istoryworld
Events relating to africa
The Polisario is formed to fight for the independence of Western Sahara
Winning power in a military coup, Juvenal Habyarimana begins a 21-year spell as dictator in Rwanda
Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement
Arab oil-exporting countries cause an economic crisis by denying oil to western countries supporting Israel
Donald Johanson and Tom Gray find an almost complete Australopithecus female skeleton at Hadar in Ethiopia, and nickname her Lucy after the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
An uprising organized in Ethiopia by the Dergue results in the arrest of Haile Selassie and his murder a year later
Portuguese Guinea becomes independent as Guinea-Bissau, with Luís Cabral as president
The independence of Angola is established in the Alvor agreement between Portugal and three rival guerrilla groups, the MPLA, FNLA, and UNITA
The MPLA, controlling the capital but not the country, declares itself the government of newly independent Angola
The republic of Dahomey changes its name to one already famous in African history – Benin
UNITA and the FNLA join forces to set up a rival Angolan government at Huambo, in the south of the country
The king of Morocco sends 350,000 settlers across the border into Western Sahara
Yakubu Gowon, who united Nigeria after the Biafran war, is thrown out in a military coup
Portuguese East Africa becomes independent as Mozambique, with Frelimo as the only political party
The Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa, become independent as the republic of Cape Verde
In Angola the USA and USSR fund rival guerrilla groups, MPLA and UNITA
Cuban troops, sent by Castro to Angola, clash with South African forces attempting to combat communism
Mary Leakey and her team find footprints, about 3.6 million years old, of bipedal hominids walking upright at Laetoli in Tanzania
The UN entrusts the Western Sahara to joint administration by Morocco and Mauritania
A guerrilla movement, with Rhodesian backing, launches a long civil war against Frelimo in Mozambique
The Polisario, as a government-in-exile in Algeria, proclaim the independence of Western Sahara as the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic
Hundreds of deaths and casualties result from police firing on a demonstration by schoolchildren in the black township of Soweto
In a daring raid on Entebbe airport, Israeli troops rescue hostages hijacked on a flight from Tel Aviv to Paris
Black American author Alex Haley traces his family origins in Africa in Roots
Mengistu Haile Mariam seizes control of Ethiopia's ruling Dergue (military council) in a violent coup
