Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons 1936 Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the anti-apartheid activist and politician who campaigned for decades for her husband Nelson Mandela's release from prison, was born in Bizana, South Africa.
Sources: South African History Online ; Nelson Mandela Foundation
BirthA Nigerian Air Force Lockheed C-130H Hercules crashed shortly after takeoff from Lagos, killing everyone on board; published accounts of the toll range from 158 to 160, and most of those killed were military personnel.
Sources: Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives ; ThisDay
Tragedy
Photo by Yaamboo — CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 2002 The Senegalese ferry MV Le Joola capsized in a storm off the Gambian coast on its way from Ziguinchor to Dakar. It was licensed for 536 passengers and officially carrying more than 1,928. The recorded toll is 1,863 dead and 65 survivors, more than the Titanic, and victims' associations put it above 2,000. Senegal closed its inquiry in 2003 by blaming the captain, who had died in the sinking, and a French investigation that named seven Senegalese officials was dropped for want of jurisdiction. Nobody was prosecuted and the wreck was never raised.
Sources: Africanews ; Daily Sabah
Tragedy
Photo by Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com — CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons 1992 South African President F. W. de Klerk and ANC President Nelson Mandela signed the Record of Understanding, breaking a deadlock and paving the way for the resumption of negotiations to end apartheid.
Sources: O'Malley Archives (Nelson Mandela Foundation) ; South African History Online
Politics
Portrait by Carl Frederik von Breda — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1846 Thomas Clarkson, the English abolitionist whose decades of research and campaigning were instrumental in ending the British transatlantic slave trade, died.
Sources: BBC History ; Westminster Abbey
Death