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.
Jack E. Kightlinger, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1980 Liberian President William Tolbert was overthrown and killed in a violent coup led by Master Sergeant Samuel Doe, ending over a century of Americo-Liberian rule.
Sources: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian (FRUS, 1977-1980, Vol. XVII, Part 2, Doc. 55) ; BBC News ; Encyclopaedia Britannica
Read the full article: Samuel Doe's 1980 Coup and the Killing of William Tolbert
Politics
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 2009 Zimbabwe officially abandoned its own currency after years of extreme hyperinflation, adopting foreign currencies for everyday transactions.
Sources: Cato Institute (Cato Journal, Vol. 31, No. 2) ; World Trade Organization
Politics
EU Election Observation Mission Malawi 2025, CC BY, Wikimedia Commons 1950 Joyce Banda, who became the fourth President of Malawi and the country's first female head of state, was born in Malemia.
Sources: BBC News ; Encyclopaedia Britannica
Birth
Etienne Ansotte, European Union, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1942 Jacob Zuma, who served as the fourth President of South Africa from 2009 to 2018, was born in Nkandla, Natal.
Sources: South African Government News Agency (SAnews) ; CNN ; Encyclopaedia Britannica
Birth
Public Domain (GFDL), Wikimedia Commons 1988 Alan Paton, South African author and anti-apartheid activist best known for the novel 'Cry, the Beloved Country,' died in Durban.
Sources: South African History Online ; Los Angeles Times
DeathSimon Kapwepwe, Zambian independence activist who became the country's second Vice President, was born.
Sources: Zambia Daily Mail ; simonkapwepwe.com (Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe memorial website)
Birth