On this day in 2005;Ninety people were reported killed or missing when a ferry capsizes on a river in Taraba, Nigeria.
Also on this day in 2012; Police opened fire killing 34 striking mine workers at Marikana, North West Province of South Africa.
During this fateful event 78 people were left wounded while more than 250 people were arrested.
The protesting miners were demanding a wage increase at the Lonmin platinum mine. This was the biggest incident of police brutality since the dawn of democracy and it revived memories of brutality suffered under Apartheid security police.
Equally on this day 2003; Ugandan military ruler Idi Amin, 78, who presided over an eight-year reign of terror from 1971-1979, where an estimated 300 000 people were killed and tortured to death, died of multiple organ failure.
On this day in 1972; Morocco’s King Hassan II escapes unhurt when an airliner carrying him to Rabat was fired on by Moroccan Air Force pilots.
And on this day in 1971; President Hastings Banda, president of Malawi, paid a state visit to South Africa (16-20 Aug.), meeting the State President and the Prime Minister. On his return, he declares that 99% of the Africans whom he met supported his policy of contact with Pretoria.
