Exactly 41 years ago on May 15 1979, a youthful and exuberant J.J Rawlings Staged his first coup as a young and energetic revolutionary, almost five weeks before scheduled elections to return Ghana to civilian rule. On the morning of the day of the coup d’état, there was an exchange of fire between the coup … Read more
Born Nesta Robert Marley, Bob Marley is considered to be the greatest all-time Reggae musician. He was born on 6 February 1945 at the farm of his maternal grandfather in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, to Norval Sinclair Marley and Cedella Malcolm. In 1955, when Bob Marley was 10 years old, his father died … Read more
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, born in 1918, was the son of the chief of the Xhosa-speaking Tembu people. Instead of succeeding his father as chief, Mandela went to university and became a lawyer. In 1944, he joined the African National Congress (ANC), a black political organization dedicated to winning rights for the black majority in white-ruled … Read more
The Accra Sports Stadium disaster occurred at the Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra, Ghana on May 9, 2001. It took the lives of 126 people, making it the worst stadium disaster to have ever taken place in Africa. What was supposed to be a football game between Ghana’s two most glamorous and successful clubs turned into … Read more
The product that has given the world its best-known taste was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886. Dr John Stith Pemberton, a local pharmacist, produced the syrup for Coca-Cola, and carried a jug of the new product down the street to Jacobs’ Pharmacy, where it was sampled, pronounced “excellent” and placed on sale for … Read more
Exactly 70 years ago on 6 May 1950, Nana Barima Kwaku Duah, the third son and youngest of the five children (three sons and two daughters) of Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, Asantehemaa (Queen-mother of the Ashanti) was born. Otumfuo Osei Tutu was named after his paternal grandfather, Ohenenana Kwaku Duah (Nana Agari), Brahyiahene, … Read more
On May 1, 2011 (May 2 in Pakistani Time), Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, is killed by U.S. forces during a raid on his compound hideout in Pakistan. The notorious, 54-year-old leader of Al Qaeda, the terrorist network of Islamic extremists, had been the target … Read more
On April 30, 1945, holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler’s dreams of a “1,000-year” Reich. Adolf Hitler was a German politician and leader of the … Read more
On April 28, 1967, boxing champion Muhammad Ali refuses to be inducted into the U.S. Army and is immediately stripped of his heavyweight title. Ali, a Muslim, cited religious reasons for his decision to forgo military service. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 14, 1942, the future three-time world champ changed … Read more
On April 27, 1972, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana and a great Pan-Africanist died in Bucharest, Romania after six years in exile in Guinea far away from his birthplace of Nkroful at the age of 62. Dr Kwame Nkrumah, arguably one of Africa’s greatest and finest sons, was pivotal in the establishment … Read more
