1966 — Botswana's Independence Day

On September 30, 1966, the Bechuanaland Protectorate became the independent Republic of Botswana, with Seretse Khama as its first president. At midnight in the new capital, Gaborone — the capital had just moved there from Mafikeng — the Union Jack was lowered and Botswana's light-blue flag, symbolizing water and rain, was raised.

Britain had exiled Khama in 1951 over his marriage to a white Englishwoman, Ruth Williams, under pressure from apartheid South Africa. At independence Botswana was one of the world's poorest countries, with a few kilometers of paved road. Diamonds discovered the following year transformed its fortunes, and Botswana became one of Africa's stable democracies — still celebrated as Boipuso, Independence Day.