On this day — February 12 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
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Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1946 Isaac Woodard, discharged from the army hours earlier after four years' service, was taken off a bus at Batesburg, South Carolina, and beaten by the police chief, Lynwood Shull, who drove the end of a blackjack into his eyes. Woodard was blinded for life. Shull was charged with violating his civil rights, tried before an all-white jury and acquitted. The case pushed President Truman towards the first federal civil rights measures.
Sources: Zinn Education Project ; South Carolina Encyclopedia
Diaspora 1920 Raymond Mhlaba, South African anti-apartheid activist and founding member of Umkhonto we Sizwe, was born.
Birth 
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1946 Jean Eyeghé Ndong, Gabonese politician who later became Prime Minister of Gabon, was born.
Birth 1969 Alemayehu Atomsa, Ethiopian educator and politician, was born.
Birth 
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1949 Hassan al-Banna, Egyptian educator who founded the Muslim Brotherhood, was assassinated in Cairo.
Death 