On this day: December 8 in African history

Armed men attacked the mountain villages of Bouhamed and Ayachiche, north of Tadjena in Chlef province west of Algiers, killing 81 villagers overnight and abducting about 20 women. As with the other massacres of that period, nobody was identified as responsible. Human Rights Watch noted that survivors described attackers moving freely through militarised zones without the security forces intervening, and that no independent body was ever allowed to investigate.

Sources: Human Rights Watch ; Northwest Florida Daily News (wire brief, "Briefs: nation & world") ; Stathis N. Kalyvas, Rationality and Society (Sage Publications, peer-reviewed)

Turn685 / Avenhar, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 290, condemning Portugal for its military attacks on the Republic of Guinea.

Sources: UNSCR (unscr.com) ; Keesing's Record of World Events (Stanford Libraries copy)

Schorle, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Robbie Shakespeare, the Jamaican bassist of the influential rhythm duo Sly and Robbie, died.

Sources: BBC ; The Guardian

Schlesinger Library, Harvard University, No known restrictions, Wikimedia Commons

Zelma Watson George, a Black American opera singer, sociologist and UN delegate, was born.

Sources: Texas State Historical Association ; Encyclopedia of Cleveland History (Case Western Reserve University)