Ahmed Kathrada, the South African anti-apartheid activist imprisoned alongside Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, was born in Schweizer-Reneke.
Sources: Nelson Mandela Foundation ; South African History Online
BirthOn this day — August 21 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Mohammed VI, who has reigned as King of Morocco since 1999, was born in Rabat.
Sources: Maroc.ma (Government of Morocco) ; BlackPast.org
Birth
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1986 A massive cloud of carbon dioxide erupted from volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon, killing up to 1,800 people and livestock in nearby villages in one of the deadliest natural disasters of its kind.
Sources: U.S. Geological Survey ; The BMJ (British Medical Journal), via PubMed Central ; BBC World Service
History