On this day — August 15 in African history

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

The Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) gained independence from France, with Fulbert Youlou becoming its first president.

Sources: U.S. Department of State ; Digitheque MJP, Universite de Perpignan ; United Nations, International Law Commission

Zaccheus Mahabane, a clergyman who twice served as President-General of the African National Congress in the 1920s and 1930s, was born in Thaba Nchu, South Africa.

Sources: South African History Online ; Dictionary of African Christian Biography

South Africa's Springboks played their first rugby test since being banned over apartheid, facing the All Blacks at Ellis Park in the so-called "Return Test."

Sources: The Citizen (South Africa) ; Rugby365

The Ibadan area of present-day Nigeria became a British protectorate under a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan, and the acting Governor of Lagos.

Sources: Journal of African Interdisciplinary Studies ; Africa: Journal of the International African Institute

Fr. Raphael Morgan was ordained in Constantinople as the first African-American Eastern Orthodox priest, becoming "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies.

Sources: St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly (Matthew Namee, vol. 53 no. 4, 2009) ; Orthodox Christian Laity (Steve Frangos, The National Herald) ; Frank Lincoln Mather, ed., Who's Who of the Colored Race (1915)

President Fulbert Youlou was overthrown in the Republic of the Congo after a three-day popular uprising known as the Trois Glorieuses.

Sources: Le Maitron, dictionnaire biographique du mouvement ouvrier (Campus Condorcet) ; Jeune Afrique ; RFI (Radio France Internationale)