In 1795 The Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa appointed Mungo Park to explore the course of the River Niger - it had been believed that the Niger was a tributary of either the river Senegal or Gambia until Major Daniel Houghton, an Irish soldier who had explored west Africa from a base at Goree, on behalf of the Association, discovered it flowed from West to East. Park set out on 22 MAy 1895.

The Association wanted proof of the river's course and to know where it finally emerged. Three current theories were: that it emptied into Lake Chad, that it curved round in a large arc to join the River Zaire, or that it reached the coast at the Oil Rivers.

Find out more about the life of Scots explorer Mungo Park.

"In Nyasaland we mean to be masters, and if this is treasonable, make the most of it."

Hastings Kamuzu Banda, first president of Malawi, as quoted in Neil Hamilton's Founders of Modern Nations, California, 1995.

"They say my people love me and I would be naïve to deny it."

Hastings Kamuzu Banda, first president of Malawi, as quoted in David Lamb's The Africans, New York, 1985.

Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda ("The Black Messiah") became prime minister of Nyasaland (now Malawi) on 1 February 1963 as leader of the Malawi Congress Party. With the introduction of a new constitution, and the dissolving of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland on 31 December that year, the country was ready for independence. On 6 July 1964 Malawi became a fully independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations and two years later became a republic.

The republic also brought a new constitution and Dr Banda became the country's first president under a one-party state. Opposition parties were aggressively repressed and their leaders detained. By 1971 Banda had been declared president-for-life. During the next twenty years, Malawi became known for its poor human rights record and Banda termed a dictator. In 1993, when he became seriously ill, Banda was Africa's longest ruling leader and was facing public condemnation by Malawi's Catholic bishops and mass demonstrations.

A referendum was held on 14 June 1993 in which the Malawian people were asked whether they wanted to continue with a one-party state or move to a multi-party democracy. The one-party state was overwhelmingly rejected. National elections, considered free and fair by the international community, were held on 17 May 1994, and the United Democratic Front (UDF) won 82 out of 177 seats in the National Assembly. The UDF leader, Elson Bakili Muluzi, arranged a coalition government with the Alliance for Democracy and Dr Banda relinquished rule on 19 May 1993. President Muluzi officially took power two days later.

At 2:15 pm on 13 May 1943 British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, received the following report from Allied C-in-C General Harold Alexander in North Africa: "Sir, it is my duty to report that the Tunisian campaign is over. All enemy resistance has ceased. We are the masters of the North African shores."