Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Painting by Stanisław Chlebowski, 1866 — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1808 Emir Abdelkader, the religious and military leader who founded the Algerian state and led 17 years of resistance against French colonization, was born near Mascara, Algeria.
BirthThe Union of South Africa declared war on Nazi Germany, joining the Allied side of World War II under Prime Minister Jan Smuts.
Politics
Photo by Joop van Bilsen / Anefo — CC0, Wikimedia Commons Hendrik Verwoerd, South African prime minister and chief architect of apartheid, was stabbed to death in Parliament in Cape Town by parliamentary messenger Dimitri Tsafendas.
Death
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons Swaziland (now Eswatini) gained full independence from Britain, with King Sobhuza II leading the country into self-rule.
IndependencePoachers poisoned at least 41 elephants with cyanide-laced salt pans in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, one of the worst single incidents of elephant poaching for ivory in the country's history.
Tragedy
Government of Zimbabwe, photo by Joseph Nyadzayo — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 2019 Robert Mugabe, the guerrilla leader who became Zimbabwe's prime minister and then president for a combined 37 years before being forced from power in 2017, died in Singapore.
Death