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.
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1973 The PAIGC-led People's National Assembly unilaterally declared the independence of Guinea-Bissau from Portugal, a year before Portugal formally recognized it.
Sources: African Activist Archive, Michigan State University ; Comissao Comemorativa 50 Anos 25 de Abril (Portuguese state commission)
IndependencePhilip Gbeho, the Ghanaian composer who wrote the music for Ghana's national anthem, died.
Sources: Voltaweb (Ghana) ; Ghana News Agency
DeathPresident Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce the court-mandated desegregation of Central High School.
Sources: Eisenhower Presidential Library (U.S. National Archives) ; Civil Rights Digital Library, University of Georgia
History
Photo by Dennis HKG, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons 2009 South African Airlink Flight 8911 crashed shortly after takeoff near Durban International Airport, killing the captain and injuring the rest of the crew.
Sources: National Transportation Safety Board (United States) ; DefenceWeb (South Africa)
TragedySouth Africa marked its first Heritage Day, a new public holiday created after apartheid to let all South Africans celebrate the country's diverse cultural traditions.
Sources: South African History Online ; South African Government (gov.za)
CultureKongolese and Dutch forces, allied against Portugal, defeated the Portuguese at Nambu a Ngongo in the Dembos region. The governor of Angola, Pedro Cezar de Menezes, had to abandon the Bengo River and fall back on the fort at Massangano.
Source: Cambridge University Press
Read the full article: Kongo, Central Africa's Christian Kingdom
Battle