Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Public Domain (Gerald R. Ford Library), Wikimedia Commons 1965 Army chief of staff Joseph-Désiré Mobutu (later Mobutu Sese Seko) seized power in a coup in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, beginning a 32-year rule.
Sources: U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States 1964-1968, Volume XXIII, Congo ; Encyclopaedia Britannica ; GlobalSecurity.org
PoliticsColonel Saye Zerbo overthrew President Sangoulé Lamizana in a bloodless military coup in Upper Volta (present-day Burkina Faso).
Sources: Presidence du Faso (Burkina Faso presidency) ; leFaso.net ; The Turkish Yearbook of International Relations (Ankara University)
PoliticsA group of South African mercenaries led by Colonel "Mad Mike" Hoare, disguised as tourists, attempted a coup in Seychelles that collapsed within hours when their weapons were discovered at the airport.
Sources: The Brenthurst Foundation ; Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa ; South African History Online
Politics