Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1960 Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) gained independence from France, with Maurice Yaméogo as its first president.
IndependenceOn this day — August 5 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1960 
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1962 Nelson Mandela was arrested near Howick, South Africa, after 17 months evading police as the "Black Pimpernel," the start of an imprisonment that would last until 1990.
History
Acme News Photos — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1936 Jesse Owens won his third Berlin Olympics gold medal, in the 200 meters.
SportsSameera Moussa, the Egyptian nuclear physicist who championed the peaceful use of atomic energy for medical treatment, died in a car accident in the United States.
DeathOtema Allimadi, who twice served as prime minister of Uganda, died.
DeathHawa Abdi, the Somali physician known as "Mama Hawa" who sheltered tens of thousands of displaced people at her clinic during Somalia's civil war, died at age 73.
Death