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This month’s anniversaries

1 Aug 1960 independence of Dahomey, present-day Benin (from France)
2 Aug 1923 birth of Shimon Peres, president of Israel (2007–2014), recipient of Nobel Peace Prize 1994
3 Aug 1903 birth of Habib Bourguiba, first president of the Republic of Tunisia (1957–1987)
3 Aug 1960 independence of Niger (from France)
4 Aug 1965 death of Albert Schweitzer, German protestant theologian, philosopher, organist, physician and missionary, founder of Lambaréné (Gabon) hospital, recipient of Nobel Peace Prize 1952
5 Aug 1937 birth of Manuel Pinto da Costa, first president of São Tomé and Príncipe (1975–1991, 2011–2016)
5 Aug 1960 independence of Upper Volta, present-day Burkina Faso (from France)
7 Aug 1960 independence of Côte d'Ivoire (from France)
7 Aug 1975 birth of Charlize Theron, South African actress, producer and model
9 Aug 2008 death of Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet and author, recipient of many literary prizes and awards
10 Aug 1909 birth of Mohammed V (Sidi Mohammed Ben Youssef), king of Morocco (1957–1961)
10 Aug 1916 birth of Coutoucou Hubert Maga, first president of Dahomey, present-day Benin (1960–1963)
11 Aug 1960 independence of Chad (from France)
11 Aug 1972 death of Max Theiler, South African-American virologist and physician, recipient of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1951
13 Aug 1960 independence of Central African Republic (from France)
15 Aug 1960 independence of Congo [Brazzaville] (from France)
15 Aug 1971 independence of Bahrain (from United Kingdom)
15 Aug 1971 death of Zbyněk Žába, Czech Egyptologist
16 Aug 1888 birth of Thomas Edward Lawrence (T. E. Lawrence), nicknamed Lawrence of Arabia, British Arabist and archaeologist, organizer of the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Empire in 1916
16 Aug 1913 birth of Menachem Begin, prime minister of Israel (1977–1983), recipient of Nobel Peace Prize 1978
17 Aug 1960 independence of Gabon (from France)
17 Aug 1992 creation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
18 Aug 2018 death of Kofi Annan, Ghanaian diplomat, secretary-general of the United Nations (1997–2006), recipient of Nobel Peace Prize 2001
22 Aug 980 birth of Abu Ali al-Ḥusayn ibn Abdillah ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Ali ibn Sina (Avicenna), Persian polymath, regarded as father of modern medicine
22 Aug 1898 birth of Jaroslav Černý, Czech Egyptologist
22 Aug 1978 death of Jomo Kenyatta, first president of Kenya (1964–1978)
23 Aug 1932 birth of Hawwari bu Midyan (Houari Boumédiène), chairman of the Revolutionary Council of Algeria (1965–1976), second president of Algeria (1976–1978)
23 Aug 1957 death of Rudolf Růžička, Czech Arabist and Semitist
24 Aug 1924 birth of Ahmadou Babatoura Ahidjo, first president of Cameroon (1960–1982)
24 Aug 1929 birth of Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, recipient of Nobel Peace Prize 1994
24 Aug 2003 death of Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, British explorer of Arab countries and Africa
27 Aug 1963 death of William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, American Pan-Africanist, sociologist, historian and civil rights activist
27 Aug 1975 death of Haile Selassie I, the last reigning emperor of Ethiopia (1930–1974)
30 Aug 2006 death of Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian writer, recipient of Nobel Prize in Literature 1988
31 Aug 1801 end of the French campaign in Egypt