On this day — July 29 in African history

Unknown author (National Library of Nigeria), Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Northern Nigerian soldiers mutinied at Abeokuta barracks in a counter-coup that brought Yakubu Gowon to power.

Office of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

The US House of Representatives formally apologized for slavery and Jim Crow-era discrimination against African Americans.

Sheik Umar Khan, Sierra Leone's leading Ebola physician, died after contracting the virus while treating patients.

The Slocum massacre began in Texas, a race riot in which more than 100 African Americans were murdered over two days.

An overloaded passenger ferry capsized on the Kasai River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least 80 people.

National Library of Nigeria — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Nigerian head of state Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi was killed during a counter-coup led by northern Nigerian soldiers.

Foday Sankoh, the Sierra Leonean rebel leader who founded the Revolutionary United Front and led forces during the country's brutal civil war, died awaiting trial.