The French National Convention decreed the abolition of slavery throughout the French First Republic and its colonies.
Sources: Fondation pour la memoire de l'esclavage ; France Info (Outre-mer La 1ere)
Abolition
Ceiling of Debre Birhan Selassie church, Gondar, Ethiopia. Photo: Rod Waddington, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence · Source
On this day: February 4 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1859 The Codex Sinaiticus, one of the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Bible, was discovered at Saint Catherine's Monastery in Egypt.
Sources: Codex Sinaiticus Project (British Library, University of Leipzig, National Library of Russia and Saint Catherine's Monastery) ; Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine, Mount Sinai
Culture
Copyrighted free use, Wikimedia Commons 1961 The Angolan War of Independence began as part of the wider Portuguese Colonial War.
Sources: University of Lisbon, Institute of Social Sciences (Tania Alves, peer-reviewed chapter) ; Governo Provincial de Luanda ; Nationalmusee um Feschmaartchen (National Museum of History and Art, Luxembourg)
IndependenceAmadou Diallo, an unarmed 23-year-old Guinean immigrant, was killed on the steps of his Bronx apartment building by four plainclothes NYPD officers who fired 41 shots, hitting him 19 times. The officers were later acquitted, and the unit involved was disbanded.
Source: Stanford University Libraries
Diaspora
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 2003 Benyoucef Benkhedda, Algerian politician who led the exile government during the Algerian War of Independence, died.
Sources: The Guardian ; The New York Times
Death
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 2020 Daniel arap Moi, former President of Kenya who led the country for 24 years, died.
Sources: BBC News ; The Guardian
Death
CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons 2023 Sherif Ismail, who served as prime minister of Egypt from 2015 to 2018, died.
Sources: Egypt State Information Service ; The National
Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed
DeathBritish troops of Sir Garnet Wolseley's expedition entered Kumasi, the Asante capital, without opposition at about 5:30 p.m.
Source: Internet Archive
Read the full articles: Asante, the Forest Kingdom of Gold, c. 1700-1901 · Britain and Asante at War, 1824-1900
War