Top 10 history of Africa facts

Liberia was created in 1847 by freed slaves from the United States. They established a government modelled on that of the United States and named its capital city, Monrovia after James Monroe, a prominent supporter of the colonization.

Sea route to India. Bartolomeu Dias originally named the Cape of Good Hope the "Cape of Storms" (Cabo das Tormentas). It was later renamed (by King John II of Portugal) the Cape of Good Hope because it represented the opening of a route to the east.

King Solomon. The House of Solomon was the former Imperial House of Ethiopia. Its members claim lineal descent from Solomon of Israel and the Queen of Sheba, the latter of whom tradition asserts gave birth to Menelik I after her Biblically described visit to Solomon in Jerusalem. These claims of Solomonic descent make the Ethiopian royal house among the two oldest in the world (the other being the Imperial Dynasty of Japan)

Arabia. Slavery had long been practiced in Africa. Between the 7th and 20th centuries, the Arab slave trade (also known as slavery in the East) took 18 million slaves from Africa via trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean routes. Between the 15th and the 19th centuries, the Atlantic slave trade took an estimated 7–12 million slaves to the New World.

Muammar Gaddafi. Beginning in the 1980s Gadaffi travelled with his Amazonian Guard, which was a group of female bodyguards, hand-picked by Gaddafi himself. They reportedly were sworn to a life of celibacy. However, in the latter days of the Libyan civil war, accusations emerged from five members of the Amazonian Guard of rape and other abuse by the upper echelons of the Gaddafi government.

Ethiopia. Tracing its roots to the 2nd millennium BC, Ethiopia was a monarchy for most of its history. When other African nations gained their independence following World War II, many of them adopted the colors of Ethiopia's flag, and Addis Ababa became the location of several global organizations focused on Africa.

Ethiopia. Haile Selassie I was an Ethiopian regent from 1916 to 1930 and emperor from 1930 to 1974. He is a defining figure in contemporary Ethiopian history.

Bartolomeu Dias. During his expedition in 1487-1488, Bartolomeu Dias reached the tip of South Africa. Dias wanted to continue sailing to India, but he was forced to turn back when his crew refused to go further. After returning to Lisbon, Dias helped in the construction of the ships that were used by Vasco da Gama to eventually reach India ten years later.

Gold mining. The Ashanti Empire was an Akan empire and kingdom in what is now modern-day Ghana from 1670 to 1957.The wealthy gold-rich Asante people developed the large and influential Ashanti Empire, along the Lake Volta and Gulf of Guinea. The empire was founded in 1670.

Libya. Gaddafi was a controversial and highly divisive world figure. Supporters lauded his anti-imperialist stance and work in unifying Africa and the Arab world, and he was decorated with various awards. Conversely, he was internationally condemned as a dictator and autocrat whose authoritarian administration violated the human rights of Libyan citizens and supported international terrorism.