Today is Second Republic Day, a public holiday in Guinea. This public holiday commemorates the 1984 bloodless coup that established the so-called Second Republic.
Following the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, Guinea proclaimed its independence in 1958. The country was ruled by Ahmed Sékou Touré, the leader of the Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG). Touré’s regime was authoritarian: PDG was the only legal party in Guinea, and Touré was reelected unopposed to four consecutive presidential terms.
On March 26, 1984, Touré died after a heart surgery. Colonels Lansana Conté and Diarra Traoré seized the opportunity and staged a coup that took place on April 3, 1984. Conté became the new president, while Traoré assumed the role of prime minister.
adding a live smile to old paintings…
Today is the birthday, in 1943 of Richard Manuel, Canadian composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a pianist, lead singer, and occasional drummer of the Band. He joined Ronnie Hawkins’s backing group, the Hawks when he was 18. The Band had the 1969 US No.25 single ‘Up On Cripple Creek’, and the 1970 UK No.16 single ‘Rag Mama Rag’. Manuel committed suicide on March 1986 after a gig at the Cheek to Cheek Lounge in Winter Park, Florida. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKu0OTDvQ-w
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