On this day — June 21 in African history

Joseph Ki-Zerbo, the Burkinabé historian and politician renowned for his pioneering work on pan-African history, was born.

Ubkoumbogny — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Togolese colonial police killed dozens of pro-independence demonstrators in the Pya-Hodo massacre; the date is now observed as Togo's Martyrs' Day.

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Soad Hosny, one of the most celebrated actresses and singers in Egyptian cinema history, known as the "Cinderella of the Egyptian screen," died.

Three American civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, were murdered by Ku Klux Klan members in Mississippi while registering Black voters.