On this day — October 9 in African history

Uganda gained independence from the United Kingdom, with Milton Obote as its first prime minister.

Sources: legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives) ; Encyclopedia.com (Gale) ; Encyclopaedia Britannica

CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Léopold Sédar Senghor, poet and statesman who became the first President of Senegal, was born in Joal.

Sources: Academie francaise ; Editions Larousse

U.S. Air Force / French military — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Eugene Bullard, the first African-American military pilot, who flew for France in World War I, was born in Columbus, Georgia.

Sources: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum ; New Georgia Encyclopedia ; San Diego Air & Space Museum

Mary Ann Shadd, abolitionist and the first Black woman newspaper publisher in North America, was born in Wilmington, Delaware.

Sources: Dictionary of Canadian Biography ; National Women's History Museum ; National Park Service

An earthquake destroyed most of the Spanish-held city of Oran, killing at least 2,000 people, with contemporary accounts putting the figure as high as 3,000, and producing a tsunami along the Mediterranean coast.

Sources: Fisica de la Tierra (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) ; NAGET (ICTP)

Unknown author — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Tawfiq al-Hakim, Egyptian playwright and novelist regarded as a pioneer of modern Arabic drama, was born.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica ; Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism

Photo by Tore Sætre — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Abdullah Ibrahim, South African jazz pianist and composer whose piece 'Mannenberg' became an anti-apartheid anthem, was born in Cape Town.

Sources: South African History Online ; The Wire

Photo by Auto-épreuve — CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Jacques Derrida, Algerian-born French philosopher who founded the school of deconstruction, died in Paris.

Sources: University of California (Academic Senate In Memoriam) ; Voice of America

Solomon Lar, Nigerian politician who served as governor of Plateau State and became founding chairman of the People's Democratic Party, died.

Sources: Vanguard ; Channels Television