Browse the year
December
31 days, 31 stories. Pick a date — or jump straight to one:
- 1 1958 The Central African Republic Is Born
On December 1, 1958, Ubangi-Shari became an autonomous republic within the French Community, taking the new name Central African Republic as leaders proclaimed self-government in Bangui.…
- 2 1856 The Battle of Ndondakusuka
On December 2, 1856, the Zulu kingdom was torn apart by the Battle of Ndondakusuka, fought on the banks of the Tugela River. There, Cetshwayo's uSuthu…
- 3 1967 The World's First Heart Transplant
On December 3, 1967, in Cape Town, surgeon Christiaan Barnard performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital. His patient, Louis Washkansky, received…
- 4 1977 Bokassa Crowns Himself Emperor
On December 4, 1977, Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowned himself Emperor Bokassa I in a lavish ceremony at Bangui's stadium, renaming his country the Central African Empire. The…
- 5 2013 Nelson Mandela Dies
On December 5, 2013, Nelson Mandela died at his home in Johannesburg at the age of 95, and the world mourned. The anti-apartheid icon had spent…
- 6 1977 Bophuthatswana's "Independence"
On December 6, 1977, apartheid South Africa declared Bophuthatswana "independent" — a patchwork of seven scattered homelands under Lucas Mangope. It was the second Black "state"…
- 7 2016 Ghana's 2016 Election
On December 7, 2016, Ghanaians voted in general elections and handed incumbent president John Mahama a historic defeat — the first time a sitting Ghanaian president…
- 8 1991 South Africa's Football Unites
On December 8, 1991, four historically separate, racially divided soccer bodies united in Durban to found one non-racial South African Football Association. For decades the game…
- 9 1961 Tanganyika Independence
On December 9, 1961, Tanganyika became independent from Britain — the first British-administered territory in East Africa to win independence through peaceful negotiation. Julius Nyerere, Mwalimu…
- 10 1996 Mandela Signs the Constitution
On December 10, 1996 — International Human Rights Day — President Nelson Mandela signed South Africa's final Constitution into law at a stadium ceremony in Sharpeville,…
- 11 1878 The Ultimatum That Sparked the Anglo-Zulu War
On December 11, 1878, at the Lower Thukela Drift, a British commissioner handed the envoys of Zulu King Cetshwayo an ultimatum whose terms were designed to…
- 12 1963 Kenya's Independence
On December 12, 1963, at midnight in Nairobi, the Union Jack came down and a new Kenyan flag climbed into the sky as the national anthem…
- 13 1996 Kofi Annan Chosen to Lead the United Nations
On December 13, 1996, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1090 by acclamation, recommending Kofi Annan of Ghana as the next Secretary-General. Born in Kumasi, he…
- 14 1960 The UN Declares Colonialism Must End
On December 14, 1960, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 1514 — the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Its words…
- 15 1899 Battle of Colenso
On December 15, 1899, in the morning fog at Colenso, British General Redvers Buller tried to cross the Tugela River to relieve besieged Ladysmith. An artillery…
- 16 1838 Blood River
On December 16, 1838, some 470 Voortrekkers under Andries Pretorius faced King Dingane's Zulu army at the Ncome River. Traditional accounts say 3,000 Zulu fell and…
- 17 2010 Bouazizi Ignites the Arab Spring
On December 17, 2010, Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire outside the governor's office in Sidi Bouzid, after officials confiscated his fruit cart…
- 18 1958 Niger's Republic Day
On December 18, 1958, Niger's Territorial Assembly proclaimed the Republic of Niger, a semi-autonomous republic within the French Community. Hamani Diori became president of the provisional…
- 19 1955 Sudan's Parliament Declares Independence
On December 19, 1955, Sudan's House of Representatives unanimously adopted a declaration of independence, led by Prime Minister Ismail al-Azhari. The vote in Khartoum was the…
- 20 2019 Ethiopia Launches Its First Satellite
On December 20, 2019, a Long March rocket lifted off from China's Taiyuan launch center carrying ETRSS-1 — Ethiopia's first satellite. The 70 kg remote-sensing satellite…
- 21 1979 The Lancaster House Agreement
On December 21, 1979, Britain and the rival Rhodesian delegations signed the Lancaster House Agreement in London, ending fourteen years of white-minority rebellion and the Rhodesian…
- 22 1987 Zimbabwe's Unity Accord
On December 22, 1987, Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo signed the Unity Accord at State House in Harare, merging their rival parties into one. The accord…
- 23 2008 Guinea's 2008 Coup
On December 23, 2008, hours after Guinea announced the death of President Lansana Conté, soldiers seized power in Conakry. Captain Moussa Dadis Camara's junta, the National…
- 24 1951 Libya's Independence
On December 24, 1951, Libya declared independence in Benghazi — the first country in Africa to become free through the United Nations. King Idris I took…
- 25 2011 Nigeria's Christmas Day Bombings
On Christmas Day, 2011, a bomb struck St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Nigeria, killing worshippers as they left morning service. The timing and the place…
- 26 2004 The 2004 Tsunami Strikes East Africa
On Boxing Day 2004, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake off Sumatra sent a tsunami racing across the Indian Ocean. Hours later it slammed into East Africa, devastating…
- 27 2007 Kenya's Disputed Election Turns Deadly
On December 27, 2007, Kenyans voted in a presidential election — and when Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner over Raila Odinga, the result was fiercely…
- 28 2000 The Titanic Express Massacre
On December 28, 2000, the Titanic Express bus traveling from Kigali to Bujumbura was ambushed at Mageyo in Burundi. The attackers robbed the passengers, separated them…
- 29 1895 The Jameson Raid
On December 29, 1895, Dr. Leander Starr Jameson led 500 armed horsemen across the border into the Boer-run Transvaal, riding for Johannesburg in Cecil Rhodes's scheme…
- 30 2013 The 2013 Kinshasa Attacks
On December 30, 2013, followers of self-proclaimed prophet Paul Joseph Mukungubila launched coordinated attacks in Kinshasa — storming the state television studios, the international airport, and…
- 31 1981 Rawlings's Second Coup
On New Year's Eve 1981, Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings staged his second coup, overthrowing President Hilla Limann and installing the Provisional National Defence Council in Ghana.…