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This month’s anniversaries

1 Jul 1798 Napoleon’s fleet landed in Alexandria
1 Jul 1921 birth of Seretse Khama, first president of Botswana (1966–1980)
1 Jul 1960 independence of Somalia (from Italy, unification of Italian Somaliland and British Somaliland)
1 Jul 1962 independence of Burundi and Rwanda (from UN mandate under Belgian authority)
1 Jul 1987 death of Karel Petráček, Czech Arabist and Semitist
1 Jul 1999 death of Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo, leader of anticolonial struggle in Southern Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe)
2 Jul 1925 birth of Patrice Émery Lumumba, first prime minister of Congo [present-day DR Congo] (1960)
5 Jul 1853 birth of Cecil John Rhodes, South African businessman and politician of English descent, founder of De Beers diamond company
5 Jul 1962 independence of Algeria (from France)
5 Jul 1975 independence of Cape Verde (from Portugal)
6 Jul 1964 independence of Malawi (from United Kingdom)
6 Jul 1975 independence of Comoros (from France)
9 Jul 2002 disbandment or the Organization of African Unity, replacement by the African Union
9 Jul 2011 independence of South Sudan (secession from Sudan)
12 Jul 1926 death of Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, English archaeologist and traveller in Arab countries
12 Jul 1975 independence of São Tomé and Príncipe (from Portugal)
13 Jul 1934 birth of Akinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka, Nigerian writer, recipient of Nobel Prize in Literature (1986)
13 Jul 1980 death of Seretse Khama, first president of Botswana (1966–1980)
13 Jul 2014 death of Nadine Gordimer, South African writer, recipient of Nobel Prize in Literature 1991
14 Jul 1868 birth of Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, English archaeologist and traveller in Arab countries
14 Jul 1904 death of Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, known as Paul Kruger, eminent South African politician, state president of South African Republic in Transvaal (1883–1900)
14 Jul 1958 end of Hashemite monarchy and proclamation of Republic of Iraq
15 Jul 1860 birth of Max von Oppenheim, German amateur archaeological explorer of Near East, rival of Lawrence of Arabia during World War I
16 Jul 622 (Julian calender) beginning of Islamic era
16 Jul 1983 death of Michel Micombero, first president of Burundi (1966–1976)
17 Jul 1888 birth of Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer, recipient of Nobel Prize in Literature 1966
18 Jul 1892 death of Thomas Cook, British pioneer of tourism, founder of Thomas Cook & Son travel agency (present-day Thomas Cook Group)
18 Jul 1918 birth of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, first president of South Africa elected in fully representative elections (1994–1999), recipient of Nobel Peace Prize 1993
19 Jul 1917 birth of Zbyněk Žába, Czech  Egyptologist
20 Jul 1951 assassination of Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, first king of Jordan (1946–1951)
21 Jul 1967 death of Albert John Luthuli, South African politician, anti-apartheid fighter, recipient of Nobel Peace Prize 1960 (as the first African)
23 Jul 1892 birth of Haile Selassie I, the last reigning Emperor of Ethiopia (1930–1974)
23 Jul 1952 beginning of Egyptian revolution led by Gamal Abdel Nasser and Muhammad Naguib, National Day in Egypt
25 Jul 1883 birth of Louis Massignon, French scholar of Islam and pioneer of Christian-Muslim understanding
26 Jul 1847 independence of Liberia (from United States)
26 Jul 1956 nationalisation of Suez Canal
26 Jul 1987 death of Tawfiq al-Hakim, Egyptian writer, the most important Arab playwright
27 Jul 1909 mysterious disappearance near Durban of SS Waratah, referred to as Titanic of the Southern Seas
27 Jul 1980 death of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Iranian monarch (1941–1979)