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.
Eduardo Ximenes, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1882 Shewan forces under the future Ethiopian emperor Menelik II defeated the army of Gojjam at the Battle of Embabo, establishing Shewan dominance over much of the Ethiopian highlands.
Sources: AfricaBib (Leiden University) ; Ethiopian Ministry of Education / Wollega University
History
CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons 1966 African-American civil rights activist James Meredith was shot and wounded by a sniper during his lone "March Against Fear" through Mississippi.
Sources: US National Archives ; Library of Congress
Civil Rights
Kroon, Ron / Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 1916 Hamani Diori, who became independent Niger's first president, was born.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica ; BlackPast.org
Birth
Photo by Steyn Hoogakker, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1929 James Barnor, the pioneering Ghanaian photographer celebrated for documenting Black life and style in 1950s Accra and London, was born.
Sources: Mail & Guardian ; Victoria and Albert Museum
Birth
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1898 Jacobus Johannes Fouché, who served as State President of South Africa, was born.
Sources: Archontology.org ; South African History Online
BirthThe Organisation of African Unity formally admitted post-apartheid South Africa as its 53rd member.
Sources: African Union ; South African History Online
Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed
Politics