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Barthélemy Boganda (1910–1959) was the leading nationalist politician of what is now the Central African Republic. Born to subsistence farmers and adopted by Roman Catholic missionaries, in 1938 Boganda was ordained as the first Catholic priest from Oubangui-Chari in French Equatorial Africa. During World War II Boganda served in a number of missions and subsequently was persuaded by the Bishop of Bangui to enter politics. In 1946, he became the first Oubanguian elected to the French National Assembly, where he maintained a political platform against racism and the colonial regime. He then returned to Oubangui-Chari to form a grassroots movement in opposition to French colonialism. The movement led to the foundation of the Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa, and became popular among villagers and the working class. In 1958, after the French Fourth Republic began to consider granting independence to most of its African colonies, Boganda met with Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle to discuss terms for the independence of Oubangui-Chari. De Gaulle accepted Boganda's terms, and on 1 December, Boganda declared the establishment of the Central African Republic. He became the autonomous territory's first Prime Minister and intended to serve as the first President of the independent CAR. However, he was killed in a mysterious plane crash. (more...)

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March 29

• 1461 – Yorkist troops defeated Lancastrian forces at the Battle of Towton in Yorkshire, England, the largest battle in the Wars of the Roses up until that time with approximately 20,000 casualties.
• 1638 – Swedish settlers founded New Sweden near Delaware Bay, the first Swedish colony in America.
• 1807 – German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers (pictured) discovered 4 Vesta, the brightest asteroid and the second-most massive body in the asteroid belt.
• 1831 – Bosniak general Husein Gradaščević began an uprising against Sultan Mahmud II and the Ottoman Empire.
• 1911 – The M1911 single-action, semi-automatic pistol developed by American firearms designer John Browning became the standard-issue side arm in the United States Army.
• 1974 – NASA's Mariner 10, launched in November 1973, became the first spaceprobe to fly by the planet Mercury.

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