1963 — Togo's First President Assassinated

Shortly after midnight on January 13, 1963, soldiers broke into President Sylvanus Olympio's home in Lomé, Togo's capital. Before dawn, his body was found near the door of the U.S. Embassy. The first president of an independent Togo had been murdered in the night by men in uniform.

It was the first military coup in post-independence sub-Saharan Africa, and Olympio the first African president assassinated in one, a grim precedent for the continent. Sergeant Étienne Eyadéma later claimed the fatal shot. In 1967, Eyadéma seized power himself and ruled Togo for decades, turning one night's violence into a long, grim era.