Agostinho Neto, physician, poet, and independence leader who became the first president of Angola, was born in Icolo e Bengo, Portuguese Angola.
BirthOn this day — September 17 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1974 Guinea-Bissau was admitted to the United Nations following its independence from Portugal.
Independence
Public Domain (U.S. National Archives), Wikimedia Commons Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Accords, a framework for peace that led to Egypt becoming the first Arab nation to formally recognize Israel.
Politics
Photo by U.S. Department of State — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 2021 Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who served as president of Algeria for 20 years before being forced to resign amid mass protests in 2019, died at age 84.
Death
Photo by Daniel Benavides — CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons 1991 Mena Massoud, the Egyptian-Canadian actor who went on to star as the title character in Disney's 2019 live-action "Aladdin," was born in Cairo.
Culture