The British government takes on the administration of Northern Rhodesia from the British South Africa Company

Jomo Kenyatta becomes the editor of Muigwithania, the newspaper of the Kikuyu Central Association

Hassan al-Banna, a schoolteacher in Ismailia, founds the Muslim Brotherhood – to campaign for a society based on the Qu'ran with the sharia as its legal system

The regent Ras Tafari becomes emperor of Ethiopia and takes the name Haile Selassie

The Hutus and Tutsis of Ruanda-Urundi are issued with racial identity cards by the Belgians

Neo-Destour, a party demanding Tunisian independence, has Habib Bourguiba as its secretary general

Mussolini uses a disagreement over grazing rights as a pretext for an empire-building invasion of Ethiopia

A collection of Constantine Cavafy's poems is published in Alexandria in an undated edition

On the death of his father, Fuad I, the 16-year-old Farouk becomes king of Egypt

The Italian forces invading Ethiopia reach Addis Ababa, and Haile Selassie flees into exile

A rebellion by Spanish troops in Morocco is soon led by Francisco Franco and sparks the Spanish Civil War

Danish author Karen Blixen publishes her autobiographical novel Out of Africa

Jan Smuts defeats J.B.M. Hertzog in a vote on neutrality, and takes Hertzog's place as South African premier

Jan Smuts brings South Africa into the war in support of Britain

British warships bombard the French fleet in harbour at Mers-el-Kébir, in Algeria, killing more than 1250 sailors

Archibald Wavell's Allied divisions, after a rapid desert campaign, drive the Italians from the Libyan port of Tobruk

Adolf Hitler sends Erwin Rommel to save the Italians from looming disaster in north Africa

The Allies recover Ethiopia from the Italians and Haile Selassie returns to his throne in Addis Ababa

Churchill appoints Claude Auchinleck as British commander in North Africa and the Middle East

Britain's Special Air Service (SAS) is formed for unorthodox guerrilla operations in the north African desert

Italian frogmen enter the harbour at Alexandria and cripple two British battleships

Algerian nationalist Ferhat Abbas produces a manifesto demanding independence from France

German general Erwin Rommel captures Tobruk, along with 33,000 British soldiers and valuable supplies

Auchinleck finally stops Rommel's advance, in the first battle of El Alamein

Rommel's new thrust towards Alexandria is halted by the British at Alam al-Halfa, a ridge near El Alamein