Ceiling of Debre Birhan Selassie church, Gondar, Ethiopia. Photo: Rod Waddington, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence · Source
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Tiamoyo Karenga, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1966 The first Kwanzaa was celebrated in Los Angeles, created by Maulana Karenga to honor African-American and Pan-African heritage.
Sources: HISTORY (A&E Television Networks) ; Encyclopedia.com
Culture
Benny Gool, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons Desmond Tutu, South African Anglican archbishop, Nobel Peace laureate and anti-apartheid icon, died at age 90.
Sources: South African History Online ; Nobel Prize (Nobel Foundation)
Death
Government of Somaliland, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 2025 Israel recognized Somaliland as an independent state, becoming the first country in the world to do so.
Sources: The Guardian ; Al Jazeera ; BBC News
Politics
Werner Fischdick, GFDL 1.2, Wikimedia Commons (aircraft of the same type involved) 1994 French commandos stormed Air France Flight 8969 at Marseille airport, ending a hijacking by the Armed Islamic Group that had begun in Algiers two days earlier and killing all four hijackers.
Sources: Transport Security International Magazine ; AirSafe.com (Todd Curtis)
Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed
Politics
CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 1974 Farid al-Atrash, the Syrian-Egyptian singer, composer and oud virtuoso considered one of the giants of 20th-century Arab music, died.
Sources: elCinema ; Daily News Egypt ; Egypt Today
Culture