Portal:Military history of Africa/Selected anniversaries/May
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January • February • March • April • May • June • July • August • September • October • November • December
1 May
- 1941 - World War II: German forces launch a major attack on Tobruk, Libya.
2 May
- 1885 - The Congo Free State is established by King Léopold II of Belgium.
- 1889 - Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, signs a treaty of amity with Italy, which gives Italy control over Eritrea.
- 1900 - Oscar II, King of Sweden, declares support for Britain at the time of the Second Boer War.
3 May
- 1491 - Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João I.
4 May
- No military event recorded.
5 May
- 1936 - Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- 1941 - Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; this date has been since commemorated as Liberation Day.
- 2006 - The government of Sudan signed an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).
6 May
- No military event recorded.
7 May
- No military event recorded.
8 May
- No military event recorded.
9 May
- 1936 - Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5.
- 1994 - Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black president.
10 May
- 1801 - First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States.
- 1994 - Nelson Mandela becomes the first black president of South Africa.
11 May
- No military event recorded.
12 May
- 1881 - Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.
- 1978 - In Zaïre, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining center of the province of Shaba. The government of Zaïre asks the U.S., France and Belgium to restore order.
13 May
- 1943 - World War II: German Afrika Korps and Italian troops in North Africa surrender to Allied forces.
14 May
- No military event recorded.
15 May
- No military event recorded.
16 May
- 2003 - In Casablanca, Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks.
17 May
- 1900 - Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.
- 1967 - Six-Day War: President Abdul Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.
18 May
- 1991 - Northern Somalia declares independence from the rest of Somalia as the Republic of Somaliland however it is unrecognised by the international community.
19 May
- No military event recorded.
20 May
- No military event recorded.
21 May
- No military event recorded.
22 May
- No military event recorded.
23 May
- 1967 - Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran and blockades the port of Eilat at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping, laying the foundations for the Six Day War.
24 May
- 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
- 1900 - Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
- 1991 - Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
- 1993 - Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia.
25 May
- 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo back from the Moors.
- 1997 - A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.
26 May
- 1963 - The Organisation of African Unity is formed.
27 May
- No military event recorded.
28 May
- 1991 - The capital city of Addis Ababa, falls to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, ending both the Derg regime in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Civil War.
29 May
- 1999 - Olusegun Obasanjo takes office as President of Nigeria, the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule.
30 May
- 1966 - Former Congolese Prime Minister Evariste Kimba and several other politicians are publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu.
- 1967 - The Nigerian Eastern Region declares independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war.
31 May
- 1902 - Second Boer War: The last Afrikaner resistance forces sign a peace treaty with the British at Pretoria, ending the war, and ensuring British control of South Africa.
- 1910 - Creation of the Union of South Africa.
