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.
Auguste Couder, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1805 Muhammad Ali became Wali (governor) of Egypt, founding a dynasty that would rule the country for the next century and a half.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica ; Cambridge University Press (The Cambridge History of Egypt, Vol. 2, ch. 6, Khaled Fahmy)
Politics
National Archives of Malawi, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1994 Malawi held its first multi-party elections, ending three decades of one-party rule under Hastings Banda.
Sources: Inter-Parliamentary Union (Parline database) ; International Commission of Jurists
Politics
Etienne Scholasse, European Communities, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1997 Rebel forces under Laurent-Desire Kabila marched into Kinshasa, and Zaire was renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Sources: BBC News ; The Guardian
Politics
Stevan Kragujević, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 1967 President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt demanded the withdrawal of the UN Emergency Force from Egyptian territory, a step toward the Six-Day War.
Sources: Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State (FRUS 1964-1968, vol. XIX) ; United Nations (UNISPAL, Question of Palestine)
HistoryDaniel Komen, Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner who once held world records over 3000m, was born.
Sources: World Athletics ; The Guardian
BirthBritish forces relieved the Siege of Mafeking during the Second Boer War in South Africa.
Sources: UK Parliament, Historic Hansard ; BritishBattles.com
Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed
History