver Mtukudzi died at a clinic in Harare at 66, after years of treatment for diabetes. Zimbabwe declared him a national hero.
Sources: NPR ; Al Jazeera
Death