The islands of the Seychelles were claimed by France in 1756 although sailors had known about them since the early 16th century. The Seychelles were lost and regained several times ... Read More

With the move to the post-Apartheid, multi-racial democracy, South Africans from both sides of the political divide had developed an Interim Constitution. The last clause of this Constitution laid down ... Read More

Dr Zahi Hawass, Egypt's Undersecretary of the State for the Giza Monuments and Secretary-General for the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo, has announced the (probable) discovery of the mummy ... Read More

What was once the Islamic State of Adal was made the capital of French Somaliland in 1896. In 1958 the French gave it Overseas Territorial status and in 1967 it ... Read More

Three years after the start of the Defiance Campaign, anti-Apartheid activists held a Congress of the People in a Johannesburg suburb, Kliptown. Delegates ratified the Freedom Charter. The document set ... Read More

What to know what African nationalists were fighting for in South Africa? Read the text of the Freedom Charter, signed on the 26 June 1955 at the Congress of the ... Read More

Once a Portuguese colony, Mozambique achieved independence in 1975 following a 12 year struggle and a military coup by Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO, also known as the ... Read More

Gamal Abdel Nasser had already been acting head of state for Egypt since 14 November 1954 as Chairman of the Revolutionary Council (as well as taking over from Muhammad Naguib ... Read More

Black (or Natives) Land Act (No. 27 of 1913) commences - under the act Black Africans are no longer be able to own, or even rent, land outside of designated ... Read More

During the pre-revolution period before 1952 there were three main political groups in Egypt: Wafd, a nationalist organization which opposed British influence; King Faruk I, installed by the British, and ... Read More

When high-school students in Soweto started protesting for better education on 16 June 1976, police responded with teargas and live bullets. It is commemorated today by a South African national ... Read More

The plan for Operation BATTLEAXE had the 11th Indian Brigade advancing along the coastal plain to the Halfaya Pass from the east whilst the Guards and the 4th Armoured Brigades ... Read More

General JBM Hertzog's National Party (NP) wins the South African general election with an outright majority. Race plays a critical role for the first time in SA politics. Hertzog accused ... Read More

DF Malan's National Party government votes to separate the people of South Africa into four distinct races (White, Bantu, Coloured, and Indian) through the Population Registration Act (No. 30 of ... Read More

The 1906 Bambatha Rebellion was the last Black armed resistance to colonial domination in South Africa. On 10 June a final battle was held at Mome George. Bambatha ka Mancinza ... Read More

With Italy's declaration of war against Britain and France, forces on both sides in North Africa are put on alert. The following day, Britain makes the first strike, bombing Italian ... Read More

The Seqiti War (or Second Basotho War) broke out between the people of Moshoeshoe, founder of the Sotho (Basuto) nation, and the Orange Free State (which had gained its independence ... Read More

The Portuguese ship São João had departed Cochin, India, on 3 February carrying pepper, Chinese porcelain, cowry shells, cornelian beads and other merchandise. The ship, with around 600 people on ... Read More

Excavation had been going on for a year following the accidental discovery on 14 April 1990 of a previously unknown mud-brick wall to the south of Heit el-Shorab (the Wall ... Read More

In June 1918 disaffected Afrikaners were brought together in a new organization called Jong Suid-Afrika (Young South Africa). The following year its name was changed to the Afrikaner Broederbond (AB). ... Read More

Balthazar Johannes Vorster, non-executive president of South Africa, resigns after only eight months in office (he had previously been prime minister for 12 years). Ill health and the on-going exposure ... Read More

On 1 June 1879 in a deep donga (gully) near the Tshotshosi river, a patrol of British troops, part of the vanguard of the II Division invading column, was ... Read More

When Italy declared war against Britain and France in June 1940 it seemed inevitable that the conflict would come to Africa – Italy wanted an empire, and it was only ... Read More