On this day — September 9 in African history

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Orléansville (now Chlef), Algeria, killing over 1,200 people and destroying much of the city.

CC BY-SA 3.0 NL, Wikimedia Commons

Arthur Ashe defeated Tom Okker in five sets to win the first US Open, becoming the first Black man to win a Grand Slam singles title.

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

African heads of state adopted the Sirte Declaration in Libya, calling for the transformation of the Organisation of African Unity into the African Union.

Photo by Frank Hall (U.S. Department of Defense) — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Samuel Doe, the Liberian army sergeant who seized power in a 1980 coup and ruled as president, was captured and killed by rebel forces during the First Liberian Civil War.

Photo by Nmkuttiady — CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the influential Egyptian Islamic scholar and longtime chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, was born in Saft Turab, Egypt.