South Africa's Parliament repealed the Population Registration Act, which had required racial classification of every citizen at birth, dismantling a pillar of apartheid law.
PoliticsOn this day — June 17 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
We are adding a source to every entry in this archive. 1 of 5 on this page carry one so far. The rest were written before per-entry citations were recorded, so if you intend to rely on one, check it independently until its source appears here. See our sourcing methodology.
Photo by Michael Gross — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1969 Paul Tergat, the Kenyan runner who set the marathon world record and won multiple World Cross Country titles, was born.
Birth
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 2021 Kenneth Kaunda died at a military hospital in Lusaka at 97, where he was being treated for pneumonia. He had led Zambia to independence in 1964 and governed it for 27 years, and several African countries declared days of mourning for him.
Sources: Africanews ; Al Jazeera
Death
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1942 Mohamed ElBaradei, the Egyptian diplomat who later won the Nobel Peace Prize as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was born.
BirthBritish forces of the 11th Hussars captured Fort Capuzzo in Libya from Italian troops, an early Allied success in the North African campaign of World War II.
History