Egyptian hieroglyphs are deciphered by French Egyptologist Jean François Champollion, using the Rosetta stone

Mzilikazi, after a quarrel with Shaka, leads the Ndebele people to new territories west of Natal

The first shipload of freed slaves reaches Cape Mesurado (in the region soon called Liberia) from the USA

The Turkish governor of Algiers, flicking at the French consul with his fly whisk, finds that he has provoked a French blockade and eventually invasion

Shaka is murdered by his half-brother Dingaan, who becomes leader of the Zulu in his place

A French army invades Algeria, beginning the process which brings the region within the French empire

The paddle steamer Alburkah becomes the first ocean-going iron ship, completing the journey from England to the Niger

French painter Eugène Delacroix begins a five-month visit to north Africa, with profound effects on his future art

Hendrik Potgieter sets off with some 200 Boers and their cattle at the start of the Great Trek to the north

The Portuguese ban the shipping of slaves from the coast of Angola

Hendrik Potgieter and the Boers, protected by a laager at Vegkop, hold off an attack by a large force of Ndebele tribesmen

After a victory at Vegkop, Boers massacre the inhabitants of a dozen Ndebele villages in secret dawn raids

Piet Retief emerges as the new leader of the Great Trek, replacing Potgieter

Potgieter defeats the Ndebele at the Marico river and drives them north of the Limpopo

Piet Retief reaches a provisional agreement with Dingaan, the Zulu leader, for a Boer settlement in southern Natal

Zanzibar becomes the main place of residence of the sultan of Oman

During a ceremony to celebrate their treaty with Dingaan, Piet Retief and his Boer companions are overpowered and killed

Dingaan's warriors massacre Boer families in a series of dawn raids near the Bloukrans river

The river Ncome becomes known as the Blood River after thousands of Zulu die attacking Andries Pretorius and the Boers

Abd-el-Kader proclaims a holy war against the French in Algeria and begins a military campaign that will last for eight years

Andries Pretorius sets up the Boer republic of Natalia, with its capital at Pietermaritzburg

With Boer help, Mpande removes his brother Dingaan from the Zulu throne and takes his place

Muhammad Ali, officially viceroy for the Turkish sultan, establishes his own ruling dynasty on the throne of Egypt

Britain sends four naval ships up the river Niger to make anti-slavery treaties with local kings

The British take control of the existing Boer republic and proclaim Natal a British protectorate