On this day: May 31 in African history

AmandaCalitz, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

The Treaty of Vereeniging ended the Second Boer War, bringing the Boer republics under British control.

Sources: South African History Online ; Anzac Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney

South Africa's new constitution took effect, transforming the country into the Republic of South Africa, which remained outside the Commonwealth until 1994.

Sources: The Presidency, Republic of South Africa ; Commonwealth Secretariat

The Bicesse Accords were formally signed in Lisbon, laying out a UN-supervised transition to multi-party democracy in Angola.

Sources: PA-X Peace Agreements Database, University of Edinburgh ; U.S. Government Publishing Office

Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed

Zenman, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Laurent Gbagbo, who served as President of Cote d'Ivoire, was born.

Sources: BBC News ; Encyclopaedia Britannica

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Lloyd Quarterman, one of the few African-American scientists to work on the Manhattan Project, was born.

Sources: National Museum of Nuclear Science & History ; BlackPast.org

Hill123, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

C.L.R. James, the Trinidadian historian and Pan-Africanist whose writing shaped anti-colonial thought, died.

Sources: Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University ; Against the Current

A nationwide general strike over wages began in Nigeria at midnight, after the federal government delayed publishing the Morgan Commission's report on pay and then offered less than it recommended. Dockers and railwaymen came out first. The strike ended about two weeks later, when the government agreed to negotiate.

Sources: Palgrave Macmillan ; Internet Archive

Read the full article: Regions, Census and Elections: Nigeria's Road to Crisis, 1945-1965