On this day: July 19 in African history

Eric Miller / World Economic Forum, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Kgalema Motlanthe, who later served as the third president of South Africa, was born.

Sources: South African History Online ; The Presidency, Republic of South Africa

Nkosi.makgotso, CC0, Wikimedia Commons

South African singer and actress Zolani Mahola was born in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha), Eastern Cape.

Sources: Briefly News ; SMF News

Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed

Tunisia imposed a blockade on the French naval base at Bizerte, escalating the Bizerte crisis; French forces would seize the town days later.

Sources: Encyclopedia.com ; Polynational War Memorial

UK Department for International Development, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Guinean President Alpha Condé survived an assassination attempt at his residence in Conakry, when gunmen attacked with rockets and machine-gun fire and killed a member of his presidential guard.

Sources: France 24 ; African Arguments

Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed

About twenty gunmen in vehicles attacked a border guard checkpoint at Farafra in Egypt's New Valley with sniper rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Twenty-two Egyptian border guards were killed, most of them when a grenade set off the ammunition store. Two car bombs prepared for the attack were found and defused, and the president declared three days of national mourning.

Sources: Daily News Egypt ; Associated Press

Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed

jbach (Flickr), CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Toumani Diabaté, the Malian musician celebrated as a master of the kora, died in Bamako.

Sources: The Boston Globe ; Music In Africa