The Americas
Brazil
Cuba
*Labor unrest, that would ultimately topple the government of Cuban President Gerardo Machado, started with "a relatively innoucuous strike" by the drivers for the Havana bus system over the threat of wage cuts (July 25). Four days later, Havana's streetcars and taxis were shut down by strikes, then ships and railroads. Machado would declare martial law on August 5, but would be overthrown a week later.
*Police in Havana killed 21 people and wounded another 150 after Cuba's President Gerardo Machado ordered law enforcement to disperse crowds (August 7).
*United States envoy Sumner Welles arrived in Havana to offer President Machado safe passage out of the country if he would resign his office (August 8).
*President Machado of Cuba decreed that "a state of war" existed throughout the island nation, and ordered troops to report to Havana to defend the capital city (August 9). Machado had been granted dictatorial power two days earlier by a vote of the Cuban congress.
*Gerardo Machado, the dictator of Cuba, fled from Havana by airplane with three aides, as mobs raged through the city (August 12). He was replaced by former Ambassador to the United States Carlos Manuel de Cespedes. Hours earlier, a mob had broken into the presidential palace and sacked it.
*Dr. Orestes Ferrara, former State Secretary of Cuba, was able to fly to safety on a Pan American seaplane, with machine guns being fired at him (August 12).
*Two U.S. Navy ships were ordered to sail to Cuba to protect American life and property in the aftermath of the revolution there (August 13). The destroyer USS Claxton sailed the next day, and the USS Taylor the day afterward.
*Antonio Aincairt, Chief of Havana police, hanged himself as an angry mob closed in on him (August 19). Aincairt, who had overseen the torture and murder of citizens, had been unable to flee the country and had been in hiding for a week.
Haiti
Jamaica
*Winston Garvey, the son of Marcus Garvey and Amy Jacques Garvey, was born.
*****
Brazil
*Manuel Francisco dos Santos, an Afro-Brazilian soccer star known by the nickname Garrincha ("Little Bird") was born.
Manuel Francisco dos Santos (28 October 1933 – 20 January 1983), known by the nickname Garrincha (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɡaˈʁĩʃɐ], "little bird"),[1]was a Brazilian footballer who played right winger and forward. He is regarded by many in the sport to be the best dribbler in football history.[2]
The word garrincha itself means wren.[3] Garrincha was also known as Mané (short for Manuel) by his friends.[4] The combined Mané Garrincha is common among fans in Brazil. Due to his immense popularity in Brazil, he was also called Alegria do Povo (People's Joy) and Anjo de Pernas Tortas(Bent-Legged Angel).[5]
In 1958 and 1962, Garrincha won the FIFA World Cup with the Brazil national team. At the 1962 tournament, with Pelé out injured, he led the team to victory, received the World Cup Golden Ball for player of the tournament, the Golden Boot as leading goalscorer, and was named in the World Cup All-Star Team. In 1994 he was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team. Brazil never lost a match while fielding both Garrincha and Pelé.[6]
At club level, Garrincha played the majority of his professional career for the Brazilian team Botafogo. In the Maracanã, the home team room is known as "Garrincha".[7] In the capital Brasília, the Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha is named after him. He is credited for inspiring the first bullfighting chants of oléto be used at football grounds.[8]
In 1999, he came seventh in the FIFA Player of the Century grand jury vote.[9] He is a member of the World Team of the 20th Century, and was inducted into the Brazilian Football Hall of Fame.[10]
Canada
*Archie Alleyne, an African Canadian jazz musician, was born in Toronto, Ontario (January 7).
Archie Alleyne (January 7, 1933 – June 8, 2015) was a Canadian jazz drummer. Best known as a drummer for influential jazz musicians such as Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Stan Getz, Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, he was also prominent as a recording artist on his own and with Canadian jazz musicians such as Oliver Jones, Cy McLean and Brian Browne.
Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Alleyne became the house drummer at the Town Tavern jazz club in his 20s.
Involved in a serious car accident in 1967, he stepped away from music for a number of years, becoming a partner in a soul food restaurant in Toronto. He returned to music in the early 1980s with Jones' band.
In later life,, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada, established the Archie Alleyne Scholarship Fund to provide bursaries to music students, and wrote Colour Me Jazz: The Archie Alleyne Story, an autobiography.
Cuba
*Labor unrest, that would ultimately topple the government of Cuban President Gerardo Machado, started with "a relatively innoucuous strike" by the drivers for the Havana bus system over the threat of wage cuts (July 25). Four days later, Havana's streetcars and taxis were shut down by strikes, then ships and railroads. Machado would declare martial law on August 5, but would be overthrown a week later.
*Police in Havana killed 21 people and wounded another 150 after Cuba's President Gerardo Machado ordered law enforcement to disperse crowds (August 7).
*United States envoy Sumner Welles arrived in Havana to offer President Machado safe passage out of the country if he would resign his office (August 8).
*President Machado of Cuba decreed that "a state of war" existed throughout the island nation, and ordered troops to report to Havana to defend the capital city (August 9). Machado had been granted dictatorial power two days earlier by a vote of the Cuban congress.
*Gerardo Machado, the dictator of Cuba, fled from Havana by airplane with three aides, as mobs raged through the city (August 12). He was replaced by former Ambassador to the United States Carlos Manuel de Cespedes. Hours earlier, a mob had broken into the presidential palace and sacked it.
*Dr. Orestes Ferrara, former State Secretary of Cuba, was able to fly to safety on a Pan American seaplane, with machine guns being fired at him (August 12).
*Two U.S. Navy ships were ordered to sail to Cuba to protect American life and property in the aftermath of the revolution there (August 13). The destroyer USS Claxton sailed the next day, and the USS Taylor the day afterward.
*Antonio Aincairt, Chief of Havana police, hanged himself as an angry mob closed in on him (August 19). Aincairt, who had overseen the torture and murder of citizens, had been unable to flee the country and had been in hiding for a week.
*On September 4, at Camp Columbia, the Cuban Army base at Marianao, near Havana, Sergeant Fulgencio Batista, a person of African descent, led an uprising of non-commissioned officers against their Army superiors, seized control of the base, then incited a revolt that would topple the national government the next day.
*As the Revolt of the Sergeants continued, Cuba's President Carlos Cespedes, in office for only a few weeks after the overthrow of Gerardo Machado, stepped aside in favor of a five-member junta allied with Sergeant Batista (September 5). The Pentarquia was led by law professor Guillermo Portela, accompanied by Jose Irizarri, Porfirio Franco, Sergio Carbo, and Ramon Grau San Martin. Within a week, Grau would become President, and Batista would be promoted to Army Chief of Staff. Batista would later become dictator of Cuba until being overthrown in an uprising by Fidel Castro.
*Ramon Grau became the fourth President of Cuba in less than a month, after the Revolutionary Council elected him to take over from the junta that had overthrown President de Cespedes (September 10). He would serve for a few months, but would serve a four-year term later from 1944 to 1948.
*Cuban President Ramon Grau narrowly escaped assassination (October 3).
*Kid Chocolate (Eligio Montalvo) lost his title as the world junior lightweight champion, after being knocked out in the seventh round by Frankie Klick in Philadelphia (December 25).
*As the Revolt of the Sergeants continued, Cuba's President Carlos Cespedes, in office for only a few weeks after the overthrow of Gerardo Machado, stepped aside in favor of a five-member junta allied with Sergeant Batista (September 5). The Pentarquia was led by law professor Guillermo Portela, accompanied by Jose Irizarri, Porfirio Franco, Sergio Carbo, and Ramon Grau San Martin. Within a week, Grau would become President, and Batista would be promoted to Army Chief of Staff. Batista would later become dictator of Cuba until being overthrown in an uprising by Fidel Castro.
*As the uprising in Cuba continued, the United States dispatched 16 destroyers to the island nation, bringing to 30 the number of United States Navy ships prepared to bring an invading force (September 7).
*Ramon Grau became the fourth President of Cuba in less than a month, after the Revolutionary Council elected him to take over from the junta that had overthrown President de Cespedes (September 10). He would serve for a few months, but would serve a four-year term later from 1944 to 1948.
*Cuban President Ramon Grau narrowly escaped assassination (October 3).
*Kid Chocolate (Eligio Montalvo) lost his title as the world junior lightweight champion, after being knocked out in the seventh round by Frankie Klick in Philadelphia (December 25).
Haiti
*The United States and Haiti signed a treaty of friendship (November 3).
*Charles Ferdinand Pressoir, president of the Creole Academy, wrote a collection of poems, Au Rhythme de Coumbites.
*Charles Ferdinand Pressoir, president of the Creole Academy, wrote a collection of poems, Au Rhythme de Coumbites.
*Winston Garvey, the son of Marcus Garvey and Amy Jacques Garvey, was born.
At the age of 32 in 1919, Garvey married his first wife, Amy Ashwood Garvey. Amy Ashwood Garvey was also a founder of The UNIA-ACL. She had saved Garvey in the Tyler assassination by quickly getting medical help. After four months of marriage, Garvey separated from her.
In 1922, he married again, to Amy Jacques Garvey, who was working as his secretary general. They had two sons together: Marcus Mosiah Garvey, III (born September 17, 1930) and Julius Winston (born 1933). Amy Jacques Garvey played an important role in his career, and would become a lead worker in Garvey's movement.
*Tom Redcam (Thomas MacDermot), a journalist, died (October 8). He wrote numerous popular ballads and songs which have become part of the island's folk culture.
Europe
Germany
*Hilarius Gilges, an Afro-German tap dancer, actor and communist, was murdered by the Nazis in Dusseldorf, Germany (June 20).
Hilarius Gilges, (b. April 28, 1909, Dusseldorf, Germany - d. June 20, 1933, Dusseldorf, Germany), known as "Lari" Gilges, was an Afro-German tap dancer, actor and communist. He was murdered at the age of 24 by the Nazis.
Germany
*Hilarius Gilges, an Afro-German tap dancer, actor and communist, was murdered by the Nazis in Dusseldorf, Germany (June 20).
Hilarius Gilges, (b. April 28, 1909, Dusseldorf, Germany - d. June 20, 1933, Dusseldorf, Germany), known as "Lari" Gilges, was an Afro-German tap dancer, actor and communist. He was murdered at the age of 24 by the Nazis.
Hilarius Gilges was one of the few Afro-Germans born in the country before the First World War. His mother Maria Stüttgen was a textile worker in Dusseldorf. The origin of his biological father is not known for certain, but he was probably an African boatman working on a Rhine tugboat. Maria married Franz Peter Gilges in 1915, giving the boy the family name Gilges.
Gilges grew up in the working class milieu of Düsseldorf and joined German Communist Youth in about 1925 or 1926. He became an amateur actor with the communist agitprop theatre group "Nordwest ran" directed by Wolfgang Langhoff. His radical politics led in 1931 to his arrest and sentencing to one year in prison. After his release in 1932 he continued as an active communist agitator.
Gilges married Katharina Hubertine Laatsch (born Vogels) and fathered two children.
In early 1933, after the Nazis seized power, he attempted to go into hiding, but his visibility due to his skin color made this difficult. In June 1933, he was kidnapped from his apartment in the city's Altstadt district (Old Town) district of Düsseldorf. He was then brutally tortured and killed. The perpetrators are believed to have been six members of the Gestapo and SS, but even after the end of Nazi rule, were not tried in court.
His widow and two children survived the Nazi period, probably because they were helped by neighbors in the Altstadt. In 1949 they were given a lump sum compensation of 12,000 Deutschmark as restitution.
On December 23, 2003, the city of Düsseldorf named a plaza after Hilarius Gilges, in the vicinity of the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts. In 1988, a plaque had been already placed at the approximate site of the murder. The plaque was commissioned by the Düsseldorf city museum and designed by the local artist Hannelore Köhler. It shows a relief profile of Gilges.
*****
*****
*Germany adopted the Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring (July 14). The Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring (Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses) was decreed in Nazi Germany, initially providing for the compulsory sterilization of persons with mental retardation ("hereditary feeblemindedness"), bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, epilepsy, and persons born with handicaps. To review cases, a network of "hereditary health courts" (Erbgesundheitsgericht) was created when the law took effect in 1934. Between 1933 and 1945, 400,000 Aryan Germans were rendered unable to have children, as the definition of mental illness was expanded to include homeless people, prostitutes, petty criminals and juvenile delinquents. Between 1939 and 1945, at least 5,000 mentally or physically disabled children were committed to "special pediatric wards", where they were euthanized, usually by a lethal overdose of medicine. The official numbers did not include handicapped Jews, Gypsies and other non-Aryan people, who did not fall under the jurisdiction of the "health courts", and who were put to death in concentration camps.
The Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring (German: Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses) or "Sterilization Law" was a statute in Nazi Germany enacted on July 14, 1933, (and made active in January 1934) which allowed the compulsory sterilization of any citizen who in the opinion of a "Genetic Health Court" (German: Erbgesundheitsgericht) suffered from a list of alleged genetic disorders - many of which were not, in fact, genetic. The elaborate interpretive commentary on the law was written by three dominant figures in the racial hygiene racial movement: Ernst Rudin, Arthur Gutt and the lawyer Falk Ruttke. The law itself was based on a 'model' American law developed by Harry H. Laughlin.
The law applied to anyone in the general population, making its scope significantly larger than the compulsory sterilization laws in the United States, which generally were only applicable on people in psychiatric hospitals or prisons.
The 1933 law created a large number of "Genetic Health Courts", consisting of a judge, a medical officer, and medical practitioner, which "shall decide at its own discretion after considering the results of the whole proceedings and the evidence tendered”. If the court decided that the person in question was to be sterilized, the decision could be appealed to "Higher Genetic Health Court". If the appeal failed, the sterilization was to be carried out, with the law specifying that "the use of force is permissible". The law also required that people seeking voluntary sterilizations also go through the courts.
There were three amendments by 1935, most making minor adjustments to how the statute operated or clarifying bureaucratic aspects (such as who paid for the operations). The most significant changes allowed the Higher Court to renounce a patient's right to appeal, and to fine physicians who did not report patients who they knew would qualify for sterilization under the law. The law also enforced sterilization on the so-called "Rhineland bastards" -- Afro-German children who were fathered by Africans serving as French colonial troops occupying the Rhineland after World War I.
*****
*****
Puerto Rico
*****
Africa*****
*****
Benin
Mathieu Kérékou (September 2, 1933 – October 14, 2015) was a Beninese politician who was President of Benin from 1972 to 1991 and again from 1996 to 2006. After seizing power in a military coup, he ruled the country for 17 years, for most of that time under an officially Marxist-Leninist ideology, before he was stripped of his powers by the National Conference of 1990. He was defeated in the 1991 presidential election, but was returned to the presidency in the 1996 election and controversially re-elected in 2001.
It has been suggested that Kérékou's move to Marxism-Leninism was motivated mainly by pragmatic considerations, and that Kérékou himself was not actually a leftist radical; the new ideology offered a means of legitimization, a way of distinguishing the new regime from those that had preceded it, and was based on broader unifying principles than the politics of ethnicity. Kérékou's regime initially included officers from both the north and south of the country, but as the years passed the northerners (like Kérékou himself) became clearly dominant, undermining the idea that the regime was not based in ethnicity. By officially adopting Marxism-Leninism, Kérékou may also have wanted to win the support of the country's leftists.
Kérékou's regime was rigid and vigorous in pursuing its newly adopted ideological goals from the mid-1970s to the late 1970s. Beginning in the late 1970s, the regime jettisoned much of its radicalism and settled onto a more moderately socialist course as Kérékou consolidated his personal control.
Kérékou survived numerous attempts to oust him, including an invasion of the port city of Cotonou by mercenaries contracted by a group of exiled Beninese political rivals in January 1977, as well as two coup attempts in 1988.
It was hoped that the nationalizations of the 1970s would help develop the economy, but it remained in a very poor condition, with the state sector being plagued by inefficiency and corruption. Kérékou began reversing course in the early 1980s, closing down numerous state-run companies and attempting to attract foreign investment. He also accepted an International Monetary Fund (IMF) structural readjustment program in 1989, agreeing to austerity measures that severely cut state expenditures. The economic situation continued to worsen during the 1980s, provoking widespread unrest in 1989. A student strike began in January of that year. Subsequently, strikes among various elements of society increased in frequency and the nature of their demands grew broader: whereas initially they had focused on economic issues such as salary arrears, this progressed to include demands for political reform.
Kérékou reclaimed the presidency in the March 1996 election. Soglo's economic reforms and his alleged dictatorial tendencies had caused his popularity to suffer. Although Kérékou received fewer votes than Soglo in the first round, he then defeated Soglo in the second round, taking 52.5% of the vote. Kérékou was backed in the second round by third place candidate Adrien Houngbedji and fourth place candidate Bruno Amoussou, as in 1991, Kérékou received very strong support from northern voters, but he also improved his performance in the south. Soglo alleged fraud, but this was rejected by the Constitutional Court, which confirmed Kérékou's victory. When taking the oath of office, Kérékou left out a portion that referred to the "spirits of the ancestors" because he had become a born-again Christian after his defeat by Soglo. He was subsequently forced to retake the oath including the reference to spirits.
Kérékou was barred from running again in 2006 on two counts. The constitution not only limited the president to two terms, but also required that presidential candidates be younger than 70 (he turned 70 in 2003, through his second term). Kérékou said in July 2005 that he would not attempt to amend the constitution to allow him to run for a third term. "If you don't leave power," he said, "power will leave you." There was, however, speculation that he had wanted it to be changed, but faced too much opposition.
On March 5, 2006, voters went to the polls to decide who would succeed Kérékou as President of Benin. Yayi Boni defeated Adrien Houngbédji in a run-off vote on March 19, and Kérékou left office at the end of his term, at midnight on April 6, 2006.
Nicknamed "the chameleon" from an early point in his career, Kérékou's motto was "the branch will not break in the arms of the chameleon". The nickname and motto he adopted were full of cultural symbolism, articulating and projecting his power and ability. Unlike some past rulers who had adopted animal symbolism intending to project a violent, warlike sense of power, Kérékou's symbolic animal suggested skill and cleverness; his motto suggested that he would keep the branch from breaking, but implicitly warned of what could happen to "the branch" if it was not "in the arms of the chameleon"—political chaos. To some, his nickname seemed particularly apt as he successfully adapted himself to a new political climate and neo-liberal economic policies in the 1990s.
*Paul Biya, a long-time President of Cameroon, was born in the village of Mvomeka'a in the South Region of Cameroon (February 13).
*****
*William Mboumona, a Cameroonian politician who served as Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity from 1974 to 1978, was born Bonadibong, Douala (October 20).
William Aurélien Etéki Mboumoua (b. October 20, 1933, Bonadibong, Douala, Cameroon) is a Cameroonian political figure and diplomat. He had a long career as a minister in the government of Cameroon. From 1961 to 1968, he was Minister of National Education, and from 1984 to 1987, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs. Etéki Mboumoua was also Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) from 1974 to 1978.
Ethiopia
(Abyssinia)
*Aklilu Lemma, an Ethiopian physician known for his work on preventing the parasitic disease bilharzia, was born Jijiga, Abyssinia (September 18).
Aklilu Lemma (b. September 18, 1933, Jijiga, Abyssinia - d. 1997) was an Ethiopian physician. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1989, jointly with Legesse Wolde-Yohannes, for their work and discoveries on how to prevent the parasitic disease bilharzia. Bilharzia, or schistosomiasis, is a debilitating and eventually fatal illness, which afflicts more than 200 million people in 74 countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Present therapies for bilharzia, and molluscicides to kill the snail-carriers of the disease, are far too expensive for the communities that need them.
Kenya
*Mathieu Kerekou, a President of Benin known as "The Chameleon", was born Kouarfa, in north-west French Dahomey (September 2).
Mathieu Kérékou (September 2, 1933 – October 14, 2015) was a Beninese politician who was President of Benin from 1972 to 1991 and again from 1996 to 2006. After seizing power in a military coup, he ruled the country for 17 years, for most of that time under an officially Marxist-Leninist ideology, before he was stripped of his powers by the National Conference of 1990. He was defeated in the 1991 presidential election, but was returned to the presidency in the 1996 election and controversially re-elected in 2001.
Kérékou was born in 1933 in Kouarfa. in north-west French Dahomey. After having studied at military schools in modern-day Mali and Senegal, Kérékou served in the military. Following independence, from 1961 to 1963 he was an aide-de-camp to Dahomeyan President Hubert Maga, following Maurice Kouandete's seizure of power in December 1967, Kérékou, who was his cousin, was made chairman of the Military Revolutionary Council. After Kérékou attended French military schools from 1968 to 1970, Maga made him a major, deputy chief of staff, and commander of the Ouidah paratroop unit.
Kerekou seized power in Dahomey in a military coup on October 26, 1972, ending a system of government in which three members of a presidential council were to rotate power (earlier in the year MagKérékou a had handed over power to Justin Ahomadegbe).
During his first two years in power, Kérékou expressed only nationalism and said that the country's revolution would not "burden itself by copying foreign ideology ... We do not want communism or capitalism or socialism. We have our own Dahomean social and cultural system." On November 30, 1974, however, he announced the adoption of Marxism-Leninism by the state. The country was renamed from the Republic of Dahomey to the People's Republic of Benin a year later; the banks and petroleum industry were nationalized. The People's Revolutionary Party of Benin (Parti de la révolution populaire du Bénin, PRPB) was established as the sole ruling party. In 1980, Kérékou was elected president by the Revolutionary National Assembly; he retired from the army in 1987.
It has been suggested that Kérékou's move to Marxism-Leninism was motivated mainly by pragmatic considerations, and that Kérékou himself was not actually a leftist radical; the new ideology offered a means of legitimization, a way of distinguishing the new regime from those that had preceded it, and was based on broader unifying principles than the politics of ethnicity. Kérékou's regime initially included officers from both the north and south of the country, but as the years passed the northerners (like Kérékou himself) became clearly dominant, undermining the idea that the regime was not based in ethnicity. By officially adopting Marxism-Leninism, Kérékou may also have wanted to win the support of the country's leftists.
Kérékou's regime was rigid and vigorous in pursuing its newly adopted ideological goals from the mid-1970s to the late 1970s. Beginning in the late 1970s, the regime jettisoned much of its radicalism and settled onto a more moderately socialist course as Kérékou consolidated his personal control.
Kérékou survived numerous attempts to oust him, including an invasion of the port city of Cotonou by mercenaries contracted by a group of exiled Beninese political rivals in January 1977, as well as two coup attempts in 1988.
It was hoped that the nationalizations of the 1970s would help develop the economy, but it remained in a very poor condition, with the state sector being plagued by inefficiency and corruption. Kérékou began reversing course in the early 1980s, closing down numerous state-run companies and attempting to attract foreign investment. He also accepted an International Monetary Fund (IMF) structural readjustment program in 1989, agreeing to austerity measures that severely cut state expenditures. The economic situation continued to worsen during the 1980s, provoking widespread unrest in 1989. A student strike began in January of that year. Subsequently, strikes among various elements of society increased in frequency and the nature of their demands grew broader: whereas initially they had focused on economic issues such as salary arrears, this progressed to include demands for political reform.
In the period of reforms towards multi-party democracy in Africa at the beginning of the 1990s, Benin moved onto this path early, with Kérékou being forced to make concessions to popular discontent. Benin's early and relatively smooth transition may be attributed to the particularly dismal economic situation in the country, which seemed to preclude any alternative. In the midst of increasing unrest, Kérékou was re-elected as president by the National Assembly in August 1989, but in December 1989 Marxism-Leninism was dropped as the state ideology, and a national conference was held in February 1990. The conference turned out to be hostile to Kérékou and declared its own sovereignty; despite the objections of some of his officers to this turn of events, Kérékou did not act against the conference, although he did label the conference's declaration of sovereignty a "civilian coup". During the transition that followed, Kérékou remained president but lost most of his power.
During the 1990 National Conference, which was nationally televised, Kérékou spoke to the Archbishop of Cotonou, Isidor de Souza, confessing guilt and begging forgiveness for the flaws of his regime. An observer described it as a "remarkable piece of political theater", full of cultural symbolism and significance. In effect, Kérékou was seeking forgiveness from his people. Such a gesture, so unusual for the African autocrats of the time, could have fatally weakened Kérékou's political standing, but he performed the gesture in such a way that, far from ending his political career, it instead served to symbolically redeem him and facilitate his political rehabilitation, while also "securing him immunity from prosecution". Kérékou shrewdly utilized the timing and setting. Culturally as well as theologically it would prove impossible to refuse forgiveness on these terms.
World Bank economist Nicephore Soglo, chosen as prime minister by the conference, took office in March, and a new constitution was approved in a December 1990 referendum. Multi-party elections were held in March 1991, which Kérékou lost, obtaining only about 32% of the vote in the second round against Prime Minister Soglo; while he won very large vote percentages in the north, in the rest of the country he found little support. Kérékou was thus the first mainland African president to lose power through a popular election. He apologized for "deplorable and regrettable incidents" that occurred during his rule.
After losing the election in March 1991, Kérékou left the political scene and "withdrew to total silence", another move that was interpreted as penitential.
Kérékou reclaimed the presidency in the March 1996 election. Soglo's economic reforms and his alleged dictatorial tendencies had caused his popularity to suffer. Although Kérékou received fewer votes than Soglo in the first round, he then defeated Soglo in the second round, taking 52.5% of the vote. Kérékou was backed in the second round by third place candidate Adrien Houngbedji and fourth place candidate Bruno Amoussou, as in 1991, Kérékou received very strong support from northern voters, but he also improved his performance in the south. Soglo alleged fraud, but this was rejected by the Constitutional Court, which confirmed Kérékou's victory. When taking the oath of office, Kérékou left out a portion that referred to the "spirits of the ancestors" because he had become a born-again Christian after his defeat by Soglo. He was subsequently forced to retake the oath including the reference to spirits.
Kérékou was re-elected for a second five-year term in the March 2001 presidential election under controversial circumstances. In the first round he took 45.4% of the vote; Soglo, who took second place, and parliament speaker Houngbédji, who took third, both refused to participate in the second round, alleging fraud and saying that they did not want to legitimize the vote by participating in it. This left the fourth place finisher, Amoussou, to face Kérékou in the run-off, and Kérékou easily won with 83.6% of the vote. It was subsequently discovered that the American corporation Titan gave more than two million dollars to Kérékou's re-election campaign as a bribe.
During Kérékou's second period in office his government followed a liberal economic path. The period also saw Benin take part in international peacekeeping missions in other African states.
Kérékou was barred from running again in 2006 on two counts. The constitution not only limited the president to two terms, but also required that presidential candidates be younger than 70 (he turned 70 in 2003, through his second term). Kérékou said in July 2005 that he would not attempt to amend the constitution to allow him to run for a third term. "If you don't leave power," he said, "power will leave you." There was, however, speculation that he had wanted it to be changed, but faced too much opposition.
On March 5, 2006, voters went to the polls to decide who would succeed Kérékou as President of Benin. Yayi Boni defeated Adrien Houngbédji in a run-off vote on March 19, and Kérékou left office at the end of his term, at midnight on April 6, 2006.
Kérékou allegedly converted to Islam in 1980 while on a visit to Libya, and changed his first name to Ahmed, but he later returned to the use of the name Mathieu. This alleged conversion may have been designed to please the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, in order to obtain financial and military support. Alternatively, the conversion story may have been a rumor planted by some of his opponents in order to destabilize his regime. In any event, Kerekou subsequently became a born-again Christian. Some Vodun believers in Benin regarded him as having magical powers, explaining his ability to survive repeated coup attempts during his military rule.
Nicknamed "the chameleon" from an early point in his career, Kérékou's motto was "the branch will not break in the arms of the chameleon". The nickname and motto he adopted were full of cultural symbolism, articulating and projecting his power and ability. Unlike some past rulers who had adopted animal symbolism intending to project a violent, warlike sense of power, Kérékou's symbolic animal suggested skill and cleverness; his motto suggested that he would keep the branch from breaking, but implicitly warned of what could happen to "the branch" if it was not "in the arms of the chameleon"—political chaos. To some, his nickname seemed particularly apt as he successfully adapted himself to a new political climate and neo-liberal economic policies in the 1990s.
Kerekou used the campaign slogan, "Experience in the service of youth."
After leaving office in 2006, Kérékou stayed out of politics and spent time at his homes in Cotonou and Natitingou in northwestern Benin, his native region. He suffered a health crisis in 2014 and was taken to Paris for treatment. Although he recovered, he continued to suffer health problems, and he died in Benin on October 14, 2015 at the age of 82.
Botswana
(Bechuanaland)
Cameroon
Botswana
(Bechuanaland)
*On September 14, the British High Commissioner for the African protectorate of Bechuanaland (now the Republic of Botswana), Vice Admiral E. R. G. R. Evans, sent in troops to the city of Serowe, to depose the King of the Bamangwato tribe, Chief Tshekedi. The King had violated a law prohibiting trial of any European national in native courts, after permitting a British citizen, Phineas McIntosh, to be flogged as punishment for adultery.
*Paul Biya, a long-time President of Cameroon, was born in the village of Mvomeka'a in the South Region of Cameroon (February 13).
Paul Biya (b. Paul Barthélemy Biya'a bi Mvondo, February 13, 1933) is a Cameroonian politician who became President of Cameroon on November 6, 1982. A native of Cameroon's south, Biya rose rapidly as a bureaucrat under President Ahmadou Ahidjo in the 1960s, serving as Secretary-General of the Presidency from 1968 to 1975 and then as Prime Minister of Cameroon from 1975 to 1982. He succeeded Ahidjo as President upon the latter's surprise resignation in 1982 and consolidated power in a 1983–1984 power struggle with his predecessor.
Biya introduced political reforms within the context of a one-party system in the 1980s. Under pressure, he accepted the introduction of multi-party politics in the early 1990s. He narrowly won the 1992 presidential election with 40% of the plural, single-ballot vote and was re-elected by large margins in 1997, 2004, and 2011. Opposition politicians and Western governments have alleged voting irregularities and fraud on each of these occasions.
Biya maintained Cameroon's close relationship with France, Cameroon's former colonial ruler.
*****
*William Mboumona, a Cameroonian politician who served as Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity from 1974 to 1978, was born Bonadibong, Douala (October 20).
William Aurélien Etéki Mboumoua (b. October 20, 1933, Bonadibong, Douala, Cameroon) is a Cameroonian political figure and diplomat. He had a long career as a minister in the government of Cameroon. From 1961 to 1968, he was Minister of National Education, and from 1984 to 1987, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs. Etéki Mboumoua was also Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) from 1974 to 1978.
(Abyssinia)
*Aklilu Lemma, an Ethiopian physician known for his work on preventing the parasitic disease bilharzia, was born Jijiga, Abyssinia (September 18).
Aklilu Lemma (b. September 18, 1933, Jijiga, Abyssinia - d. 1997) was an Ethiopian physician. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1989, jointly with Legesse Wolde-Yohannes, for their work and discoveries on how to prevent the parasitic disease bilharzia. Bilharzia, or schistosomiasis, is a debilitating and eventually fatal illness, which afflicts more than 200 million people in 74 countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Present therapies for bilharzia, and molluscicides to kill the snail-carriers of the disease, are far too expensive for the communities that need them.
Kenya
*Ali Mazrui, author of The Africans, was born in Mombasa, Kenya (February 24).
Ali Al Amin Mazrui, (b. February 24, 1933, Mombasa, Kenya - d. October 12/13, 2014, Binghamton, New York, United States), Kenyan American political scientist. After receiving a doctorate from the University of Oxford, he taught at Uganda’s Makerere University (1963–73) and later at the University of Michigan (1974–91). At SUNY–Binghamton (now Binghamton University) he founded and directed the Institute of Global Cultural Studies. He also taught at many other universities worldwide, was a consultant to numerous international organizations, and wrote more than 30 books on African politics and society as well as post-colonial patterns of development and underdevelopment, including The African Predicament and the American Experience: A Tale of Two Edens (2004). For television he wrote the nine-hour BBC-PBS co-production The Africans (1986) and was featured in the documentary film Motherland (2009). Mazrui received numerous honors and awards, including the Association of Muslim Social Scientists UK (AMSS UK) Academic Achievement Award (2000).
*****
Mozambique
Nigeria
*Moses Orimolade, a Nigerian Yoruban religious leader who founded the Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim, died (October 19).
*Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (b. November 4, 1933, Zungeru, Nigeria – d. November 26, 2011, United Kingdom), a Nigerian military officer and politician who served as the military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria in 1966 and the leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra from 1967 to 1970, was born in Zungeru, Nigeria.
*****
*The Nigerian Youth Movement was formed in Lagos.
Mozambique
*Samora Machel, the President of Mozambique from 1975 to 1986, was born in Gaza Province, Mozambique.
Samora Moisés Machel (b. September 29, 1933, Gaza Province – d. October 19, 1986, Mbuzini, Lebombo Mountains, South Africa) was a Mozambican military commander, revolutionary socialist leader, and eventual President of Mozambique. Machel led the country from independence in 1975 until his death in 1986, when his presidential aircraft crashed in mountainous terrain where the borders of Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa converge.
*Moses Orimolade, a Nigerian Yoruban religious leader who founded the Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim, died (October 19).
Moses Orimolade Tunolase was born circa 1879 in Ikare into the royal family of Ayibiri in Ondo State of Nigeria. Orimolade could neither stand nor walk until he was well over five years of age. In an effort to get Orimolade the help he needed, his parents had taken him to St. Stephen's Anglican Church, the only church in the Yoruba town of Ikare in Western Nigeria at the time.
Orimolade was often left in the custody of the clergyman at this Church Missionary Society establishment of the Anglican Communion. One night the minister observed a strange light in the church and heard singing coming from inside. The minister discovered that the building was empty, except for Orimolade, who was about 5 years old at the time, sitting on the floor of the church in bright phosphorescence.
At age 12 years, Orimolade had a dream in which he was presented with a rod, a Royal Insignia and a crown. He woke with a personal conversion to the Christian faith and a conviction of his calling to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ but his evangelistic mission did not begin until after a period of seven years in confinement. Some of his close associates at the time attributed this confinement to a protracted illness while others regarded it as a period spent in training and preparation for his missionary work. Orimolade emerged from this confinement with partial recovery of the use of his legs and a remarkable ability to pray and preach the King James Version of the Bible that had been translated into his own native Yoruba language earlier by his tribesman, Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther.
Orimolade started his missionary work as an itinerant preacher in Ikare (his Yoruba town of birth) with no formal education. He openly confronted witches and wizards in Irun (another Yoruba town) and pulled down the image of Osijora, one of the idols worshipped in the village. He condemned the prevalent practice of human sacrifice in Benin City. He consecrated a pool in Kaba town and rid it of the evil spirit the villagers had worshipped. Orimolade converted many to the Christian faith. Traditional worshippers willingly gave up their charms and images for burning in response to his preaching and prayer. He directed his converts to the existing churches, irrespective of denominations, and where no church existed he helped establish one. Some of the churches established by Orimolade were actually first established for the Church Missionary Society.
The African people were converted to the Christian faith by the members of the Church Missionary Society for the Anglican Church and were introduced to the Bible. Some of the Christianized western world views and European moral values contradicted and contravened the nature and culture of the African people. The manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit among the African converts were misunderstood and mistaken by the missionaries for diabolical African voodoo. Polygamous marriages were dissolved resulting in the bastardization of the children from these African traditional marriages.
The availability of the translations of the scriptures in African languages brought the Bible to life among the African people and changed their views of the missionaries and the missions. Drumming, clapping and dancing as methods of worship were embraced by the African people but created challenges for the missionaries and their European concept of worship. The difference in understanding of religious expression resulted in clashes and conflicts between the missionaries and the African leadership in the Anglican Church. The blind insistence of the missionaries on the superiority of the European concept of Christianity provided the moral impetus for the denial of the African leadership the right to succeed Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther and left the African people in the Anglican Church disconnected and discontent.
In response, the people started gathering into prayer groups called Egbe Aladura. The Aladuras promoted and popularized the power of prayer to heal. When the 1918 influenza pandemic spread to West Africa the people sought healing among the Aladuras. The healing and survival of so many Nigerians among the Aladuras during the Spanish flu spurred the growth and spread of these prayer groups in the early 1920s. Moses Orimolade arrived in Lagos on July 12, 1924 and lodged at Holy Trinity (Anglican) Church with the Sexton of the Church, Emmanuel Olumodeji from his hometown. He started preaching and praying for people all over Lagos in Nigeria. Many people in and around Holy Trinity sought after Orimolade for spiritual inquiry and counseling. He developed a reputation for seasoned preaching and fervent prayer and became known among the people as the "Baba Aladura" (Father that prays). The prosperity and popularity of Moses Orimolade was not welcomed among the Anglican leadership and led to his ejection from the premises of Holy Trinity on September 11, 1924. This aroused the sympathy and support of people in and around the Church. They followed Orimolade out of Holy Trinity and thereafter to his places of residence. Orimolade called this group of supporters and sympathizers the "Aladura Band" and continued his preaching and prayer with them.
On June 18, 1925 the Aladura Band was called to the rescue of an unconscious Methodist teenage girl, Abiodun Akinsowon, who had fallen into a trance when she tried to look into the chalice carried by the Catholic Archbishop on Corpus Christi public procession. Abiodun remained in the trance for 21 days in the care of the Aladura Band. She regained consciousness after 21 days and joined the Aladura Band. She became the first visioner in the band. The name of the band was changed to the Seraph Band on 9 September 9, 1925 by Moses Orimolade. The addition of Cherubim to the name was advised by spiritual injunction on March 26, 1926 to reflect the heavenly representation of the Cherubim and Seraphim. The band was fully formed and functional by the end of 1925. Moses Orimolade reigned as the Sole Founder and Spiritual head of the band from 1925 to 1933.
******Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (b. November 4, 1933, Zungeru, Nigeria – d. November 26, 2011, United Kingdom), a Nigerian military officer and politician who served as the military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria in 1966 and the leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra from 1967 to 1970, was born in Zungeru, Nigeria.
*****
*The Nigerian Youth Movement was formed in Lagos.
The Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) was Nigeria's first genuine nationalist organization, founded in Lagos in 1933 with Professor Eyo Ita as the founding father and many others including Samuel Akisanya. Ernest Ikoli, the first editor of the Daily Times of Nigeria, which was launched in June 1926, was another founding member. Immediate concerns included the supposedly inferior status of Yaba College, appointments of Africans to senior positions in the civil service and discrimination against African truck drivers. However, the Lagos-based organization at first had generally moderate views and pledged to support and cooperate with the governor. The president was Dr. Kofo Abayomi. Ernest Ikoli was vice president and H. O. Davies was the secretary. It was the first multi-ethnic organization in Nigeria and its program was to foster political advancement of the country and enhance the socio-economic status of the Nigerian citizens.
The movement acquired national outlook and became a strong national movement when Nnamdi Azikiwe and H. O. Davies returned to Nigeria in 1937 and 1938 respectively and consequently joined the movement. N.Y.M. became the first authentic Nigerian nationalist organization to be formed, Obafemi Awolowo and Samuel Akintola were other prominent members of the movement which membership was open to all Nigerians especially those resident in Lagos.
Sierra Leone
South Africa
The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (1075–1220) was a pre-colonial state in Southern Africa located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers, south of Great Zimbabwe. The kingdom was the first stage in a development that would culminate in the creation of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe in the 13th century, and with gold trading links to Rhapta and Kilwa Kisiwani on the African east coast. The Kingdom of Mapungubwe lasted about 80 years, and at its height its population was about 5000 people.
Sierra Leone
*Clifford Fyle, a Sierra Leonean author who wrote the Sierra Leone National Anthem, was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone (March 29).
Clifford Nelson Fyle (b. March 29, 1933, Freetown, Sierra Leone - d. January 18, 2006, Yonkers, New York) was a Sierra Leonean linguistics professor, author, writer, mathematician, lecturer and publisher who authored the Sierra Leonean National Anthem. He was the first Sierra Leonean to produce school books for the teaching of Sierra Leonean languages.
*Archaeologists and fortune hunters Jerry van Graan and Ernst van Graan began excavations of the ancestral graveyard of the Kings of Mapungubwe in South Africa, undisturbed since the 13th Century, after being tipped off by a local resident (January 1).
The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (1075–1220) was a pre-colonial state in Southern Africa located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers, south of Great Zimbabwe. The kingdom was the first stage in a development that would culminate in the creation of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe in the 13th century, and with gold trading links to Rhapta and Kilwa Kisiwani on the African east coast. The Kingdom of Mapungubwe lasted about 80 years, and at its height its population was about 5000 people.
The capital of the kingdom was called Mapungubwe, which is where the kingdom gets its name. The site of the city is now a World Heritage Site, South African National Heritage Site, national park, and archaeological site. There is controversy regarding the origin and meaning of the name Mapungubwe. Conventional wisdom has it that Mapungubwe means "place of jackals," or alternatively, "place where jackals eat" or, “hill of the jackals”. It also means "place of wisdom" and "the place where the rock turns into liquid"- from various ethnicities in the region including the Pedi, the Swazi, Sotho and Shona.
*Solomon kaDinuzulu, the King of the Zulu nation, died at Kambi (March 4).
Solomon kaDinuzulu (1891–1933) was the King of the Zulu nation from 1913 until his death on March 4, 1933 at Kambi. He was born on the island of St. Helena during the exile there of his father, King Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo.
In conjunction with the African National Congress (ANC), Solomon kaDinuzulu was a founder of the original Inkatha (or Inkatha kaZulu as it was known) in the 1920s. It was mainly formed to act as a rallying point against Jan Smuts' Native Affairs Bill of 1920.
One of his sisters was Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu, who became famous as a singer of traditional Zulu songs as well as for being the mother of Mangosuthu Buthelezi, leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
He was succeeded by his son, Cyprian Bhekuzulu kaSolomon.
*****
Zimbabwe
(The Colony of Southern Rhodesia)
(Rhodesia)
*Howard Moffat, described by a later observer as "the Herbert Hoover of colonial Zimbabwe" resigned as Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia after six years, and was succeeded by George Mitchell (July 4).
*****
*Miriam Tlali (b. November 11, 1933, Doomfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa), a South African novelist who was the first black woman in South Africa to publish a novel, Muriel at Metropolitan, in 1979, and who was also one of the first to write about Soweto, was born in Doornfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa (November 11).
Zimbabwe
(The Colony of Southern Rhodesia)
(Rhodesia)
*Howard Moffat, described by a later observer as "the Herbert Hoover of colonial Zimbabwe" resigned as Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia after six years, and was succeeded by George Mitchell (July 4).
No comments:
Post a Comment