In 1807, as a climax of over 20 years of forceful campaigning, the like of which had never been seen before, a bill abolishing the British slave trade passed both ... Read More

Having suffered a spectacular defeat at Kasserine Pass American troops, now under command of General George S Patton, finally achieved success – in what is considered my many to be ... Read More

On 21 March 1960 at least 180 people were injured and 69 killed when South African police opened fire on approximately 300 demonstrators, who were protesting against the pass laws, ... Read More

The German mandated territory of South West Africa was given to South Africa in 1915 by the League of Nations. In 1950 South Africa refused a UN request to give ... Read More

The republic of Tunisia achieved independence from France on 20 March 1956. Its history, however, is one of occupation – by the Phoenicians, the Romans, Byzantine, Arab, and Ottoman empires, ... Read More

On 19 March 1996 Nelson Mandela gave testimony in a South African court for the first time since the 1964 Treason Trial. This time, however, it was something quite ... Read More

The French government and representatives of the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) signed the Évian Accords at Évian-les-Bains, France, signaling an end of the Algerian War of Independence which had ... Read More

Results from a whites only referendum in South Africa gave a landslide mandate for change – almost 69% of those voting backed the call for political reforms which would end ... Read More

If you're wanting to buy a book on African History, whether it's a general history of the continent or a narrower topic such as the Anglo-Boer War, there are several ... Read More

Originally colonized by the Dutch in the 17th century, Mauritius later came under French rule and then was captured by the British in 1810. On 12 March 1968 it achieved ... Read More

On 12 March 1982 the ANC offices in London were bombed. The head of the South African Security Branch, General Johan Coetzee, had planned the operation under instruction of the ... Read More

The final death knell of the Bambara Empire sounded with the invasion of the city of Ségou by the forces of al-Hajj 'Umar. The process had been long winded – ... Read More

Following the July Revolution in 1830, foreigners were no longer permitted to join the French Army. In 1831, in order to soak up troublemakers and foreign mercenaries who could otherwise ... Read More

War between the British and the Ashanti was brought to an end in 1874 when the defeated King, Asantehene, signed a treaty with the British. The Gold Coast colony ... Read More

Robert Gabriel Mugabe is elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe at the age of 52. Mugabe's party, the Zimbabwe African National Union, ZANU, won 57 of the 80 available seats in ... Read More

The Mau Mau were a militant African nationalist movement active in Kenya during the 1950s whose main aim was to remove British rule and European settlers from the country. The rebellion, ... Read More

Back on 11 November 1965, Ian Smith's white minority government in Rhodesia signed the Unilateral Declaration of Independence, UDI, as a response to the British government's attempt to push forwards ... Read More