istoryworld
Events relating to africa
Liberia wins independence and international recognition as a republic
Harry Smith annexes for Britain the land between the Orange and Vaal rivers, calling it the Orange River Sovereignty
The Scottish missionary David Livingstone is profoundly shocked by what he sees of the slave trade at the heart of Africa
The British government buys the Danish fortresses on the Gold Coast, including Christiansborg castle in Accra
Brazil, historically the world's second largest importer of slaves from Africa, finally bans the slave trade
David Livingstone makes a heroic six-month journey from the Zambezi river to the west coast of Africa
The Boers establish the Orange Free State as an independent republic, with its own custom-built constitution
William Baikie, on an expedition up the Niger, protects his men from malaria by administering quinine
Ferdinand de Lesseps is granted the concession to construct a canal from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea
An Ethiopian baron usurps the throne and proclaims himself emperor, as Theodore II
David Livingstone urges upon a Cambridge audience the high ideal of taking 'commerce and Christianity' into Africa
The Boers of the southern Transvaal declare independence as the South African Republic
Lagos, on the coast of Nigeria, is annexed as a British colony when the royal family prove unable or unwilling to end the slave trade
Richard Burton, visiting Dahomey, provides reports of the kingdom's celebrated Amazons preparing for war
Speke and Grant find the Ripon Falls, over which the headwater of the Nile flows from Lake Tanganyika
The southern states pass new Black Codes, designed to limit the freedom granted to African-Americans by the victorious north
A Civil Rights Act is passed by the US Congress, guaranteeing the legal rights of African-Americans
Britain annexes Basutoland (now Lesotho), the kingdom of the Sotho leader Moshoeshoe
Britain, France and Italy take joint control of the finances of a bankrupt Tunisia
The proprietor of the New York Herald gives Henry Morton Stanley a very concise commission – 'Find Livingstone'
British explorer Samuel Baker annexes the southern Sudan, or Equatoria, on behalf of the khedive of Egypt
Thousands of distinguished guests assemble at Port Said for the opening of the Suez Canal
The Afghan philosopher Jamal al-Din, moving to Cairo, urges drastic and violent measures against western influence
18-year-old English entrepreneur Cecil Rhodes, on a temporary visit to South Africa, arrives in the new diamond town of Kimberley
Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida, is commissioned for the Cairo opera house, part of the process of Egypt becoming westernized
