On this day: December 16 in African history

CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons (portrait believed to depict a knight of the Order of Christ, Vasco da Gama's order)

Vasco da Gama's fleet passed the Great Fish River at the southern tip of Africa, sailing beyond the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back.

Sources: Hakluyt Society / Project Gutenberg ; Wereldwyd ; New Advent (Catholic Encyclopedia)

Renier Maritz, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius defeated a large Zulu force at the Battle of Blood River, an event later commemorated as South Africa's Day of Reconciliation.

Sources: South African History Online ; Ditsong Museums of South Africa ; South African Government

Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of South Africa's African National Congress, launched its first coordinated bombings against government targets.

Sources: African National Congress ; South African History Online

Grace Alele-Williams, the first Nigerian woman to be awarded a doctorate and the first female vice-chancellor of a Nigerian university, was born.

Sources: MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews ; The Guardian Nigeria

Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed

Deyda Hydara, a Gambian journalist and press-freedom advocate who co-founded the newspaper The Point, was shot dead in Banjul.

Sources: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ; Committee to Protect Journalists ; Open Society Justice Initiative