The United Kingdom and France began bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal, escalating the Suez Crisis.
Sources: Royal Air Force Museum ; National Security Archive, George Washington University
Politics
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 31 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Metrojet Flight 9268 was bombed over Egypt's northern Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people aboard.
Sources: CNN ; The Moscow Times ; Los Angeles Times
Politics
Photo by Lawrence Jackson, White House, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 2014 Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaoré resigned after 27 years in power, following days of mass protests against his attempt to extend term limits.
Sources: The Guardian ; Présidence du Faso
Politics
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1939 Ali Farka Touré, Malian guitarist and singer celebrated for blending traditional Malian music with blues, was born.
Sources: Universal Music France ; African American Registry ; World Circuit Records
CultureMalek Bennabi, Algerian writer and philosopher known for his influential analysis of the decline and renewal of Muslim civilizations, died.
Sources: ALTRALANG Journal (AJOL) ; Maghreb Magazin
Death
Wie is wie in Suid-Afrika, 1963, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 2006 P.W. Botha, apartheid-era South African prime minister and state president nicknamed 'the Groot Krokodil,' died.
Sources: Voice of America ; News24
Death
Egyptian Television Network, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 2009 Mustafa Mahmoud, Egyptian physician, author and broadcaster who wrote dozens of books on science, philosophy and religion, died.
Sources: Al-Ahram Weekly (Ahram Online) ; BBC News Arabic
Death