Rob Mieremet, Anefo — CC0, Wikimedia Commons Tanganyika, now mainland Tanzania, gained independence from Britain, with Julius Nyerere leading the new government.
IndependenceOn this day — December 9 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Rob Mieremet, Anefo — CC0, Wikimedia Commons Rob Mieremet, Anefo — CC0, Wikimedia Commons 1962 Tanganyika became a republic exactly one year after independence, with Julius Nyerere becoming its first president.
Politics
Mathew Brady / Levin Handy, Library of Congress — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1872 P. B. S. Pinchback became the first African-American governor of a U.S. state when he took office in Louisiana.
Politics
Stephen Kirrage — CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 1940 In World War II's Operation Compass, British and Indian troops attacked Italian forces near Sidi Barrani in Egypt.
War
PHCM Terry C. Mitchell, U.S. DoD — Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1992 American troops landed in Somalia to launch Operation Restore Hope, a UN-sanctioned humanitarian intervention.
PoliticsDaniel O. Fagunwa, the pioneering Nigerian novelist known for writing the first major novel in the Yoruba language, died.
Death