Ceiling of Debre Birhan Selassie church, Gondar, Ethiopia. Photo: Rod Waddington, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence · Source
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Tchicaya U Tam'si, a celebrated Congolese poet and novelist regarded as one of the leading voices of Francophone African literature, was born in Mpili, French Equatorial Africa.
Sources: The Poetry Foundation ; Les Dépêches de Brazzaville (adiac-congo.com)
BirthKing Louis IX of France died at Tunis during the Eighth Crusade, which he had led.
Sources: The Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent, 1913) ; SMOTJ Library
Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed
HistoryZimbabwe joined the United Nations on 25 August 1980, four months after gaining independence from Britain.
Sources: United Nations Treaty Collection ; National Archives of Australia
Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed
PoliticsMandé Sidibé, a former prime minister of Mali, died.
Sources: Jeune Afrique ; Maliweb (reprinting L'Independant)
DeathThe World Health Organization certified the African region free of wild poliovirus, a milestone reached four years after the continent's last case, in Nigeria.
Sources: The Lancet Global Health ; WHO Regional Office for Africa
Science