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So What did Macmillan Really Think?
"The wind of change is blowing through this [African] continent, and whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. We must all accept...
Source : about.com | 06-Oct-2008 02:10

5 October 1911 – Italy Occupies Tripoli
In 1911 Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (now Libya) were the only territories in North Africa not under the control of European nations – they were part of the Ottoman Empire. On...
Source : about.com | 05-Oct-2008 02:10

Italy Invades Abyssinia in 1935
The fascist leader of Italy, Benito Mussolini, had long wanted an empire - but there were few opportunities left. Africa, except for one region, Abyssinia, had been carved up by...
Source : about.com | 03-Oct-2008 08:44

Zulu War Battle Sites
The Zulu nation, forged by Shaka, was a powerful force in southern Africa. Invaded by Voortrekkers, subdued by the British in 1879, and eventually absorbed into South Africa, the many...
Source : about.com | 02-Oct-2008 08:46

Just How Wrong Can You Get?
"On the whole the African regions which during the past century have seen the greatest cruelty, degradation, and suffering, the greatest diminution of population, are those where native control has...
Source : about.com | 29-Sep-2008 02:10

Death of Gamal Abdel Nasser
Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, hero of Arab nationalism and prominent African statesman, died of a heart attack on 28 September 1970 whilst in office as president of Egypt. Nasser had...
Source : about.com | 28-Sep-2008 02:10

Gold Coast Colony Annexes Ashanti Kingdom
The relationship between the Ashanti kingdom and the British at the Gold Coast was fraught, with the Ashanti looking to expand its territory and protect trade connections on the coast,...
Source : about.com | 25-Sep-2008 02:10

Death of Shaka Zulu
Shaka kaSenzangakhona, Zulu king and founder of the Zulu empire, is murdered by his two half-brothers Dingane and Mhlangana at kwaDukuza on 24 September 1828. Dingane assumes the throne. Shaka's...
Source : about.com | 24-Sep-2008 02:10

Anti-Apartheid Struggle -- Anti-Pass Protests by South African Women
On 23 September 1913 protests by a multi-racial group of women took place in response to a new requirement introduced in the Orange Free State that black women must carry...
Source : about.com | 23-Sep-2008 02:10

It's All in How You See Yourself...
"If you want to steal, steal a little in a nice way. But if you steal too much to become rich overnight, you'll be caught."Mobutu Sese Seko, president of Zaire...
Source : about.com | 22-Sep-2008 02:10

The Fashoda Incident
The Fashoda Incident (18 September 1898) was the climax of a set of disputes over territory in Africa between the French and the British. France was pushing to east from...
Source : about.com | 18-Sep-2008 02:10

Agostinho Neto, doctor, poet and first president of Angola
Agostinho Neto was not only Angola's first president but he remains its most prominent poet, with his work published in several languages Neto's poetry deals with the quest for freedom,...
Source : about.com | 17-Sep-2008 02:00

Britain Captures the Cape of Good Hope in 1795
The French Revolution had changed the dynamics of Europe, and when William V of Orange fled to Britain in January 1795, and the Batavian Republic formed in the Netherlands, William...
Source : about.com | 16-Sep-2008 02:10

Eritrea Handed Over to Ethiopia by UN in '52
After World War II, Italy's colonies in Africa were put under the control of the UN (which was founded at the end of the war). Eritrea was placed under British...
Source : about.com | 15-Sep-2008 08:47

Quotes: Stephen (Steve) Bantu Biko
Steve Biko, the founder of the Black Consciousness movement in South Africa, died in a Pretoria prison cell on 12 September 1977. He became a martyr and symbol of black...
Source : about.com | 13-Sep-2008 02:10

Steve Biko Dies in Detention
Steve Biko, the founder of the Black Consciousness movement in South Africa, died in a Pretoria prison cell on 12 September 1977. He was to become a martyr and symbol...
Source : about.com | 12-Sep-2008 02:20

African Myths of Origin
The more than 70 traditional stories in African Myths of Origins deal with how the world was shaped and cultures established. The myths were chosen for their cultural importance and...
Source : about.com | 11-Sep-2008 02:10

Origins of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
When the Portuguese first sailed down the Atlantic African coast in the 1430s, they were interested in one thing. Surprisingly, given modern perspectives, it was not slaves but gold. However,...
Source : about.com | 10-Sep-2008 13:49

Mandela on Education
"Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can...
Source : about.com | 08-Sep-2008 02:10

Danie Theron ? Hero of the Anglo-Boer War
Danie Theron, a true Afrikaner patriot believing in the just and divine right of the Boer to stand against British interference, died on the 4th September 1900 in an inferno...
Source : about.com | 04-Sep-2008 02:00

Battle of Omdurman
On 2 September 1898 the decisive British victory at the Battle of Omdurmanin effectively brought the 15 year Mahdist rebellion (started by Muhammad Ahmed Ibn Seyyid abdullah, The Mahdi) to...
Source : about.com | 02-Sep-2008 02:10

In the Words of Kwame Nkrumah...
"To the African, the European settler, whether living in South Africa, Kenya, Angola, or anywhere else in Africa, is an intruder, an alien who has seized African land. No amount...
Source : about.com | 01-Sep-2008 02:10

Paying for Colonial Indiscretions?
With the news that Italy is going to be paying Libya $200 million a year for the next twenty-five years in compensation for the wrongs perpetrated during its 30 year...
Source : about.com | 30-Aug-2008 13:09

British School Children to Learn About Slavery
BBC News Online reports that British school children will be required to learn about Britain's involvement in the slave trade, its links to the development of the British Empire and...
Source : about.com | 30-Aug-2008 09:12

Tarzan Makes His First Appearance in The All-Story Magazine
Edgar Rice Burroughs' most famous character, Tarzan, made his first appearance in print on 27 August 1912, in The All-Story magazine (October issue). Burroughs book subsequently spawned 23 sequels. Tarzan...
Source : about.com | 27-Aug-2008 02:10

Anglo-Egyptian Treaty is Formalized
The Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 26 August 1936 established Egypt as a sovereign state and required Britain to remove all troops except for those deemed necessary to protect the Suez Canal...
Source : about.com | 26-Aug-2008 02:10

20 Years Since Banning of End Conscription Campaign in SA
"Conscription was the only way whites felt the pain of apartheid and this made it an ideal mobilising tool -- apartheid wasn't worth dying for.[The End Conscription Campaign] was the...
Source : about.com | 25-Aug-2008 05:04

Beginning of the Mau Mau Rebellion
Information filters back to Kenyan authorities during late August 1951 about secret meetings being held in the forests outside Nairobi. A secret society called the Mau Mau, believed to have...
Source : about.com | 24-Aug-2008 02:10

21 August 1961 - Jomo Kenyatta Finally Free
All restrictions on Jomo Kenyatta's movement are finally lifted on 21 August 1961 (in advance of the constitutional changes which will allow Kenya to achieve full independence as a republic...
Source : about.com | 21-Aug-2008 02:10

Nigerian Scam hits Nigerians!
BBC News Online reports that the name of Liverpool Hope University, UK, was used in an internet scam targeting students in Nigeria.Students in Nigeria were sent fake degree offer letters,...
Source : about.com | 20-Aug-2008 14:20

Zambia's Levy Patrick Mwanawasa Dies
On 19 August 2008 Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, respected statesman and third president of an independent Zambia, died of complications due to an earlier stroke. He will be remembered as a...
Source : about.com | 19-Aug-2008 13:46

What Should a Young Traveler Take to Africa? Henry Morton Stanley Offers Advice...
"On one point I failed, and lest new and young travelers fall into the same error which marred much of my enjoyment, this paragraph is written. One must be...
Source : about.com | 18-Aug-2008 08:03

18 August 1826 - Alexander Gordon Laing enters Timbuktu
Alexander Gordon Laing is acknowledged to be the first European to reach the city of Timbuktu, having crossed the Sahara to do so. He'd survived a savage attack by Tuareg...
Source : about.com | 18-Aug-2008 02:10

16 August 2003 - Ugandan Despot President Dies
During the 1970s Uganda was ruled by a despotic president, Idi Amin Dada, whom, popular history has it, declared his title to be: "His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal...
Source : about.com | 16-Aug-2008 02:10

History Repeating Itself for the Opposition Leader in Zimbabwe?
Will Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai become another Joshua Nkomo, who was opposition leader when the country gained independence in 1980. Nkomo's supporters were murdered by Mugabe's soldiers (likewise with...
Source : about.com | 15-Aug-2008 07:22

Bakassi Now Part of Cameroon
Two years after an agreement to do so, Nigeria has ceded the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon. Given past conflicts in the area, the displacement of people, and the potential revenue...
Source : about.com | 15-Aug-2008 07:11

14 August 1882 - Cetshwayo kaMpande Meets Queen Victoria
After the defeat of his armies by the British in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, King Cetshwayo was exiled from Zululand and moved to Cape Town where he was held...
Source : about.com | 14-Aug-2008 02:10

12 August 1883 - Last Known Quagga Dies in Amsterdam's Artis Magistra Zoo
It wasn't known at the time, simply because the term Quagga was applied to any zebra found in South Africa, but when the last Quagga mare died in Amsterdam all...
Source : about.com | 12-Aug-2008 02:10

Africans Need Computers as Much as Water
"Africans need food, water and so on, but we also need affordable computing... I believe that Africa is about to miss a great development opportunity, in much the same way...
Source : about.com | 11-Aug-2008 02:00

Re-enactment of Historical Africa Circumnavigation
The Phoenician Ship Expedition aims to circumnavigate Africa in a reconstructed Phoenician vessel, to "re-create one of mankind's greatest exploratory voyages in the history of seafaring", mentioned by the Greek...
Source : about.com | 10-Aug-2008 07:50

Woman's Day - South African National Holiday - 9 August 1956
It is 52 years since the Federation of South African Women organized a mass demonstration against the imposition of pass laws on women in South Africa. More than 20,000 women,...
Source : about.com | 09-Aug-2008 02:10

Coup in Mauritania
Reuters news agency has reported that soldiers in Mauritania have instigated a coup d'état. President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdellahi (who had been in power since 19 April 2007) and Prime...
Source : about.com | 06-Aug-2008 11:19

3 August 1958 - The Treason Trial begins
In response to the adoption of the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People, South Africa's Apartheid government had 156 people arrested - almost the entire executive of the...
Source : about.com | 03-Aug-2008 02:10

Zimbabwe Bank Notes Lose Zeros
Zimbabwe's central bank has issued new bank notes once again to cope with the country's inflation rate (officially at some 2,000,000 percent though more likely around 9,000,000 percent according to...
Source : about.com | 02-Aug-2008 04:38

Shameful Revelations About Robben Island
Robben Island and the infamous prison where so many political prisoners were incarcerated during South Africa's apartheid era, now has a new shameful aspect to its history. The Mail and...
Source : about.com | 01-Aug-2008 09:20

26 July 1847 - Liberia Becomes a Republic
Liberia, where the American Colonization Society established the first settlement, Monrovia, in 1822 on land 'granted' by local rulers, became an independent republic with a constitution based on that of...
Source : about.com | 26-Jul-2008 02:10