Emperor Menelik II was one of Ethiopia’s greatest leaders, ruling as King and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1889 to 1913. He was born Sahle Miriam on August 17, 1884, in Ankober, Shewa, Ethiopia. His mother, Woizero Ejigayehu Lemma Adyamo, was a palace servant, and his … Read MoreEmperor Menelik II (Sahle Miriam) (1844-1913)
Zhou Enlai with Unidentified African Leader, 1963 Image Ownership: Public domain Zhou Enlai’s first tour of Africa, popularly known as Zhou’s “Safari,” was a series of state visits to ten independent African countries, undertaken between December 1963 and February 1964 by the Chinese Premier. These … Read MoreZhou Enlai’s African “Safari” (1963-1964)
Haben Girma at the White House with President Barack Obama, July 20, 2015 Image Ownership: Public domain Haben Girma, both blind and deaf, is a disability rights advocate and attorney who became the first deaf and blind graduate of Harvard Law School in Massachusetts when … Read MoreHaben Girma (1988- )
In three covert military operations, called Moses, Joshua, and Solomon, over twenty thousand Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel to escape hardship. This ancient community, called Beta Israel (House of Israel in English), lived in relative isolation from the rest of the Jewish world for … Read MoreOperations Moses, Joshua, and Solomon (1984-1991)
Image Ownership: Public domain William Henry Ellis, an African American businessman who challenged racial constructs in the United States by “passing” as Hispanic, was born a slave to Charles and Margaret Ellis on June 15, 1864. His parents had been brought by Joseph Weisiger from … Read MoreWilliam Henry Ellis (1864-1923)
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" John Charles Robinson, nicknamed the Brown Condor, was an African American aviator who fought with the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force against Benito Mussolini and Fascist Italy during the Second Italian-Ethiopian War, 1935–1936. He is also known as the Father of the … Read MoreJohn Charles Robinson (1903–1954)
Somali Tanks Entering Ethiopia at the Start of the Ethiopian-Somali War, 1977-1978 "Image Ownership: Public Domain" In 1977 Ethiopia and Somalia engaged in a brief territory conflict over the Ogaden region situated between and claimed by both nations. This conflict however held significance greater than … Read MoreEthiopian-Somali War Over the Ogaden Region (1977–1978)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” The Second Italo-Abyssinian War was Italy’s conquest of Ethiopia, a process it began after the 1885 Partition of Africa. Italy was defeated in its first attempt at conquest at the battle of Adwa in 1896, allowing Ethiopia to become the only … Read MoreThe Second Italo-Abyssinian War (1935–1936)
Ethiopian Soldiers in the Italian-Ethiopian War, 1889-1896 Image Ownership: Public Domain” Following the Partition of Africa during the Berlin Conference of 1885, Prime Minister Francesco Crispi of Italy began his nation’s colonization in Africa. Italy focused on the Red Sea because of its trade routes … Read MoreThe Italo-Abyssinian War (1889–1896)
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) “Image Ownership: Public Domain” Labor leader Tefere Gebre fled Ethiopia at fourteen years of age, moved to the United States, and was elected years later, in 2013, executive vice president of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of … Read MoreTefere Gebre (1968–)