African History

Joe Slovo Dies of Leukaemia - 6 January 1995
Joe Slovo was an anti-Apartheid activist, one of the founders of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the ANC, and general secretary of the South African Communist Party...

A Few Words From, and About, Joe Slovo...
"When a man has been consistently battering his wife, he shouldn't expect a bouquet of roses from her the morning after he promises to stop." Joe Slovo, from an interview by...

Birth of JRR Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was born in Bloemfontein on 3 January 1892. His parents had traveled to South Africa because...

Anti-Apartheid Activist Helen Suzman Dies
The South African politician and anti-Apartheid activist, Helen Suzman, who spent 13 years as the sole parliamentary opposition to the National Party's Apartheid government, has died at the age of...

Zululand Annexed by Natal
Following the Anglo-Boer War of 1879, Zululand was divided into 13 'kingdoms'. The region was made a British Crown Colony in 1887 under the authority of Natal and run accordingly...

A Few Words About the Organization of African Unity ... (Has Anything Changed?)
"Since its inception in 1964 [sic], the OAU has achieved the unenviable distinction of being the most useless organization on the African continent. It can't even define 'democracy' ... Largely...

Death of Algerian President Houari Bouemdienne
Houari Boumedienne had been a leader in the Algerian fight for independence from France. In July 1965 he led a military coup which ousted Muhammad Ahmed Ben Bella from Power....

Dian Fossey Murdered - 26 December 1985
Dian Fossey was an American zoologist known world wide for her championing the cause of Mountain Gorillas. Fossey caught her first glimpse of Mountain Gorillas in 1963 on a field...

Key Events in the Decolonization of Africa: Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis showed African nationalists throughout the continent that international power had moved from its colonial masters to the two new superpowers. Britain and France lost considerable face and...

A Few Words About Guinea...
"For the first twenty years, we in Guinea have concentrated on developing the mentalist of our people. Now we are ready to move on to other business." Ahmed Sékou Touré, first...