| Week starting Monday 24 February |
|
| Date |
Year |
Event
|
|
| 24 |
1943 |
Rommel is appointed as commander-in-chief, Army Group Afrika. |
| 24 |
1945 |
Ahmad Mahir Pasha, the Egyptian prime minister, is assassinated at parliament following his
announcement that Egypt declares war on the Axis. |
| 24 |
1949 |
After 42 days of bitter debate, Egypt and Israel sign an armistice on the island of Rhodes.
However, several contentious topics, such as the status of Beersheba in the Negev Desert, were dropped from
the final agreement. |
| 24 |
1961 |
Dr Louis Leakey has discovered human-like bones in the Olduvai Gorge, Tanganyika (now
Tanzania) which are believed to be the ancestors of modern man. |
|
| 25 |
1937 |
Ras Desta Demtu, Haile Selassie's son-in-law, is executed by the Italian administration in
Abyssinia. |
| 25 |
1943 |
General Rommel's Afrika Corps are forced back through the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia, only
five days after they had broken through. |
| 25 |
1961 |
The United Arab Republic breaks of diplomatic relations with Belgium over the situation in
the Congo. |
| 25 |
1977 |
240 US citizens in Uganda are held hostage by Field Marshal Idi Amin Dada. |
|
| 26 |
1908 |
King Leopold II is paid £5 million in exchange for the Congo Free State, now renamed the
Belgian Congo. |
| 26 |
1961 |
The Italian held capital of Somaliland, Mogadishu, is captured by British forces. |
| 26 |
1961 |
Mohammed V, king of Morocco dies, he is succeeded by his son King Hassan II. |
|
| 27 |
1912 |
Birth of novelist Lawrence Durrell, author of The Alexandria Quartet. |
| 27 |
1964 |
Three hundred missionaries are deported from the Sudan for alleged support for
anti-government forces. |
|
| 28 |
1900 |
General Sir Redvers Henry Buller's troops relieve British forces at Ladysmith – they have
been under siege by the Boers since 2 November 1899. |
| 28 |
1922 |
Egypt is declared a sovereign state by Britain. |
| 28 |
1936 |
Italian forces take Mt. Alaji in Abyssinia, avenging the massacre of 1895. |
| 28 |
1959 |
United Arab Republic and Britain agree on a settlement following the Suez crisis. |
| 28 |
1974 |
In a futile attempt to appease widespread strikes and army mutinies, Haile Selassie
appoints a new premier in Ethiopia. |
| 28 |
1995 |
UN peacekeeping forces, mainly Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, are withdraw from Somalia
ending international involvement in the country. |
|
| March |
|
| 1 |
1952 |
The Egyptian Parliament is suspended by King Farouk when Ali Mahir resigns. |
| 1 |
1969 |
General Nasser, Egyptian premier, promises a fourth war with Israel unless it withdraws
from occupied territory in the Sinai. |
| 1 |
1977 |
Idi Amin Dada releases the Americans held hostage in Uganda since 25 February and suggests
they leave the country. |
| 1 |
1980 |
On the last day of voting in the Zimbabwe-Rhodesian election, the expected turnout is near
100%. |
|
| 2 |
1934 |
At the Destour Party congress at Ksar Hellal, Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba leads a breakaway
movement by younger members alienated by the aristocratic and overcautious party leaders. Bourguiba becomes
secretary-general of the new Neo-Destour Party. |
| 2 |
1956 |
French-Morocco, Maroc, is granted independence. |
| 2 |
1961 |
Following his deportation from South Africa, for being an outspoken critic of the
government's Apartheid policies, Dr Ambrose Reeves resigns as Anglican Bishop of Johannesburg. |
| 2 |
1966 |
Ugandan Prime Minister Apollo Milton Obote arrests five of his cabinet ministers, abrogates
the constitution, and assumes the presidency in a successful attempt to (personally) avoid a scandal involving
a hidden cache of gold and ivory captured during a revolt in the Congo. |
|
