Ceiling of Debre Birhan Selassie church, Gondar, Ethiopia. Photo: Rod Waddington, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence · Source
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Htonl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 1992 White South African voters approved a referendum to end apartheid and negotiate a new constitution, passing 68.7 per cent to 31.3 per cent.
Sources: South African History Online ; Gulf News
Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed
Politics
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1988 During the Eritrean War of Independence, Eritrean rebels opened the Battle of Afabet against Ethiopian government forces.
Sources: Human Rights Watch ; Zantana Stories ; Los Angeles Times
WarHundreds of members of a Ugandan religious cult died in a fire and related killings in one of the deadliest cult tragedies in history.
Sources: BBC News ; The New York Times ; New Vision (Uganda)
HistoryNorbert Rillieux, African-American inventor and chemical engineer who revolutionized sugar refining, was born.
Sources: 64 Parishes (Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities) ; National Inventors Hall of Fame
Birth
Reda Kerbush, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1406 Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian-born historian and sociologist regarded as a father of historiography and sociology, died.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Iranica (Columbia University) ; Encyclopedia.com (Gale) ; Library of Congress
Death
Issa Michuzi / issamichuzi.blogspot.co.uk, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons 2021 John Magufuli, fifth President of Tanzania, died.
Sources: BBC News ; Deutsche Welle
Death