1994 — Rwanda's Liberation Day

On July 4, 1994, the Rwandan Patriotic Front under Paul Kagame secured the capital, Kigali, defeating the regime behind the Genocide against the Tutsi. The victory ended one hundred days of slaughter that had killed between 500,000 and 800,000 people, in one of the darkest chapters of the century.

The new government immediately proclaimed July 4 as Liberation Day, a national holiday of military parades and remembrance. The victory also ended the Rwandan Civil War that had raged since 1990. From the ashes, Rwanda began one of the most remarkable rebuildings in modern history, a work still remembered each year.