On 19 August 2002, an Islamic high court in the Katsina state of Nigeria, upheld a sentence of death by stoning for Amina Lawal. The 31 year old woman had been convicted of adultery by a village court for having a child more than nine months after her divorce. She was not represented by a lawyer at the hearing and the man who allegedly fathered her daughter denied the offence and was acquitted. Following the intervention of lawyers appointed by Amnesty International, who defended her free of charge, Lawal was granted 30 days to appeal against the decision. Amina's lawyer filed another appeal to the Upper Sharia court of appeal in Katsina. Her sentence drew worldwide condemnation. Human rights campaigners branded the sentence inhumane and discriminative towards women. According to some interpretations of Sharia law, for a man to be convicted of adultery, he either has to confess to the crime or four men have to have witnessed the act. The law favours men. A man is allowed to beat his wife if she is disobedient, provided he does it within the guidelines prescribed by Islamic scholars. According to these guidelines, he must not break any bones or hit her in the face. In February 2004 the Sharia Court of Appeal ruled that Amina Lawal's conviction was invalid because she had been pregnant already when the harsh Islamic Shariah law was implemented in her home province.

In August 1844 French forces under General Thomas Bugeaud defeated the Moroccan army in the battle of Isly. The battle was a result of the French government's pursuit of Algerian resistance leader, Abd al-Qadir who had taken refuge in the country. Following the defeat Sultan Abd ar-Rahman of Morocco was forced to accept French presence in Morocco. He also had to agree to remain neutral and not assist any enemy of France in any way. A peace treaty was signed in Tangier on 10 September 1844 and came to be known as the Treaty of Tangier.

Gertrude Shope was born in Johannesburg, but grew up in Zimbabwe. She was trained as a teacher and went on to teach in Natal and Soweto. When she was 29 years old she decided to join the African National Congress (ANC) and soon afterwards left teaching as part of a campaign to boycott Bantu Education. In 1966 the ANC convinced her to leave South Africa and join her husband, Mark Shope, in exile. While in exile, Gertrude and her husband travelled frequently to lobby as representatives of the ANC. In 1991 Shope was elected president of the ANC's Women's League, a position she held until 1993. She worked together with Albertina Sisulu in convening the ANC's Internal Leadership Corps Task Force from 1990-1991. In 1994 Shope became a member of parliament in the Government of National Unity.

In one of the largest demonstrations staged in this country's history, 20 000 women of all races marched to Pretoria's Union Buildings on 9 August 1956, to present a petition against the carrying of passes by women to the prime minister, JG Strijdom. The march against the pass laws was organised by the Federation of South African Women (FSAW or FEDSAW). The Federation famously challenged the idea that 'a woman's place is in the kitchen', declaring it instead to be 'everywhere'. Although Prime Minister J.G. Strijdom was not at the Union Buildings to accept the petition, the women of South Africa sent a public message that they would not be intimidated and silenced by unjust laws. After the petition was handed over to the secretary of the prime minister, the women sang a freedom song: Wathint` abafazi, Strijdom! Since then, the phrase'wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo' (You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock) has come to represent the courage and strength of South African women. The first National Women's Day was celebrated in 1995. South Africa had just become a democratic country at the time, and the day was declared a national holiday. Since then annual celebrations take place throughout the country. It has become one of the national holidays where activities are organised with women in prominent positions making appearances and giving speeches at different venues across the country. August has since been declared National Women's Month.

General Muhamed Lamari, the head of Algeria's army, resigned for non-specific health reasons. Lamari had played a key role in the fight against Islamic fighters. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stated that Lamari would be succeeded by General Salah Ahmed Gaid, commander of ground forces and an ally of his, as chief military staff. Lamari had been an influential figure in the Algerian army, and led the army in a fight against Islamist rebels since 1992, when the army had seized power as a radical Muslim party was on the verge of an electoral victory.

The constitution of the South African Students' Organisation (SASO) is adopted at its inaugural conference and Steve Biko is elected president. Other leading party members include: Barney Pityana, Harry Nengwekhulu, Hendrick Musi, Petrus Machaka, Manana Kgware, Aubrey Mokoape, J Goolam and Strini Moodley. Though the new organisation is committed to a philosophy of Black Consciousness, it does not reject the liberalism of National Union of South African Students (NUSAS) right away.

Artist, Ronald Harrison caused controversy in 1962 when he painted African National Congress (ANC) leader, Albert Luthuli as Jesus. The painting, named Black Christ, depicts Luthuli crucified on the cross next to apartheid mastermind Hendrick Verwoed and former Minister of Justice John Vorster, who are depicted as Roman Soldiers. The painting not only challenged the apartheid system, but also the notion that Jesus was white. Harrison was arrested and the painting banned. The painting was smuggled to the United Kingdom and was only returned in 1997. Harrison died of cancer on 28 June 2011, just before he was to exhibit his latest work. Black Christ remains his most famous work. The painting is now housed at the South African National Gallery.

South African engineer, Nuno Gomes, entered the Guinness Book of Records for mankind's deepest dive ever on 13 June 2005. Gomes'318.25m plunge beat the record of 313m, set by Mark Ellyatt in Thailand in 2003. His target was a depth of 320, but he only managed 318.25, which still proved good enough for a world record. It took Gomes only 20 minutes to descend, but returning to the surface took an agonising 12 hours. The quick descend and slow return to surface is a technique used in extremely deep scuba diving. Gomes is one of very few people to have descended below depths of 250m. More people have been on the moon than below the sea.

Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hassim Jawad, announced that his country will not recognise the government of South Africa because of its apartheid policies. The announcement came after the Sharpeville massacre, when 69 people were killed by security police after a peaceful protest led by the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).The political conditions in South Africa were disturbing and the whole world was commemorating the first anniversary of the Sharpeville killings. Political organisations like African National Congress (ANC),South African Communist Party (SACP), PAC and others were banned the previous year under the Unlawful Organisations Act of 1950.