On this day: November 23 in African history

Ethiopia's ruling Derg shot former officials of Haile Selassie's government in Addis Ababa without any trial, among them Aklilu Habte-Wold, who had been prime minister for 13 years. Human Rights Watch put the toll at 60; an academic study puts it at 59. General Aman Andom, who had chaired the Derg until days earlier, was killed at his house the night before as soldiers came to arrest him, and the killings together became known as the Massacre of the Sixty.

Sources: Human Rights Watch ; Journal of Genocide Research (Routledge/Taylor & Francis, open access)

Corrected twice in September 2026 · change 1 · change 2

Mbuya Dyoko, the Zimbabwean musician who became the first woman to commercially record mbira music, was born in Zvimba District.

Sources: Ethnomusicology Forum (Taylor & Francis) ; Garland Magazine ; Taste of Southern Africa

Iwe Irohin, Nigeria's first newspaper, was established at Abeokuta by the missionary Henry Townsend in November 1859, the month some accounts give for its first issue; others date it to 3 December 1859.

Sources: Scholars Bulletin (Saudi Journals) ; HistoryVille