Browse the year
October
31 days, 31 stories. Pick a date — or jump straight to one:
- 1 1960 Nigeria Gains Independence
At the stroke of midnight in Lagos on October 1, 1960, the Union Jack was lowered and a brand-new flag climbed into the African sky. Designed…
- 2 1958 Guinea Gains Independence
On October 2, 1958, the Republic of Guinea was born, the only French African territory to say no. Weeks earlier, in a referendum, 95 percent of…
- 3 1935 Italy Invades Ethiopia
Before dawn on October 3, 1935, Fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia. Benito Mussolini, hungry to avenge Italy's defeat at Adwa in 1896, sent hundreds of thousands of…
- 4 1966 Lesotho Gains Independence
On October 4, 1966, the mountain kingdom of Lesotho was born. Founded by King Moshoeshoe I, who had sought British protection to escape Boer expansion, this…
- 5 1988 Algeria's October Riots
On October 5, 1988, thousands of young Algerians rose up in anger in the streets of Algiers. Tired of high prices, joblessness, and a government that…
- 6 1981 The Assassination of Anwar Sadat
In Cairo on October 6, 1981, President Anwar Sadat stood before thousands at a grand military parade marking eight years since Egypt's army crossed the Suez…
- 7 2011 Sirleaf and Gbowee Win the Nobel Peace Prize
In Oslo, Norway, on October 7, 2011, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that year's Nobel Peace Prize, and it went to three women. Two were Liberian.…
- 8 2004 Wangari Maathai Wins the Nobel Peace Prize
In Oslo, Norway, on October 8, 2004, the Nobel Committee made history. Wangari Maathai of Kenya was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, the first…
- 9 1962 Uganda Gains Independence
On October 9, 1962, the Union Jack came down over Kampala and a new nation was born, as Uganda won independence from Britain. Dr. Apollo Milton…
- 10 2017 Liberia's Historic Election Begins
On October 10, 2017, Liberia went to the polls in the first round of a historic general election. More than 2 million registered voters queued at…
- 11 2005 Liberia Votes After Civil War
On October 11, 2005, in a Liberia healing from 14 years of civil war, more than a million citizens stood in long, hopeful lines to vote.…
- 12 1968 Equatorial Guinea Gains Independence
On October 12, 1968, after nearly two centuries of Spanish rule, the colony of Spanish Guinea became a free nation. In Malabo, Francisco Macias Nguema was…
- 13 1961 The Assassination of Prince Louis Rwagasore
On October 13, 1961, Prince Louis Rwagasore, the 30-year-old hero of Burundi's independence movement, sat down to dinner with friends at the Hotel Tanganyika in Bujumbura.…
- 14 1999 The Death of Julius Nyerere
On October 14, 1999, Julius Nyerere, known across the continent as Mwalimu, the teacher, died in a London hospital at the age of 77. He had…
- 15 1987 The Assassination of Thomas Sankara
On October 15, 1987, in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, gunmen stormed a meeting and murdered President Thomas Sankara. He was 37 years old. In…
- 16 1968 The Black Power Salute
On October 16, 1968, at the Olympic stadium in Mexico City, two Black American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, climbed the medal podium. As the…
- 17 1961 The Paris Massacre of Algerians
On October 17, 1961, in Paris, 30,000 Algerians marched peacefully against a racist curfew, during their country's war of independence. Under orders from police chief Maurice…
- 18 1964 The Canonization of the Uganda Martyrs
On October 18, 1964, in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Pope Paul VI canonized 22 Ugandan martyrs, the first Black African saints of the modern church.…
- 19 1986 The Death of Samora Machel
On October 19, 1986, Samora Machel, the founding president of Mozambique, died when his presidential plane crashed into the hills of Mbuzini, South Africa. He was…
- 20 1952 Kenya's State of Emergency
On October 20, 1952, Kenya changed forever. At midnight, British governor Evelyn Baring declared a state of emergency as the Mau Mau uprising against colonial rule…
- 21 1986 Africa's Human Rights Charter Takes Effect
On October 21, 1986, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights entered into force, binding the continent's nations to protect the dignity of every African.…
- 22 1859 Spain Declares War on Morocco
On October 22, 1859, Spain declared war on Morocco. The spark was a border clash near Ceuta, Spain's fortress enclave on Africa's northern coast. Spain's parliament…
- 23 2011 Libya Declares Liberation
On October 23, 2011, Libya declared itself free. Just three days after Muammar Gaddafi, the strongman who ruled for 42 years, was captured and killed in…
- 24 1964 Zambia Gains Independence
At midnight on October 24, 1964, after decades as Britain's colony of Northern Rhodesia, the nation became Zambia. A new flag rose over Southern Africa, and…
- 25 2021 Sudan's Military Coup
Before dawn on October 25, 2021, Sudan's fragile dream of democracy shattered. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan sent soldiers into the streets of Khartoum, arresting Prime Minister…
- 26 1977 The Last Smallpox Case on Earth
On October 26, 1977, in Merca, on the Somali coast, hospital cook Ali Maow Maalin woke with a fever and a rash. It was smallpox, a…
- 27 1971 Congo Becomes Zaire
On October 27, 1971, President Mobutu Sese Seko renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo "Zaire." It was the centerpiece of his authenticité campaign, a drive to…
- 28 1971 The Death Apartheid Couldn't Hide
On October 28, 1971, South Africa's apartheid police confirmed the death of Ahmed Timol, a 29-year-old teacher and anti-apartheid activist who had died in their custody…
- 29 1956 The Suez Crisis Begins
On October 29, 1956, Israel's army invaded Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, opening the Suez Crisis. Three months earlier, Egypt's president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, had nationalized the Suez…
- 30 1974 The Rumble in the Jungle
On October 30, 1974, under the Kinshasa night sky, Muhammad Ali stepped into the ring at the 20th of May Stadium to fight George Foreman for…
- 31 2014 Burkina Faso's Uprising
On October 31, 2014, Blaise Compaoré resigned as president of Burkina Faso and went into exile in neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire, after days of protest against his…