On this day — August 31 in African history

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Trinidad and Tobago became independent from the United Kingdom, with Eric Williams becoming the country's first prime minister.

Charl Schwartzel, the South African golfer who won the 2011 Masters Tournament, was born in Johannesburg.

Dodi Fayed, the Egyptian film producer, died alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car crash in Paris.

John Wrathall, the second and last president of Rhodesia before its transition to Zimbabwe, died in office.

A landslide triggered by heavy rains buried the village of Tarasin in Sudan's Darfur region, killing more than 1,000 people.