1952 — Kenya's State of Emergency

On October 20, 1952, Kenya changed forever. At midnight, British governor Evelyn Baring declared a state of emergency as the Mau Mau uprising against colonial rule swept the land. Jomo Kenyatta, the country's most prominent nationalist leader, was seized at his home in the dark and arrested, along with other freedom fighters. Accused of leading the Mau Mau, Kenyatta was put on trial and sentenced to seven years of hard labour.

Today, October 20 is Kenya's Mashujaa Day, a national holiday honouring the heroes of the independence struggle. The crackdown was meant to crush the movement. Instead, it lit the fuse that carried Kenya to independence in 1963, eleven years after the night of arrests.