Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1951 Libya became independent, with Idris I proclaimed King of Libya, making it the first country to achieve independence through the United Nations.
IndependenceOn this day — December 24 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
We are adding a source to every entry in this archive. 1 of 5 on this page carry one so far. The rest were written before per-entry citations were recorded, so if you intend to rely on one, check it independently until its source appears here. See our sourcing methodology.
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1951 Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida, commissioned for the Khedive of Egypt, premiered at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo.
Culture
Godwin Alabi-Isama — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1969 Nigerian federal troops captured Umuahia, the capital of the breakaway Republic of Biafra, during the Nigerian Civil War.
Politics
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1942 Vichy French Admiral François Darlan was assassinated in Algiers, Algeria, by a young monarchist.
PoliticsThe Lord's Resistance Army attacked villages across Haut-Uele in northern Congo over Christmas, ten days after Ugandan, Congolese and southern Sudanese forces launched Operation Lightning Thunder against its camps. Human Rights Watch documented more than 865 Congolese civilians killed and at least 160 children abducted between late December 2008 and January 2009. Fighters tied people up and killed them with clubs, axes and machetes. Human Rights Watch found that the operation's planners had made no adequate contingency plan and that their forces were unprepared for the reprisals that followed.
Sources: Human Rights Watch ; United Nations Security Council
Tragedy