Ian Barbour, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons South African President P.W. Botha declared a state of emergency in dozens of magisterial districts amid escalating unrest.
Sources: South African History Online ; FW de Klerk Foundation
PoliticsOn this day — July 20 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Ian Barbour, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons The League of Nations awarded the mandate for Togoland to France and Tanganyika to the United Kingdom.
Sources: Omniatlas ; South African History Online
Politics
Unknown author — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1925 Frantz Fanon, the Martinican-born psychiatrist and philosopher whose writings on colonialism and race profoundly shaped anti-colonial thought in Algeria and beyond, was born.
Sources: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy ; People's World
Birth
Tore Sætre — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1940 Tony Allen, the Nigerian drummer who co-created the Afrobeat sound with Fela Kuti, was born in Lagos.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Africana ; World Socialist Web Site
BirthSomali Airlines Flight 40 crashed in Balad, Somalia, killing 50 people.
Sources: Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (ACRO) ; Hiiraan Online
Disaster