Niger77 — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1996 Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara led a military coup deposing Mahamane Ousmane, the first democratically elected president of Niger.
PoliticsOn this day — January 27 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Niger77 — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1996 An explosion at a military munitions storage facility in Lagos, Nigeria, killed at least 1,100 people and displaced tens of thousands as residents fled into a canal.
Tragedy
Abi Skipp — CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons 1929 Mohamed Al-Fayed, Egyptian-born businessman who owned Harrods department store and the Hôtel Ritz Paris, was born (died 2023).
Birth
Harry Pot for Anefo — CC0, Wikimedia Commons 1967 Alphonse Juin, Algerian-born French Marshal who commanded Free French forces in North Africa and Italy during World War II, died at age 78.
DeathMassa Makan Diabaté, Malian historian, novelist, and playwright known for chronicling Mande oral tradition, died at age 49.
Death
Habib M'henni — CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 2020 Lina Ben Mhenni, Tunisian internet activist and blogger whose reporting helped fuel the 2011 revolution, died at age 36.
Death