On this day: March 22 in African history

Flad, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

The Arab League was founded in Cairo, Egypt, with a charter signed by seven founding states.

Sources: The Avalon Project, Yale Law School ; HISTORY (A&E Television Networks)

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

The workshops of the Cul-de-Sac rose at Croix-des-Bouquets in western Saint-Domingue as the free-coloured force under Bauvais and Pinchinat withdrew from the town, in an episode the Haitian historians Madiou and Ardouin describe in opposing terms.

Sources: Thomas Madiou, Histoire d'Haiti, Tome 1 (1847), via Internet Archive ; Beaubrun Ardouin, Etudes sur l'histoire d'Haiti, Tome 2 (1853), via Internet Archive

Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed

Spreadofknowledge, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Spain's National Assembly abolished slavery in Puerto Rico.

Sources: Library of Congress ; Encyclopedia of Puerto Rico (EnciclopediaPR)

U.S. Government, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

The US Congress voted to override President Ronald Reagan's veto of the Civil Rights Restoration Act.

Sources: U.S. House of Representatives, History, Art & Archives ; Congress.gov (U.S. Government Publishing Office)

Two buses collided head-on on the Kintampo-Tamale road in Ghana's Bono East Region, killing at least 50 people; the toll was later given as at least 60.

Sources: BBC News ; CNN ; Al Jazeera (AFP)

Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed