TODAY IN HISTORY – 23rd Dec, 2025 – Africa World News

Valentine Ndukwu 3 months ago 2 min read

By Valentine Uchechukwu Ndukwu.

There is a thin line between yesterday and tomorrow. One cannot fully function without drawing inferences from the other.

And whatever inference we draw from past events becomes a reference point for almost every encounter today.

A look at what we have today as historical events

On this day in 1815, the novel Emma by Jane Austen was first published.

Still on this day in 1914, World War I: Australian and New Zealand troops arrived in Cairo, Egypt.

According to Today in History, on this day in 1947, the transistor was first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.

Amazingly, it was on this day in 1954 that the first successful kidney transplant was performed by J. Hartwell Harrison and Joseph Murray.

Interestingly, in 1970, on this day, the North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York, New York was topped out at 417 metres (1,368 ft), making it the tallest building in the world.

It was on this day in 1970 that the Democratic Republic of the Congo officially became a one-party state.

Sadly on this day in 1972, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Nicaraguan capital of Managua killing more than 10,000.

Again on this day in 1972, the 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster were rescued after 73 days, surviving by cannibalism.

Today in History reveals that on this day in 1986, Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling.

In Africa, on this day in 2008, a coup d’état occured in Guinea hours after the death of President Lansana Conté.

In Nigeria, on this day in 2023, a series of massacres targeting Berom civilians unfold in the Plateau State in Nigeria, killing over 200 people and further injuring over 500. No group claims responsibility.

Today in History