Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 1973 EgyptAir Flight 741 crashed into the Kyrenia Mountains in Cyprus, killing all 37 people aboard.
Sources: Aviation Safety Network ; Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives ; BBC News
Tragedy
Ceiling of Debre Birhan Selassie church, Gondar, Ethiopia. Photo: Rod Waddington, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence · Source
On this day: January 29 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 1973 A chartered Beechcraft 1900 crashed near the Unity oilfield in South Sudan, killing 20 people on board.
Sources: National Transportation Safety Board ; Transport Accident Investigation Commission (New Zealand)
Tragedy
Kathi Walther Bouma, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1961 Strive Masiyiwa, Zimbabwean telecommunications entrepreneur and one of Africa's most prominent philanthropists, was born.
Sources: BlackPast.org ; Global Business Hall of Fame ; Econet
BirthPauline Smith, South African novelist and short story writer known for The Beadle and The Little Karoo, died at age 76.
Sources: University of Cape Town Libraries ; Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism
Death
Photo by Eliot Elisofon, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1993 Adetokunbo Ademola, Nigerian jurist who served as the second Chief Justice of Nigeria, died at age 86.
Sources: National Judicial Council (Nigeria) ; The Independent
DeathJean-Marie Doré, the Guinean lawyer and politician who served as prime minister during the country's 2010 political transition, died in Conakry.
Sources: Jeune Afrique ; Africanews
Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed
Death
Photo by Alex. Bassano, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1883 Cetshwayo was installed as ruler of the central district of Zululand at Mthonjaneni, restored to part of his kingdom but not to his old authority. Guy estimated that between five and six thousand Zulu attended.
Sources: Internet Archive ; Jonathan Ball Publishers
Politics