October 14 – Nyerere Day in Tanzania

Posted on October 14, 2014

Celebrating Nyerere Day in Tanzania is a bit like celebrating George Washington in the U.S., because Julius Nyerere was the first president of the African nation and is considered Baba wa Taifa, or Father of the Nation.

Nyerere was a teacher who was born in Tanganyika and educated in Uganda and Scotland. He helped form the Tanganyika African National Union, and when the United Kingdom granted Tanganyika the rights to self-rule, he became Chief Minister. In the early Sixties, Nyerere led his nation to full independence and became its first president.


Soon Tanganyika united with the nation of Zanzibar; the new nation was named Tanzania, and Nyerere continued to serve as president. He was elected and reelected and re-reelected – five times! – but nobody ever ran against him! 

Democracy in action? (Not quite.)


This particular Nyerere Day, 10/14/2014, conservation activists and other friends of elephants and rhinos have planned a march on behalf of elephants and rhinos. It was especially planned for Nyerere Day to have more impact, but the original planned date of October 4 was the date when most of the Marches for Elephants and Rhinos were held elsewhere in the world. People in more than 130 cities worldwide, including Washington, D.C., marched on behalf of endangered elephants and rhinos that Saturday.

According to the folks at March Against Extinction, one rhino is killed every nine hours and – even more shocking and horrifying – one elephant is killed every fifteen minutes!!!

Some of the Washington, D. C., marchers chanted things like “E is for Elephant, not Extinction!” and “1, 2, 3, 4, ivory's what they're dying for...5, 6, 7, 8, stop the trade, it's not too late!”

  • Check out this website to learn more about endangered species—and how to help them. 

  • Check out this video to see some amazing wildlife in Tanzania.

Also on this date:


Anniversary of the October Revolution in Yemen











World Egg Day






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