Prince Louis Rwagasore, hero of Burundi's independence movement and its prime minister, was assassinated in Bujumbura just months before the country gained independence.
Sources: The Guardian ; Deutsche Welle
Death
Ceiling of Debre Birhan Selassie church, Gondar, Ethiopia. Photo: Rod Waddington, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence · Source
On this day: October 13 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Jerry Rice, American football wide receiver widely regarded as the greatest in NFL history, was born in Mississippi.
Sources: Mississippi Encyclopedia (Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi) ; Encyclopaedia Britannica
Sports
Photo by Erik van Leeuwen, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 2021 Agnes Tirop, Kenyan Olympic runner and world record holder, was found killed at her home in Iten, Kenya.
Sources: Al Jazeera ; World Athletics
DeathBen Africa, Namibian surgeon, politician and former Baster captain of Rehoboth, was born.
Sources: KlausDierks.com, Biographies of Namibian Personalities ; Modern Africa: Politics, History and Society (University of Hradec Kralove)
Birth
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1706 Iyasu I, Emperor of Ethiopia remembered as 'Iyasu the Great' for his military campaigns and administrative reforms, died.
Sources: Dictionary of African Christian Biography (Boston University) ; Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
DeathArmand Mouyal, the Algerian-born French epee fencer who won an Olympic bronze medal in the 1956 team event, was born.
Sources: Olympedia ; Fencing Archive
Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed
BirthPoure Puobe VII, the Paramount Chief of Nandom in Ghana's Upper East Region, was born.
Sources: BusinessGhana ; Graphic Online (Daily Graphic, Ghana)
Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed
Birth