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.

Sources: Oxford University Press (Matthew Connelly, A Diplomatic Revolution) ; Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State (FRUS 1952-1954, vol. XI, pt. 1) ; Library and Archives Canada (Jeffrey W. Mott, University of New Brunswick MA thesis)

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Fewer than 700 British South Africa Company troops with Maxim guns broke repeated Ndebele charges at Bembezi, the decisive engagement of the First Matabele War. Lobengula burned Bulawayo rather than leave it to the Company, whose columns occupied the ruins three days later.

Sources: South African History Online ; W.A. Wills and L.T. Collingridge (eds.), The Downfall of Lobengula: The Cause, History, and Effect of the Matabeli War (London: The African Review, 1894), with Major P.W. Forbes's account of the campaign; digitised by the Internet Archive

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.

Sources: IWACU (Burundi) ; Le Monde diplomatique (Jean-Pierre Chrétien) ; Sciences Po, Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence

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.

Sources: UK Parliament (Hansard) ; BBC News ; CARICOM

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

Sources: The Defender (Nigeria) ; Desert Herald ; Vanguard (Nigeria)