Today is Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day, a public holiday in Ghana. This holiday commemorates the birthday of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President. Kwame Nkrumah was one of the major driving forces behind leading the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957 – the first sub-saharan African country to achieve independence. At his Independence Day speech he told his new country’s citizens that “we have a duty to prove to the world that Africans can conduct their own affairs with efficiency and tolerance and through the exercise of democracy. We must set an example to all Africa.”
He was a pan-Africanist and he worked hard to eliminate tribalism over the opposition of the traditional chiefs. He was instrumental in the creation of the Organization of African Unity. He exploited the cold war by oscillating between east and west extracting concessions from both sides.
In February 1966, while Nkrumah on a state visit to Vietnam and China, his government was overthrown in a military coup, allegedly with CIA involvement. Nkrumah never returned to Ghana and died in April 1972.
Today is the birthday, in 1947, of Don Felder, guitar, vocals, the Eagles, (1977 US No.1 & UK No.8 single ‘Hotel California’, plus 5 US No.1 albums. ‘Greatest Hits 1971-1975’ is the second biggest selling album in the world with sales over 30m). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZxhQJC9hWk
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