A conquered continent, its people dragged into slavery in all parts of the world, its capacity for wealth through gold and diamonds, more recently through oil and gas, or even for feeding itself through agruiculture, stolen by whoever had the power to steal it, and the stealers fighting among themselves over the hoarded treasure.
And that is me describing today's Africa, when you thought I was meaning the one before liberation (virtually the same text actually!). But alas, only the language has changed. Slavery may have been abolished, but where is the oil and gas going from Equatorial Guinea, how are the chocolate plantations run in Cote d'Ivoire, what use was all that cotton in the Sahel? What follows is the story of the liberation of the world from the word slavery into the freedom of out-sourcing and Zero Hours contracts, and governments installed by proxy now that empires are no longer permitted.
Once again I am using the timeline in "Black Past", which can be found at https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history-timeline/ - [my additional comments square-bracketed and in purple]
We begin at the start of the very beginning of the 20th century:
1900: The United States Pavilion at the Paris Exposition (April 14-November 10) houses an exhibition on black Americans called the Exposition des Negres d'Amerique. [not in Africa]
1900: The first Pan African Conference, organized by Henry Sylvester Williams, a Trinidad attorney, meets in London in July [and who was there from Black Africa? anyone?]
1900: The British establish the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria.
1900: Beginning of large scale copper mining in the Katanga region of the Congo Free State.
1900: The first white settlers arrive in Kenya.
[and I insist on adding, because she was the most remarkable woman and her achievements in Africa were not simply outstanding but quite unique in the context of her English upbringing: on the page for June 3: 1900: death of Mary Kingsley]
1900: The first Pan African Conference, organized by Henry Sylvester Williams, a Trinidad attorney, meets in London in July [and who was there from Black Africa? anyone?]
1900: The British establish the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria.
1900: Beginning of large scale copper mining in the Katanga region of the Congo Free State.
1900: The first white settlers arrive in Kenya.
[and I insist on adding, because she was the most remarkable woman and her achievements in Africa were not simply outstanding but quite unique in the context of her English upbringing: on the page for June 3: 1900: death of Mary Kingsley]
1901: African American cyclist Marshall "Major" Taylor wins European Cycling championship in Paris, France. [not in Africa]
1901: The British annex the Ashanti Empire into their Gold Coast colony.
1903: Meta Vaux Warrick, an African American sculptor, exhibits her work at the Paris Salon, Paris France. [yes, but was she any good? and did the Matisse dinner-crowd on Aug 19 know about it?]
1903 Thousands of black workers from the Caribbean and Latin America arrive in the Canal Zone to help build the Panama Canal. [not in Africa]
1903: Troops of the West African Frontier Force, led by British officers, take the city of Sokoto. Shortly afterwards the Sokoto Caliphate is annexed to Nigeria.
1904: France creates a federation of its West African colonies stretching from Chad and the Cameroons west to Senegal.
1904: The Herero rise in rebellion against German forces in South West Africa (Namibia). The rebellion is crushed the following year.
1904: Black South Africans are required for the first time to settle in Soweto, a township on the edge of Johannesburg. Soweto is the first and will eventually become the largest of the all-black townships near white South African cities under the new system of government-mandated residential segregation.
1905: The Maji-Maji Uprising begins in German East Africa.
1906: Britain, France, and Italy agree to recognize the independence of Ethiopia.
1906: Lagos is incorporated into the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria.
1907: German forces capture Abdallah Mapanda, the leader of the Maji-Maji Uprising in German East Africa (Tanganyika).
1907: Nairobi is chosen as the capital of British East Africa.
1907: German forces defeat the Nama people, ending resistance to the conquest of South West Africa
1908 John Baxter "Doc" Taylor of the University of Pennsylvania becomes the first African American to win an Olympic Gold Medal. His event is the 4/400-meter medley at the London Games. [not in Africa and given that he was earlier than Jesse Owen, why have we not heard of him?]
1908: On December 26, Jack Johnson defeats Canadian Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia to become the first African American heavyweight boxing champion of the world. [not in Africa]
1908: Leopold II transfers control of the Congo Free State to Belgium.
1910: The Union of South Africa is formed with the Afrikaners as the majority of the white population. The Union becomes a dominion of the British Empire.
1912: The African National Congress (ANC) was formed in Bloemfontein, South Africa on January 18, 1912, when a group of Africans, Coloreds, and Indians convened a meeting to discuss their grievances against the colonial government.
1912: The French establish a protectorate in Morocco.
1912 [not on the Black Past timeline, but on my Equal Sex page in Woman-Blindness, the birthday, on July 12, in Bamako - Mali now, but then French Sudan - of Aoua Kéita, independence activist, politician and writer]
1913: Mohandas Gandhi is arrested in South Africa for leading a protest against the treatment of Indians there.
1914: The Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) is founded in Kingston, Jamaica by Marcus and Amy Jacques Garvey. [not in Africa]
1914: U.S. born pilot Eugene Jacques Bullard volunteers to serve with the French Air Force in World War I. He is the first black pilot to see combat in that conflict. [not in Africa]
1914: Blaise Diagne wins a seat in the French National Assembly in Paris, representing Dakar, Senegal. He also recruits Senegalese troops for the French Army during World War I. In 1934 he becomes the Deputy Minister of the Colonies in the French government. [given that he is supporting French rule in Africa...]
1914: The British Protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria are combined to form the Colony of Nigeria, the most populous colony in Africa.
1915: Invoking the name of U.S. abolitionist John Brown, John Chilembwe leads 200 followers in an unsuccessful revolt against British colonial rule in Nyasaland (now Malawi). Chilembwe and his followers kill three British subjects before he flees to Mozambique where he is killed ten days later by Portuguese-led African soldiers.
1917: [not on the Black Past timeline but see Oct 27: Oliver Tambo born; and click here for a full bio]
1913: Mohandas Gandhi is arrested in South Africa for leading a protest against the treatment of Indians there.
1914: The Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) is founded in Kingston, Jamaica by Marcus and Amy Jacques Garvey. [not in Africa]
1914: U.S. born pilot Eugene Jacques Bullard volunteers to serve with the French Air Force in World War I. He is the first black pilot to see combat in that conflict. [not in Africa]
1914: Blaise Diagne wins a seat in the French National Assembly in Paris, representing Dakar, Senegal. He also recruits Senegalese troops for the French Army during World War I. In 1934 he becomes the Deputy Minister of the Colonies in the French government. [given that he is supporting French rule in Africa...]
1914: The British Protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria are combined to form the Colony of Nigeria, the most populous colony in Africa.
1915: Invoking the name of U.S. abolitionist John Brown, John Chilembwe leads 200 followers in an unsuccessful revolt against British colonial rule in Nyasaland (now Malawi). Chilembwe and his followers kill three British subjects before he flees to Mozambique where he is killed ten days later by Portuguese-led African soldiers.
1917: [not on the Black Past timeline but see Oct 27: Oliver Tambo born; and click here for a full bio]
1918: The Ecole de Medecine de Dakar is founded in Dakar, Senegal. It eventually becomes Cheik Anta Diop University.
1919: James Reese Europe's Army jazz band popularizes jazz in France and Western Europe [not in Africa]
1919: The second Pan African Conference, led by W.E. B. DuBois, meets in Paris in February partly to help influence the post war Versailles Peace Conference.
1919: [not on the Black Past timeline because she isn't black, but nevertheless needs to be on this Africa list because she is one of the truly great writers to emerge from the continent, ever: Doris Lessing born Oct 22; and the same comment applies to Nadine Gordimer, whose 1923 birth is noted on the blog on Nov 20]
1920: Former German colonies of Togo, Cameroons, South West Africa, and Tanganyika in Africa are divided by the victorious French and British after World War I.
1921: Bessie Coleman, the first black female pilot, also becomes the first woman to receive an international pilots license when she graduates from the Federation Aeronautique International in France. [not in Africa]
1921: The third Pan African Conference meets in London and Brussels. [not in Africa but determining Africa’s future, so it stays in]
1922: Senegelese boxer Louis Phal, also known as Battling Siki, defeats Georges Carpentier in Paris to win the world light heavyweight boxing title. Phal becomes the first African to win an international professional sports title.
1922: Makerere University is founded as a vocational institute on the edge of Kampala, Uganda. It will become the largest university in East Africa.
1922: [and have you noticed how very little science there has been on this timeline? Alexandria under Ptolemy Soter, and again under Saladin; Mali during its great years, a mention of COVAX tests in Ghana coming up later, but otherwise... I note on Nov 8 of the blog that heart-transplant pioneer Christian Barnard was born on this date; more on him here, and the transplant can be found on Dec 3]
1922: Egypt gains its independence from Great Britain on February 22. King Fuad I is the first head of state
1923: The fourth Pan African Congress meets in London and Lisbon.
1923: Abyssinia (Ethiopia) becomes the first African nation to join the League of Nations.
1924: Eugene ONeill's play “The Emperor Jones” opens in London with Paul Robeson in the title role. [not in Africa]
1924: Achimota School is founded near Accra, The Gold Coast. Part of the institution eventually evolves into the University of Ghana [for which see my piece about Maya Angelou on April 4]
1924 Iraq abolishes slavery. [not in Africa]
1924 O Clarim da Alvorada (Clarion of Dawn) becomes the first Afro-Brazilian newspaper. Founded in Sao Paulo, it will be a leading force in the growing black culture movement in Brazil. [not in Africa]
1924: The Ligue Universelle pour la Defense de la Race Noire (LUDRN), a Pan African Association, is created on April 30 in Paris. The Ligue works to improve conditions for colonized Africans [not in Africa but very relevant, so staying in]
1925: American-born Josephine Baker emerges as a popular entertainer in Paris after she appears in the musical La Revue Negre. [not in Africa]
1926: League of Nations Slavery Convention binds all signatories to end the slave trade and slavery.
1926: [not on the Black Past timeline, but a fascinating view of colonialism in Africa, on my Nov 22 page, following André Gide's travels through the Congo]
1927: Fifth Pan African Congress meets in New York City.
1928: Iran abolishes slavery. [not in Africa]
1929: The Aba Women's Riots in Aba, Nigeria, are the first direct revolt by Nigerians against British colonial rule.
1930: Ras Tafari is crowned Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia [see July 23 and Sept 12]
1931: The Frente Negra Brasileira (Brazilian Black Front) is formed in the city of Sao Paulo. [not in Africa]
1934: Abidjan is declared the capital of the French colony of Ivory Coast.
1934: American-born Robert Robinson becaue the first black city councilman in Moscow, Russia (The Soviet Union). [not in Africa]
1935: On October 3, Italy invades Ethiopia.
1936: Addis Ababa is conquered by Italian forces. Mussolini declares the conquest the foundation of a new Roman Empire.
1936: Felix Eboue become Colonial Governor of Guadeloupe, French West Indies, the first person of African ancestry to hold the post in the French Colonial Empire. Eventually he will hold the same post in Chad and in 1940 becomes Governor General of French Equatorial Africa.
1936: On June 30, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie appeals unsuccessfully to the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, to assist his country in expelling the Italian invaders. [appeasement? this para needs to go with my piece about Guernica in "Travels In Familiar Lands".]
1937: Approximately 80 African Americans are among the 3,000 U.S. volunteers who fight in the Spanish Civil War. One of them, Texas-born Oliver Law, commands the Lincoln Battalion. Law is killed in battle on July 9. [not in Africa]
1941: Ethiopia with the assistance of British forces defeats the Italians and reestablishes its independence.
1942: Slavery is abolished in the Ethiopian Empire.
1942-43: Nearly 100,000 African American noncombat soldiers are sent to Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Samoa and other areas of the Pacific to build roads, ports and airfields in the war against Imperial Japan. Black soldiers with the 95th Engineer Regiment, for example, help construct the Alaska-Canadian (ALCAN) Highway in 1942. [not in Africa]
1943: African troops fight in both Allied and Axis armies in North, West, and East Africa.
1943: President Franklin Roosevelt travels to Liberia to Meet with Liberian President Edwin J. Barclay to lobby for its rubber and other natural resources for the Allied war effort. This marks the first trip by a U.S. President while in office to a sub-Saharan African nation ["lobby" is an interesting word; was Matthew Perry only "lobbying" Madame Butterfly? Click here and here - and then here for "gunboat diplomacy")
1944: Eilud Mathu becomes the first black member of the legislative council of Kenya.
1944: The 81st and 82nd West African Divisions and the 11th East African Division (British Army) fight the Japanese in Burma. [not in Africa]
1944: Abdias do Nascimento founds the Teatro Nacional do Negro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [not in Africa]
1944: Eric Eustace Williams publishes the influential Capitalism and Slavery which argues that the British abolition of slavery grew from the realization that wage labor had supplanted slave labor in the global capitalist marketplace. [not in Africa]
1944 Soon after the Allied invasion at Normandy on D-Day, the U.S. Army organizes the Red Ball Express to bring need supplies from the coast to troops advancing across France toward Germay. Nearly 75% of the supply truck drivers are African American. [not in Africa]
1945: The sixth Pan African Congress meets in Manchester, England.
1945: Madame E. T. Eboue is the first person of African ancestry to win a seat in the French Assembly. [not in Africa; she will eventually appear on the blog on Oct 21, once I have completed my piece about her on the Blue-Stockings page of Woman-Blindness]
1946: The Rassemblement Democratique Africain (RDA) was the first French-speaking Pan African organization. Founded in 1946 in Bamako, Mali to provide a voice for colonized Africans in the French National Assembly in Paris, its various colonial sections by 1960 become the first political parties in Mali, Upper Volta, Chad and other newly independent French-speaking nations.
1947: Alioine Diop establishes Presence Africaine, a journal devoted to African culture, in Dakar, Senegal.
1947: The African National Congress (ANC) forms an alliance with the Natal Indian Congress and the Transvaal Indian Congress to oppose British and Afrikaner rule in South Africa.
1948: United Nations Article 4 bans slavery globally. [not in Africa; by which I mean, yes, universally, but it still hasn't been properly implemented in Africa]
1948: The Nationalist Party wins parliamentary elections in South Africa. Within a year it will make Apartheid the official policy of the government.
1948: The University of Ibadan is established in the city of Ibadan, the second largest city in the colony of Nigeria. The university will be the first institution of higher education in Nigeria.
1948: The University of the West Indies is established as the University College of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica. [not in Africa]
1950: On September 22, Ralph Bunche becomes the first African American recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize for his mediation of a settlement between Arabs and Israelis in the 1947-48 Mideast Crisis. [not in Africa]
1951: On December 24, Libya gains its independence from Italy. Its first head of state is King Idris.
1951: The Algerian National Liberation Front begins a guerrilla campaign against the French. The campaign ends with Algerian independence in 1962.
1952: The Mau Mau Uprising begins in Kenya. The uprising ends in 1956 after more than 13,000 people are killed.
1952: Qatar abolishes slavery. [not in Africa]
1952: Ethiopia gains control over Eritrea.
1952: [but not on the Black Past timeline, coup by Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt: see July 23]
1955: Civil War begins in Sudan pitting the Muslim North against the Christian South.
1956: Eric Eustace Williams founds the People's National Movement in Trinidad. [not in Africa]
1956: On January 1, Sudan gains independence from Great Britain. Ismail al-Azhari is the first head of state. [see Jan 1]
1956: On March 20, Tunisia gains independence from France. The first head of state is Muhammad VIII al-Amin.
1956: On April 7, Morocco gains its independence from France. The first head of state is Muhammad V.
1956: [but not on the Black Past timeline, on July 26 Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, leading to war with France, Britain and Israel in October - see July 26]
1955: Civil War begins in Sudan pitting the Muslim North against the Christian South.
1956: Eric Eustace Williams founds the People's National Movement in Trinidad. [not in Africa]
1956: On January 1, Sudan gains independence from Great Britain. Ismail al-Azhari is the first head of state. [see Jan 1]
1956: On March 20, Tunisia gains independence from France. The first head of state is Muhammad VIII al-Amin.
1956: On April 7, Morocco gains its independence from France. The first head of state is Muhammad V.
1956: [but not on the Black Past timeline, on July 26 Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, leading to war with France, Britain and Israel in October - see July 26]
1957: On July 6, Althea Gibson becomes the first African American to win the Womens Singles Division of the British Tennis Championship at Wimbledon. [not in Africa]
1957: On March 6, Ghana becomes the first sub-Saharan nation to gain independence when it is declared free by Great Britain. The first head of state is Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah.
1957: The Bahutu Manifesto drawn up by Rwandan Hutu intellectuals, called for Hutu ethnic and political solidarity and the political disfranchisement of the Tutsi people.
1958: Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe publishes Things Fall Apart, his first critically acclaimed novel [see Nov 16].
1958: Edson Arantes do Nascimento, 17 year-old Brazilian soccer star leads the Brazilian National Soccer team to its first World Cup championship in international competition in Stockholm, Sweden. [Pele I believe, for whom see Oct 23; but still: not in Africa]
1958: Canadian native Willie O'Ree is the first black hockey player in the National Hockey League. He made his NHL debut on January 18, 1958 as a player for the Boston Bruins. Their opponent was the Montreal Canadiens. [not in Africa]
1958: On October 2, Guinea gains its independence from France. Sekou Toure is the first head of state.
1959: The National Symphony Orchestra is founded in Accra, Ghana. It is the first in sub-Saharan Africa.
1959: South Africa writer Es'kia Mphahlele publishes his critically acclaimed autobiography Down Second Avenue.
[not on the Black Past timeline: March 24 is commemorated as Southern African Liberation Day (click here), presumably because it was the day on which the 'Party of the African Federation (PFA)' was established in West Africa (then ruled by the French), on March 24, 1959, by poet and politician Léopold Sédar Senghor (click here): see March 24 on the blog]
1960: Albert John Lutuli, President of the African National Congress, wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
1960: Track star Wilma Rudolph of Tennessee State University is the first woman to win three gold medals at the Olympic Games which are held that year in Rome. [not in Africa]
and then, all of a sudden - or so it seems - and why the French first?
1960: Burkina Faso becomes independent from France. Its first head of state is Maurice Yameogo.
1960: Cote d'Ivoire is declared independent from France. Felix Houphouet-Boigny is the nation's first President.
1960: Chad becomes independent of France on August 11. Francois Tombalbaye is the first head of state.
1960: Abebe Bikila, the barefoot Ethiopian runner, became the first African to win an Olympic gold medal. He competed at the games in Rome, Italy.
1960: On June 26, Madagascar is declared independent by France. Philibert Tsiranana is the first head of state.
1960: On August 1 Benin is declared independent of France. Its first head of state is Hubert Maga.
1960: Track star Wilma Rudolph of Tennessee State University is the first woman to win three gold medals at the Olympic Games which are held that year in Rome. [not in Africa]
and then, all of a sudden - or so it seems - and why the French first?
1960: Burkina Faso becomes independent from France. Its first head of state is Maurice Yameogo.
1960: Cote d'Ivoire is declared independent from France. Felix Houphouet-Boigny is the nation's first President.
1960: Chad becomes independent of France on August 11. Francois Tombalbaye is the first head of state.
1960: Abebe Bikila, the barefoot Ethiopian runner, became the first African to win an Olympic gold medal. He competed at the games in Rome, Italy.
1960: On June 26, Madagascar is declared independent by France. Philibert Tsiranana is the first head of state.
1960: On August 1 Benin is declared independent of France. Its first head of state is Hubert Maga.
1960: On August 3, Niger becomes independent of France. Hamani Diori is chosen as the first head of state.
1960: On June 20, Mali gains independence from France. Modibo Keita is the first head of state.
1960: Senegal is declared independent by France on June 20. Leopold Senghor is the nation's first President.
1960: On April 27, Togo gains its independence from France. The first head of state is Sylvanus Olympio.
1960: On January 1, Cameroon is granted independence by Great Britain and France. The first head of state is Ahmadou Ahidjo.
1960: On June 30, Belgium grants independence to the Congo, (Leopoldville). Joseph Kasavubu is the first Head of State. Within weeks of that independence Katanga province secedes from the Congo prompting a four year civil war in that new nation and United Nations intervention.
1960: Nigeria gains its independence from Great Britain on October 1. Nnamdi Azikiwe is the first President of the nation but in a powersharing arrangement worked out by the British, Sir Abubakar Tafawa is the first Prime Minister.
1960: On July 1, British and Italian Somaliland are united to form the nation of Somalia. Aden Abdullah Osman Daar is the first Head of State.
1960: On March 21, approximately 7,000 protestors gathered at the Sharpeville, South Africa police station to protest Apartheid pass laws. Police opened fire and 69 demonstrators were killed and 186 were wounded. In the aftermath the South African government banned a number of organizations including the African National Congress. The Sharpeville Massacre is considered the first major confrontation by black South Africans against Apartheid.
1960: South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) is formed by Sam Nujoma and Herman Toivo ja Toivo.
1960: The Central African Republic is granted independence from France on August 13. David Dacko becomes the first head of state.
1960: France grants independence to Congo-Brazzaville on August 15. Fulbert Youlou is the first head of state.
1960: Gabon becomes independent of France on August 17. Leon M'ba is the first head of state.
1960: On November 28 Mauritania is declared independent of France. Moktar Ould Daddah is the first head of state.
1961: On January 18, Patrice Lumumba, the leader of the Congo independence movement is killed by troops of the secessionist Katanga province.
1961: The Nationalist struggle against Portuguese rule is launched in Angola. It continues until Angolan independence in 1974.
1961: On April 27, Sierra Leone gains its independence from Great Britain. Milton Margai is its first head of state.
1961: An armed guerilla struggle begins in the Portuguese colonies of Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau. The struggle continues until both colonies are granted independence in 1975.
1961: On December 9, Tanganyika gains its independence from Great Britain. Julius Nyerere is the first head of state.
1962: Yemen abolishes slavery. [not in Africa]
1962: On July 3, Algeria is declared independent by France. Ahmed Ben Bella is its first head of state.
1962 On October 9, Uganda gains its independence from Great Britain. The first head of state is Milton Obote
1962: Jamaica gains its independence from Great Britain on August 6. Alexander Bustamante is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1962: Trinidad & Tobago gain independence from Great Britain on August 31. Eric Eustace Williams is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1962: Saudi Arabia abolishes slavery. [not in Africa]
1962: On July 1, Rwanda is granted independence by Belgium. Gregoire Kayibanda is its first head of state.
1962: On July 1, Burundi is granted independence by Belgium. King Mwambutsa IV is the first head of state.
1963: James Baldwin publishes The Fire Next Time while living in Paris [not in Africa (on Aug 4 but not yet live or Indexed)]
1963: Kenya gains independence from Great Britain on December 12. Jomo Kenyatta is the first head of state [June 1 and Dec 12 on the blog, and more here]
1963: The Organization of African Unity (OAU) founded in Addis Abba, Ethiopia, on May 23.
1963: The United Arab Emirates abolish slavery. [not in Africa]
1964: The Zanzibar Revolution of 1964 ends 120 years of Arab control of the Islands of Zanzibar and Pemba Islands.
1964: Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiongo publishes Weep Not, Child, the first major novel in English by an East African.
1964: On December 10, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm, Sweden. [not in Africa]
1964: On July 6, Malawi is declared independent by Great Britain. Hastings Kamuzu Banda is the first head of state.
1964: Tanganyikan President Julius Nyerere negotiates an agreement with newly independent Zanzibar to merge the two nations. Nyerere becomes President of the new nation of Tanzania.
1964: A Nationalist guerilla struggle against Portuguese rule is launched in Mozambique. It continues until Mozambique is declared independent in 1974.
1964: On October 24, Zambia is declared independent by Great Britain. Kenneth Kaunda is the first head of state [see Oct 24]
1965: Gambia gains independence from Great Britain on February 18. Dawda Kairaba Jawara is the first head of state.
1965: The white minority-controlled Rhodesian government declares its independence from Great Britain.
1966: Nigerian novelist Flora Nwapa, publishes Efuru, one of the first novels in English by an African woman [exactly the same time that Bessie Head started writing: click here and see Oct 22].
1966: First World Festival of Negro Arts (FESTAC) is held in Dakar, Senegal.
1966: Botswana gains independence from Great Britain on September 30. Seretse Khama is the first head of state. [why does that not name it as Bechuanaland - see Sept 30]
1966: Barbados gains independence from Great Britain on November 30. Errol Barrow is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1966: The first military coup takes place in Nigeria, led by Igbo officers. It will lead directly to the Nigerian Civil War.
1966: Guyana gains its independence from Great Britain on May 26. Linden Forbes Sampson Burham is the first head of state.
1960: On June 20, Mali gains independence from France. Modibo Keita is the first head of state.
1960: Senegal is declared independent by France on June 20. Leopold Senghor is the nation's first President.
1960: On April 27, Togo gains its independence from France. The first head of state is Sylvanus Olympio.
1960: On January 1, Cameroon is granted independence by Great Britain and France. The first head of state is Ahmadou Ahidjo.
1960: On June 30, Belgium grants independence to the Congo, (Leopoldville). Joseph Kasavubu is the first Head of State. Within weeks of that independence Katanga province secedes from the Congo prompting a four year civil war in that new nation and United Nations intervention.
1960: Nigeria gains its independence from Great Britain on October 1. Nnamdi Azikiwe is the first President of the nation but in a powersharing arrangement worked out by the British, Sir Abubakar Tafawa is the first Prime Minister.
1960: On July 1, British and Italian Somaliland are united to form the nation of Somalia. Aden Abdullah Osman Daar is the first Head of State.
1960: On March 21, approximately 7,000 protestors gathered at the Sharpeville, South Africa police station to protest Apartheid pass laws. Police opened fire and 69 demonstrators were killed and 186 were wounded. In the aftermath the South African government banned a number of organizations including the African National Congress. The Sharpeville Massacre is considered the first major confrontation by black South Africans against Apartheid.
1960: South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) is formed by Sam Nujoma and Herman Toivo ja Toivo.
1960: The Central African Republic is granted independence from France on August 13. David Dacko becomes the first head of state.
1960: France grants independence to Congo-Brazzaville on August 15. Fulbert Youlou is the first head of state.
1960: Gabon becomes independent of France on August 17. Leon M'ba is the first head of state.
1960: On November 28 Mauritania is declared independent of France. Moktar Ould Daddah is the first head of state.
1961: On January 18, Patrice Lumumba, the leader of the Congo independence movement is killed by troops of the secessionist Katanga province.
1961: The Nationalist struggle against Portuguese rule is launched in Angola. It continues until Angolan independence in 1974.
1961: On April 27, Sierra Leone gains its independence from Great Britain. Milton Margai is its first head of state.
1961: An armed guerilla struggle begins in the Portuguese colonies of Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau. The struggle continues until both colonies are granted independence in 1975.
1961: On December 9, Tanganyika gains its independence from Great Britain. Julius Nyerere is the first head of state.
1962: Yemen abolishes slavery. [not in Africa]
1962: On July 3, Algeria is declared independent by France. Ahmed Ben Bella is its first head of state.
1962 On October 9, Uganda gains its independence from Great Britain. The first head of state is Milton Obote
1962: Jamaica gains its independence from Great Britain on August 6. Alexander Bustamante is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1962: Trinidad & Tobago gain independence from Great Britain on August 31. Eric Eustace Williams is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1962: Saudi Arabia abolishes slavery. [not in Africa]
1962: On July 1, Rwanda is granted independence by Belgium. Gregoire Kayibanda is its first head of state.
1962: On July 1, Burundi is granted independence by Belgium. King Mwambutsa IV is the first head of state.
1963: James Baldwin publishes The Fire Next Time while living in Paris [not in Africa (on Aug 4 but not yet live or Indexed)]
1963: Kenya gains independence from Great Britain on December 12. Jomo Kenyatta is the first head of state [June 1 and Dec 12 on the blog, and more here]
1963: The Organization of African Unity (OAU) founded in Addis Abba, Ethiopia, on May 23.
1963: The United Arab Emirates abolish slavery. [not in Africa]
1964: The Zanzibar Revolution of 1964 ends 120 years of Arab control of the Islands of Zanzibar and Pemba Islands.
1964: Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiongo publishes Weep Not, Child, the first major novel in English by an East African.
1964: On December 10, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm, Sweden. [not in Africa]
1964: On July 6, Malawi is declared independent by Great Britain. Hastings Kamuzu Banda is the first head of state.
1964: Tanganyikan President Julius Nyerere negotiates an agreement with newly independent Zanzibar to merge the two nations. Nyerere becomes President of the new nation of Tanzania.
1964: A Nationalist guerilla struggle against Portuguese rule is launched in Mozambique. It continues until Mozambique is declared independent in 1974.
1964: On October 24, Zambia is declared independent by Great Britain. Kenneth Kaunda is the first head of state [see Oct 24]
1965: Gambia gains independence from Great Britain on February 18. Dawda Kairaba Jawara is the first head of state.
1965: The white minority-controlled Rhodesian government declares its independence from Great Britain.
1966: Nigerian novelist Flora Nwapa, publishes Efuru, one of the first novels in English by an African woman [exactly the same time that Bessie Head started writing: click here and see Oct 22].
1966: First World Festival of Negro Arts (FESTAC) is held in Dakar, Senegal.
1966: Botswana gains independence from Great Britain on September 30. Seretse Khama is the first head of state. [why does that not name it as Bechuanaland - see Sept 30]
1966: Barbados gains independence from Great Britain on November 30. Errol Barrow is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1966: The first military coup takes place in Nigeria, led by Igbo officers. It will lead directly to the Nigerian Civil War.
1966: Guyana gains its independence from Great Britain on May 26. Linden Forbes Sampson Burham is the first head of state.
1966: [not on the Black Past timeline, but see Sept 1 on the blog for Hendrik Verwoerd, South African Prime Minister, stabbed to death]
1966: Lesotho gains its independence from Great Britain on October 4. Leabua Jonathan is the first head of state.
1967: The oil rich states of southeastern Nigeria secede and declare themselves the independent Republic of Biafra. Their action initiates the three year Nigerian Civil War.
1968: Senegelese writer and film director Ousmane Sembene produces Mandabi, the first film in the Wolof language.
1968: Equatorial Guinea gain independence from Spain on October 12. Francisco Macias Nguema is the first head of state.
1968: Steve Biko founds the anti-Apartheid South Africa Students Organization (SASO). Eventually it becomes one of the largest black protest organizations in the nation. [see his listing in the Index, but I am shocked that his murder in 1977 is not on the Black Past timeline]
1968: Mauritius gains its independence from Great Britain on March 12.
1969: Learie Constantine [Lord Constantine] becomes the first person of African ancestry to become a British peer. [not in Africa]
1967: The oil rich states of southeastern Nigeria secede and declare themselves the independent Republic of Biafra. Their action initiates the three year Nigerian Civil War.
1968: Senegelese writer and film director Ousmane Sembene produces Mandabi, the first film in the Wolof language.
1968: Equatorial Guinea gain independence from Spain on October 12. Francisco Macias Nguema is the first head of state.
1968: Steve Biko founds the anti-Apartheid South Africa Students Organization (SASO). Eventually it becomes one of the largest black protest organizations in the nation. [see his listing in the Index, but I am shocked that his murder in 1977 is not on the Black Past timeline]
1968: Mauritius gains its independence from Great Britain on March 12.
1969: Learie Constantine [Lord Constantine] becomes the first person of African ancestry to become a British peer. [not in Africa]
1969: [not on the Black Past timeline, but see Sept 1 on the blog for the coup that brought Colonel Muammar Gadhaffi came to power]
1970: The Nigerian Civil War ends with the surrender of the Republic of Biafra. Over one million Nigerians, mostly in the breakaway state of Biafra, die, including many of starvation.
1970: Oman abolishes slavery. [not in Africa]
1971: General Idi Amin overthrows the government of President Milton Obote and establishes a dictatorship in Uganda. Amin remains in power until 1986 [see Feb 2 and especially April 11]
1972: Ugandan Asians are expelled from the nation by the dictator, General Idi Amin.
1972: Nearly 150,000 Hutus are massacred by the Tutsi in Burundi.
1972: Rosemary Brown of Vancouver becomes the first Afro-Canadian woman to be elected to public office when she wins a seat in the British Columbia Legislative Assembly. [not in Africa]
1972: A famine begins in Ethiopia which in the next two years kills over 200,000 people.
1973: The Bahamas gains independence from Great Britain on July 10. Lynden Pindling is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1973: Guinea-Bissau gains its independence from Portugal on September 24. Luis Cabral is the first head of state.
1974: On October 30, Muhammad Ali defeats George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire to regain the world heavyweight championship [see Jan 17]
1974: The seventh Pan African Congress meets in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania [is that the first time it has actually met in Africa?].
1974: Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie is deposed following a Marxist military coup led by Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam [see Sept 12 on the blog, and here for the respect with which his own country speaks about him now]
1974: Approximately 750,000 Portuguese colonists leave Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau and return to Portugal after that nation's decision to withdraw from all of its African colonies.
1974: Greneda gains its independence from Great Britain on February 7. Sir Eric Matthew Gairy is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1975: On June 25, Mozambique gain its independence from Portugal. Samora Machel is the first head of state.
1975: Cape Verde wins its independence from Portugal on July 5.
1975: On November 11, Angola gains its independence from Portugal. Agostinho Neto is the first head of state. Angolan independence is followed by the Angolan Civil War, a twenty-seven year conflict between the Marxist government and South African-backed rebels. The war ends in February 2002 with the death of rebel leader Jonas Savimbi.
1975: Surinam gains independence from the Netherlands on November 25. Johan Ferrier is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1975: On July 12, Sao Tome & Principe gain independence from Portugal.
1975: Comoros is granted independence from France on July 6.
1976: On June 25, Seychelles gains independence from Great Britain. James Richard Marie Mancham is the first head of state.
1976: Cuban troops and military advisors from the Soviet Union are sent to assist the Angolan government in its campaign against South African-supported insurgents during the Angolan Civil War. Cuban troops remain in Angola until 1991.
1976: The first Bantustans or homelands are created by the South African government to prevent black majority rule. These new quasi-independent states are intended to be the home of most of the blacks residing in South Africa
1976: Student-led riots break out in Soweto, the sprawling all-black township outside of Johannesburg, to protest Apartheid and continuing white minority rule [see the page for June 16]
1976: On July 3, Israeli commandos landed at Entebbe Airport outside Kampala and rescued 103 hostages held by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
1977 The First Congress of Black Culture in the Americas convenes in Columbia. [see my question about Columbia earlier; either way this is not in Africa]
1977: On June 27, Djibouti gains its independence from France. Hassan Gouled Aptidon is the first head of state.
1977: President Jean-Bedel Bokassa declares the Central African Republic to be the Central African Empire and crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I.
1977: War breaks out between Ethiopia and Somalia over the Ogaden region. The conflict will continue until 1988.
1977: Cuba sends troops to support the Marxist dictatorship in Ethiopia.
1978: Dominica gains its independence from Great Britain on November 3. Patrick Roland John is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1979: Emperor Bokassa I is overthrown and a parliamentary government is restored in the Central African Republic.
1979: On March 13, Maurice Bishop leads a coup and seizes control of the government of Grenada. He sets up a Marxist regime and is ousted and killed on October 19, 1983, six days before United States troops take control of the island. [not in Africa]
1979: St. Vincent & Grenadines gain independence from Great Britain on September 19. R. Milton Cato is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1980: On April 18, black majority rule comes to Rhodesia which renames itself Zimbabwe. Canaan Banana is the first head of state [see April 17; but elsewhere I have seen "1979: Zimbabwe. Bishop Abel Muzorewa sworn in as the first black-led government: try here"; so this needs a little bit of unravelling on my June 1 page]
1980: A military coup led by Sgt. Samuel K. Doe ends 133 years of political domination by the Americo-Liberian elite in Liberia.
1981: Mauritania abolishes slavery.
1981: Antigua & Barbuda gain independence from Great Britain on November 1. Vere Cornwall Bird is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1981: Belize gains independence from Great Britain on September 21. George Cadle Price is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1981: [not on the Black Past timeline, and I am not criticising: this, like Nasser's coup, and Ghadaffi's, are relevant to me, because Egypt and Libya are in Africa, but the people are Arabs, Berbers, Moors, not "Blacks" - nevertheless, for this blog: Oct 6: President Sadat of Egypt assassinated for making peace with the enemy (for which see Nov 19), and davka on the anniversary of the failed invasion of Israel in 1973]
1983: The adoption of Islamic law in Sudan leads to renewed civil war between Muslims and Christians and generates widespread famine in the southern third of the nation.
1983: St. Kitts & Nevis gain independence from Great Britain. Dr. Kennedy Simmonds is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1983: Abdias do Nascimento is elected to the Brazilian Congress in 1983 on a platform of promoting Afro-Brazilian rights. [not in Africa]
1984: Anglican Bishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu of South Africa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm, Sweden [see Oct 7]
1984: Eritrea secedes from Ethiopia. The resulting conflict and ongoing drought cause severe food shortages. An estimated one million Ethiopians die as a consequence of the famine.
1985: Live Aid Concert is held in Sydney, Australia and simultaneously in London, Philadelphia and Moscow to raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief [see July 13]
1985: A State of Emergency is declared in South Africa in response to widespread anti-Apartheid rioting.
1985: The Zimbabwe government under President Robert Mugabe begins compulsory purchase of white-owned farms under the recently passed Land Acquisition Act.
1986: Wole Soyinka of Nigeria becomes the first African to win a Nobel Prize in Literature [see July 13]
1986: The European Economic Community (EEC) and the United States impose economic sanctions against South Africa.
[1988, bit not on the Black Past timeline, entirely reasonably given that he was white; but that didn't stop him crying for his beloved country; Alan Paton, who died on April 12]
1989: F.W. de Klerk replaces P.W. Botha as the President of South Africa. De Klerk immediately begins the dismantling of Apartheid. He also withdraws South African forces from Namibia, paving the way for the colony's independence.
1990: On February 11, Nelson Mandela, South Africa's leading anti-Apartheid opponent, is freed after 27 years in prison [see the Index for Prisoner 46664's numerous listings]
1990: Namibia gains independence from South Africa on March 21. Sam Nujoma becomes the first head of state.
1990: A civil war begins in Liberia initiated by Charles M. Taylor who challenged his former subordinate, Prince Johnson, for control of the nation. The conflict continues until 1996.
1991: Eritrean and Tigrean rebels attack Addis Ababa and cause the overthrow of Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. Eritrea wins defacto independence.
1991: In May the Israeli government airlifts over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to the nation of Israel. The Ethiopian Jews, who call themselves Beta Israel, become the foundation for a population in 2010 of nearly 100,000 Jews of Ethiopian ancestry in Israel.
1992: The United States and the United Nations intervene in Somalia to end famine and civil war in that nation.
1993: Eritrea breaks away from Ethiopia to become an independent nation on May 24. Its first head of state is Isaias Afewerki. Eritrea is the first African nation to gain its independence from another African nation.
1993: On October 3-4 in the Battle of Mogadishu, U.S. forces were besieged by Somali soldiers loyal to General Mohammad Farrah Aidid. Nineteen U.S. troops and approximately 300 Somali soldiers died before U.S. troops withdrew from the area of the city controlled by General Aidid's troops.
1993: In December Nelson Mandela and South African President F.W. de Klerk are jointly presented the Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm, Sweden.
1994: On April 27 South Africa holds its first non racially restricted election, signaling the independence of the nation. Nelson Mandela becomes the country's first democratically elected President. He serves as President from May 10, 1994 to June 14, 1999.
1994: Civil War in Rwanda between the majority Hutus and the ruling minority Tutsis becomes a massive genocide as nearly one million Tutsis are massacred by Hutus and nearly two million Rwandans flee to neighbouring countries.
1994: Emery Barnes becomes the first black speaker of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly. [definitely Canada this time]
1995: The United States withdraws from Somalia after the debacle at Mogadishu in 1993.
1995: Benedita Souza da Silva Sampaio, is the first woman of African ancestry elected to the Brazilian Senate. [not in Africa]
1995: Nigeria is expelled from the British Commonwealth because of its human rights abuses, including the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni political activists who had brought international attention to the exploitation of the oil-producing Niger Delta.
1996: Ethiopian Fatuma Roba becomes the first African woman to become an Olympic marathon champion. She wins the gold medal at the Atlanta Games.
1996: John Taylor [Baron Taylor of Warwick] becomes the first person of African ancestry to sit in the British House of Lords. [not in Africa]
1996: Addisu Messele is the first person of African ancestry to be elected to the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. [not in Africa]
1996: Celso Roberto Pitta do Nascimento becomes the first black mayor of Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city. [not in Africa]
1997: After 32 years in power, President Mobutu Sese Seko is ousted in Zaire by rebel leader Laurent Kabila who declares the nation the Democratic Republic of Congo.
1997: Kofi A. Annan [born April 8 1938 in Kumasi, Ghana; died August 18 2018 in Switzerland] becomes the seventh Secretary General of the United Nations and the first African to hold the post. He remains Secretary General until 2007.
1998: Terrorist bombing attacks at two U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania kill 250 people and injure another 6,000.
1999: Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana wins Miss Universe beauty pageant, becoming the first black African-born woman to hold the title.
1999: Civilian rule is re-established in Nigeria after nearly three decades of military control of the national government.
2001: United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm, Sweden.
2001: World Conference Against Racism is held in Durban, South Africa.
2002: President Robert Mugabe wins disputed election and then arrests opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on charges of treason. The country is expelled from the British Commonwealth.
2002: On July 9, the African Union is formed with its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The African Union (AU) is the successor organization to the Organization of African Unity (OAU).
2002: Yvette Jarvis, a native of New York City, is the first person of African ancestry to be elected to the City Council of Athens, Greece. [not in Africa]
2003: First Conference of legislators of African descent from the Americas and the Caribbean meet in Brasilia, Brazil. [not in Africa]
2004: Wangari Maathai becomes the first African woman to win a Nobel Prize. She is selected for her environmental work in her native Kenya.
2005: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf becomes the first African woman to lead an African nation when she is elected president of Liberia
2005: On September 27, 2005 Michaelle Jean was installed as the 27th Governor General of Canada. As Governor General she is appointed by the Queen of England as Canada's titular Head of State. [not in Africa but on the blog on April 17 - and several other African Supra Idesses listed alongside her, including Amina of Nigeria and Mbande Nzinga of Angola]
2006: Portia Simpson-Miller, leader of the People's National Party of Jamaica, becomes the nation's first female prime minister. [not in Africa]
2006: Loria Raquel Dixon Brautigam is elected to the Nicaraguan National Assembly where she represents the North Atlantic Autonomous Region of Nicaragua. She is the first woman of African ancestry to sit in the Assembly. [not in Africa]
2006: In September Mayann E. Francis, a career public servant, became the first Nova Scotian of African descent to become Lieutenant Governor of the province. She is the second woman to hold that post. [not in Africa]
2008: Dean Oliver Barrow becomes the first black Prime Minister of Belize. [not in Africa]
2009: On December 10 U.S. President Barack Obama receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm, Sweden [not in Africa, and surprising that his election wasn’t already noted]
2010: The FIFA World Cup is held on the African continent for the first time when the games are played in Johannesburg, South Africa.
2011: South Sudan becomes an independent nation when it breaks away from Sudan.
2013: The Death and State Funeral of former South African President Nelson Mandela.
2014: The worst Ebola epidemic in recent history sweeps across Central and West Africa, killing 11,000 people.
2015: Boko Haram initiates terror attacks in Northern Nigeria. Eventually more than 2,000 people are killed.
2015: Al-Shabaab carries out a mass shooting at a Nairobi, Kenya shopping mall, killing 148 people.
2017: Bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia attributed to al-Shabaab, kills 587 people in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in modern history.
2017: Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980, is ousted from power in a military coup.
2018 Epsy Campbell Barr is elected Vice President of Costa Rica. [not in Africa]
2019: Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan for 30 years, is ousted in a military coup.
2021: The COVAX vaccine-sharing initiative delivers its first vaccines, 600,000 doses to health care workers in Ghana.
2021: Tigray Defense forces seize the Tigrayan provincial capital of Mekelle, initiating the Ethiopian Civil War. Civil War
2021: Abdulrazk Gurmah, originally from Tanzania and now living in London, became only the second African since Wole Soyinka to win the Nobel Prize in 1986 [and I confess that I had never heard of him until I saw his name here]
2021: Barbados becomes a republic on the 55th anniversary of its independence from Great Britain. It remains in the British Commonwealth of Nations. [not in Africa]
1983: St. Kitts & Nevis gain independence from Great Britain. Dr. Kennedy Simmonds is the first head of state. [not in Africa]
1983: Abdias do Nascimento is elected to the Brazilian Congress in 1983 on a platform of promoting Afro-Brazilian rights. [not in Africa]
1984: Anglican Bishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu of South Africa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm, Sweden [see Oct 7]
1984: Eritrea secedes from Ethiopia. The resulting conflict and ongoing drought cause severe food shortages. An estimated one million Ethiopians die as a consequence of the famine.
1985: Live Aid Concert is held in Sydney, Australia and simultaneously in London, Philadelphia and Moscow to raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief [see July 13]
1985: A State of Emergency is declared in South Africa in response to widespread anti-Apartheid rioting.
1985: The Zimbabwe government under President Robert Mugabe begins compulsory purchase of white-owned farms under the recently passed Land Acquisition Act.
1986: Wole Soyinka of Nigeria becomes the first African to win a Nobel Prize in Literature [see July 13]
1986: The European Economic Community (EEC) and the United States impose economic sanctions against South Africa.
[1988, bit not on the Black Past timeline, entirely reasonably given that he was white; but that didn't stop him crying for his beloved country; Alan Paton, who died on April 12]
1989: F.W. de Klerk replaces P.W. Botha as the President of South Africa. De Klerk immediately begins the dismantling of Apartheid. He also withdraws South African forces from Namibia, paving the way for the colony's independence.
1990: On February 11, Nelson Mandela, South Africa's leading anti-Apartheid opponent, is freed after 27 years in prison [see the Index for Prisoner 46664's numerous listings]
1990: Namibia gains independence from South Africa on March 21. Sam Nujoma becomes the first head of state.
1990: A civil war begins in Liberia initiated by Charles M. Taylor who challenged his former subordinate, Prince Johnson, for control of the nation. The conflict continues until 1996.
1991: Eritrean and Tigrean rebels attack Addis Ababa and cause the overthrow of Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. Eritrea wins defacto independence.
1991: In May the Israeli government airlifts over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to the nation of Israel. The Ethiopian Jews, who call themselves Beta Israel, become the foundation for a population in 2010 of nearly 100,000 Jews of Ethiopian ancestry in Israel.
1992: The United States and the United Nations intervene in Somalia to end famine and civil war in that nation.
1993: Eritrea breaks away from Ethiopia to become an independent nation on May 24. Its first head of state is Isaias Afewerki. Eritrea is the first African nation to gain its independence from another African nation.
1993: On October 3-4 in the Battle of Mogadishu, U.S. forces were besieged by Somali soldiers loyal to General Mohammad Farrah Aidid. Nineteen U.S. troops and approximately 300 Somali soldiers died before U.S. troops withdrew from the area of the city controlled by General Aidid's troops.
1993: In December Nelson Mandela and South African President F.W. de Klerk are jointly presented the Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm, Sweden.
1994: On April 27 South Africa holds its first non racially restricted election, signaling the independence of the nation. Nelson Mandela becomes the country's first democratically elected President. He serves as President from May 10, 1994 to June 14, 1999.
1994: Civil War in Rwanda between the majority Hutus and the ruling minority Tutsis becomes a massive genocide as nearly one million Tutsis are massacred by Hutus and nearly two million Rwandans flee to neighbouring countries.
1994: Emery Barnes becomes the first black speaker of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly. [definitely Canada this time]
1995: The United States withdraws from Somalia after the debacle at Mogadishu in 1993.
1995: Benedita Souza da Silva Sampaio, is the first woman of African ancestry elected to the Brazilian Senate. [not in Africa]
1995: Nigeria is expelled from the British Commonwealth because of its human rights abuses, including the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni political activists who had brought international attention to the exploitation of the oil-producing Niger Delta.
1996: Ethiopian Fatuma Roba becomes the first African woman to become an Olympic marathon champion. She wins the gold medal at the Atlanta Games.
1996: John Taylor [Baron Taylor of Warwick] becomes the first person of African ancestry to sit in the British House of Lords. [not in Africa]
1996: Addisu Messele is the first person of African ancestry to be elected to the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. [not in Africa]
1996: Celso Roberto Pitta do Nascimento becomes the first black mayor of Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city. [not in Africa]
1997: After 32 years in power, President Mobutu Sese Seko is ousted in Zaire by rebel leader Laurent Kabila who declares the nation the Democratic Republic of Congo.
1997: Kofi A. Annan [born April 8 1938 in Kumasi, Ghana; died August 18 2018 in Switzerland] becomes the seventh Secretary General of the United Nations and the first African to hold the post. He remains Secretary General until 2007.
1998: Terrorist bombing attacks at two U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania kill 250 people and injure another 6,000.
1999: Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana wins Miss Universe beauty pageant, becoming the first black African-born woman to hold the title.
1999: Civilian rule is re-established in Nigeria after nearly three decades of military control of the national government.
2001: United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm, Sweden.
2001: World Conference Against Racism is held in Durban, South Africa.
2002: President Robert Mugabe wins disputed election and then arrests opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on charges of treason. The country is expelled from the British Commonwealth.
2002: On July 9, the African Union is formed with its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The African Union (AU) is the successor organization to the Organization of African Unity (OAU).
2002: Yvette Jarvis, a native of New York City, is the first person of African ancestry to be elected to the City Council of Athens, Greece. [not in Africa]
2003: First Conference of legislators of African descent from the Americas and the Caribbean meet in Brasilia, Brazil. [not in Africa]
2004: Wangari Maathai becomes the first African woman to win a Nobel Prize. She is selected for her environmental work in her native Kenya.
2005: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf becomes the first African woman to lead an African nation when she is elected president of Liberia
2005: On September 27, 2005 Michaelle Jean was installed as the 27th Governor General of Canada. As Governor General she is appointed by the Queen of England as Canada's titular Head of State. [not in Africa but on the blog on April 17 - and several other African Supra Idesses listed alongside her, including Amina of Nigeria and Mbande Nzinga of Angola]
2006: Portia Simpson-Miller, leader of the People's National Party of Jamaica, becomes the nation's first female prime minister. [not in Africa]
2006: Loria Raquel Dixon Brautigam is elected to the Nicaraguan National Assembly where she represents the North Atlantic Autonomous Region of Nicaragua. She is the first woman of African ancestry to sit in the Assembly. [not in Africa]
2006: In September Mayann E. Francis, a career public servant, became the first Nova Scotian of African descent to become Lieutenant Governor of the province. She is the second woman to hold that post. [not in Africa]
2008: Dean Oliver Barrow becomes the first black Prime Minister of Belize. [not in Africa]
2009: On December 10 U.S. President Barack Obama receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm, Sweden [not in Africa, and surprising that his election wasn’t already noted]
2010: The FIFA World Cup is held on the African continent for the first time when the games are played in Johannesburg, South Africa.
2011: South Sudan becomes an independent nation when it breaks away from Sudan.
2013: The Death and State Funeral of former South African President Nelson Mandela.
2014: The worst Ebola epidemic in recent history sweeps across Central and West Africa, killing 11,000 people.
2015: Boko Haram initiates terror attacks in Northern Nigeria. Eventually more than 2,000 people are killed.
2015: Al-Shabaab carries out a mass shooting at a Nairobi, Kenya shopping mall, killing 148 people.
2017: Bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia attributed to al-Shabaab, kills 587 people in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in modern history.
2017: Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980, is ousted from power in a military coup.
2018 Epsy Campbell Barr is elected Vice President of Costa Rica. [not in Africa]
2019: Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan for 30 years, is ousted in a military coup.
2021: The COVAX vaccine-sharing initiative delivers its first vaccines, 600,000 doses to health care workers in Ghana.
2021: Tigray Defense forces seize the Tigrayan provincial capital of Mekelle, initiating the Ethiopian Civil War. Civil War
2021: Abdulrazk Gurmah, originally from Tanzania and now living in London, became only the second African since Wole Soyinka to win the Nobel Prize in 1986 [and I confess that I had never heard of him until I saw his name here]
2021: Barbados becomes a republic on the 55th anniversary of its independence from Great Britain. It remains in the British Commonwealth of Nations. [not in Africa]
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