On this day — November 1 in African history

Public Domain (Algeria), Wikimedia Commons

The National Liberation Front (FLN) launched coordinated attacks across French Algeria in an uprising known as "Toussaint Rouge" (Red All Saints' Day), marking the start of the Algerian War of Independence.

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

British South Africa Company forces defeated a much larger Ndebele army at the Battle of Bembezi, the decisive engagement of the First Matabele War in present-day Zimbabwe.

Burundian President Michel Micombero was ousted in a bloodless military coup led by Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, who suspended the constitution and formed a Supreme Revolutionary Council.

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Antigua and Barbuda gained independence from the United Kingdom, ending nearly 350 years of British rule, with Vere Cornwall Bird becoming the country's first prime minister.

Siddiq Abubakar III, the longest-reigning Sultan of Sokoto and a leading Islamic authority in Nigeria, died after 50 years on the throne.