Gao, West Africa (ca. 1450- )

Gao, West Africa (ca. 1450- )

The city of Gao, situated near the north bend of the Niger River, served as the capital city of the Songhai state in West Africa from the 11th century until the fall of the Songhai Empire at the end of the 16th century.  Gao emerged as a powerful and wealthy political...
Thomas Sankara (1949-1987)

Thomas Sankara (1949-1987)

Thomas Sankara, political leader of Burkina Faso in the 1980s, was born on December 21, 1949 in Yako, a northern town in the Upper Volta (today Burkina Faso) of French West Africa. He was the son of a Mossi mother and a Peul father, and personified the diversity of...