On this day — September 30 in African history

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Bechuanaland gained independence from Britain and became the Republic of Botswana, with Seretse Khama as its first president.

Photo by Tom Marcello — CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Cissy Houston, the Grammy-winning gospel singer, backing vocalist for Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley, and mother of Whitney Houston, was born in Newark, New Jersey.

Photo by Steve Lipofsky — CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Dikembe Mutombo, the Congolese-American basketball Hall of Famer renowned as much for his humanitarian work building hospitals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as for his defensive dominance in the NBA, died of brain cancer at age 58.