This Day in AfricaToday in African history
November 6
1982 — Paul Biya Takes Power in Cameroon
On November 6, 1982, Paul Biya was sworn in as president of Cameroon after the sudden resignation of Ahmadou Ahidjo, the strongman who had ruled since independence. As prime minister, Biya was the constitutional successor, and the handover arrived not by an…
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Every date on the calendar holds an African story. Jump to your birthday, an anniversary, any day at all.
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- January January 1 — Cameroon Gains Independence
- February February 1 — Guinea-Bissau's Failed Coup Attempt
- March March 1 — The Battle of Adwa
- April April 1 — The First World Festival of Black Arts
- May May 1 — Johannesburg's Bloody May Day
- June June 1 — South Africa Comes Home
- July July 1 — Ghana's Republic Day
- August August 1 — Dahomey's Independence
- September September 1 — The Coup That Remade Libya
- October October 1 — Nigeria Gains Independence
- November November 1 — Algeria's War for Freedom Begins
- December December 1 — The Central African Republic Is Born
The book
This Day in Africa — the almanac
All 366 days, expanded for the page: empires and icons, coups and coronations, inventions, matches, judgments and journeys. Read one a day and walk the whole year inside African history.
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How it works
Each day's entry tells what happened on that date, then steps back to say why it still matters. Every day also lives as a short film of about sixty seconds in the This Day in Africa series on YouTube — read the page, then watch the minute. More about the project.