On this day: August 5 in African history

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) gained independence from France, with Maurice Yaméogo as its first president.

Sources: The American Presidency Project, UC Santa Barbara ; U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

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.

Sources: The Heritage Portal ; The Presidency, Republic of South Africa

Read the full article: Nelson Mandela's 1962 Arrest and the Disputed CIA Tip-Off Claim

Acme News Photos, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Jesse Owens won his third Berlin Olympics gold medal, in the 200 meters.

Sources: U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame ; Yahoo Sports (Deseret News archive)

Sameera 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.

Sources: State Information Service, Arab Republic of Egypt ; Physics Today (American Institute of Physics)

Otema Allimadi, who served as Uganda's prime minister from 1980 to 1985 after an earlier term as foreign minister, died.

Sources: WorldAtlas ; Biographies.net

Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed

Hawa 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.

Sources: Anadolu Agency ; Global Citizen

Oba Ovonramwen of Benin came into Benin City with about ten of his chiefs and surrendered to the British.

Sources: Internet Archive ; University of Oxford Research Archive

Read the full articles: The Kingdom of Benin, the Edo State Ruled From Benin City · 1897 and the Benin Bronzes