Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1941 Allied forces began the Battle of Keren to capture the strategic town of Keren, Eritrea, during World War II.
BattleOn this day — February 5 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
We are adding a source to every entry in this archive. 2 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.
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1941 French President Charles de Gaulle called for Algeria to be granted independence, a major turning point in the Algerian War.
Politics
CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1985 The mayors of Rome and Carthage, Ugo Vetere and Chedly Klibi, signed a treaty of friendship in Tunis, a symbolic close to the Third Punic War 2,131 years after it ended in fact. No state of war had existed for two millennia; the gesture was aimed at Mediterranean cooperation.
Sources: Snopes ; Saudi Aramco World (AramcoWorld archive) ; Reuters, via the Los Angeles Times
Culture
CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1982 Neil Aggett, a Kenyan-born South African doctor and trade union organiser, was found hanged in his cell at John Vorster Square after 70 days in security police detention without trial. A 1982 inquest ruled it a suicide. A reopened inquest in 2022 found that Security Branch officers had killed him, and the judge called the original finding a serious error of judgment. Nobody has been prosecuted.
Sources: Daily Maverick ; Foundation for Human Rights
Death
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 2005 Gnassingbé Eyadéma, longtime President of Togo who ruled for 38 years, died.
Death