Portal:Africa/Did you know

... that the British Museum's oldest African-American object is the Akan Drum (pictured) that was used to "dance the slaves"? ... that L.C. Lecesne rose to prominence as an activist against slavery after the British Government compensated him for his illegal exile from Jamaica? ... that despite receiving a budget allocation in 2003, the public sports stadium in Gibeon, Namibia, hadn't been repaired as of December 2007? ... that Kalulu, an African boy who died in 1877, was modeled in Madame Tussauds and attended Dr. Livingstone's funeral in London? ... that Samuel Jackman Prescod became the first person of African descent elected to the Parliament of Barbados?

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... that Dutch malacologist Adolph Cornelis van Bruggen (pictured) is an expert in African land snails? ... that a 20‑day study reported by BirdLife International discovered 265 species of birds in Nki National Park? ... that Liberia College in the country of Liberia was authorized by the legislature in 1851, but did not start classes until 1863? ... that the forced removal of 700,000 people from slums in Zimbabwe in 2005 was called "a crime against humanity" by the UN? ... that the supreme god of the southern African Bushmen is Cagn, a trickster who shapeshifts into a praying mantis? ... that Bahá'í Faith in Niger began during a period of wide scale growth in the religion across Sub-Saharan Africa near the end of its colonial period? ... that Safi Faye's 1975 film Kaddu Beykat was the first commercially distributed feature film made by a Sub-Saharan African woman? ... that legendary princess Yennenga, the "mother" of the Mossi people, was such a great warrior that her father refused to allow her to marry? ... that Safi Faye is a Senegalese film director whose work is better known in Europe than in her native Africa? ...that Mohamed Camara's 1997 film Dakan was the first West African film to explore homosexuality? ...that members of the Senegalese rap group Daara J were hired by campaigners in the Senegalese election of 2000 to edit their speeches? ...that Senegalese hip hop group Positive Black Soul ' s name abbreviation, PBS, is a play on that of the Parti Démocratique Sénégalais, PDS? ...that Mamadou Diabaté, a Malian kora player, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005, but lost to his cousin Toumani Diabaté? ...that, in November 2007, The Sowetan published an article which erroneously claimed that South African political activist Dan Mokonyane had died? ...that Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, a Nigerian Senator from the People's Democratic Party, is the daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo? ...that the 2007 South Africa miners' strike, which impacted over 240,000 workers, was the first ever industry-wide miners' strike in the history of South Africa? ...that Seleh Leha, a town in Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia, was the site of a leprosarium built during the Italian occupation of East Africa and abandoned in 1941? ...that Sarir field, an oil field in Cyrenaica operated by the Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO), is considered to be the largest in Libya, with estimated oil reserves of 12 Goilbbl? ...that Rukwanzi Island, an island in Lake Albert, one of the African Great Lakes, is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda? ...that Oumarou Sidikou, vice-governor of the Central Bank of West African States from 1988 to 1993, was a minister in the government of Nigerien Prime Minister Hama Amadou, which was ousted by a military coup in 1996? ...that Jason Dunford, an All-Africa Games gold medalist and runner-up for the 2006 Kenyan Sportsman of the Year award, has a younger brother who was selected "most promising sportsman" at the same awards? ...that Sam Mbakwe, governor of Imo State from 1979 to 1983, served in the army of the Republic of Biafra, an Igbo secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria, during the Nigerian Civil War? ...that Anne-Marie Nzié, a Cameroonian bikutsi singer, dedicated the song Liberté to President Paul Biya and his party, the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement? ...that the 1459 Fra Mauro map (pictured) reports that "a junk from India" rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1420, around 70 years before the navigations of Vasco da Gama? ...that the 1998 Sudan famine was caused by human rights abuses in the midst of the Second Sudanese Civil War? ...that a smokie is a West African delicacy made by blowtorching the carcass of a sheep or goat without removing its fleece? ...that Reverend John Chilembwe is celebrated as the first Malawian nationalist, and was a martyr for his cause? ...that from 1926 to 1940, the Union Minière du Haut Katanga had a virtual monopoly of the world uranium market? ...that Anfillo is an endangered language of Western Ethiopia, spoken only by a few hundred adults above sixty? ...that Bono Manso, the capital of Bono state, was an ancient Akan trading town in present-day Ghana, which was frequented by caravans from Djenné as part of the Trans-Saharan trade?