H i s t o r yKE
@HistoryKE
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About Kenya’s History. HistoryKE on FB, https://t.co/eJx3qqX46b on IG. Images may be subject to copyright.
Marereni, Kilifi, Kenya
Joined October 2015
1963: Acting as Kimeru interpreter, Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta addresses media flanked by #MauMau Gen. Mwariama in 1963.
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A panoramic view down the length of a section of Mombasa highway one sunny day in November, 1975.
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Kenyan-born British folk singer Roger Whittaker, who brought us hits like I’m Back, My Land In Kenya and Shimoni, has died aged 87.
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On this date in 2004, environmentalist and human rights crusader Prof. Wangarî Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
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This is not a drill. There is reason for Kenyans, young and old, to fear. The US govt, as per Wikileaks, lobbied MPs, NGOs, policy makers, ahead of the move to outlaw planting of seeds other than those sold by MULTINATIONALS (read Monsanto, et al). In Kenya!. "National interest".
Kenya Seed Company being privatised is the main agenda and that should concern us greatly. Where do we protest?.
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Brigid Kosgei breaks Paula Radcliffe’s 16-year world marathon record of 2:15:25 with a time of 2:14:04 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 #ChicagoMarathon
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1966: Hon. Raila Odinga during his time at Technische Hochschule Magdeburg (Technical University Magdeburg) in former E. Germany.
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John Kingori was Nairobi Mayor between 1996 and 1998. Perhaps his most famous quote as Mayor was “I is the mayor and others are mere kanjuras. ”
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The country has lost veteran journalist and historian Hilary Ng’weno. He is best known as founder and Editor In Chief of Weekly Review magazine. The Harvard physics graduate also produced the Making Of A Nation documentaries onKenya’s history. May God rest his soul in peace.
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Man of the moment: Eliud Kipchoge, the greatest male marathon runner of all time, has just broken the world marathon record at #BerlinMarathon with a time of 2:01:40. Hats off, bingwa!
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Pipe-smoking Luo girls photographed in the 1900s. A Luo village can be seen in the background. In those days, their young men wore a small ornament that dangled from and through the lower lip, a feature Europeans used to distinguish Luos from their Bantu neighbours.
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As stated before, members of the Kamba community in pre-colonial times used to file their teeth to a point. In this 1919 clip shot in Kenya, it is likely that those featured hailed from the community.
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Traditional huts of the Agîkûyû dot an area near Kikuyu, Kiambu, in this 1962 photo. A vintage Opel Kadett (Registration KHG 1) can be seen in the foreground.
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1962: Trade Unionist and KANU politician Tom Mboya prepares to leave his Nairobi Eastlands home. Happy #LabourDay everyone.
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1958: Kipanga Athumani (L) who is till today considered to be the father of Kenya’s comedy, meets in Nairobi his idol and world-famous comic actor, Charlie Chaplin. Athumani died in 1982, aged 52. Eastleigh’s Kipanga Athumani Rd is named in his honour.
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Uhuru Highway at the railway bridge in its 1969 splendor. There was a lane for cyclists 😱!
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Through their many peugeot station wagons, Mombasa Peugeot Service (MPS) was a popular pooled taxi service between Nairobi and Mombasa in the 1970. This photo (credit to John Surgey) was taken in 1975.
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1963: Downtown Nairobi on the morning of Kenya's independence day. The streets were bedecked in flags of various countries that sent representatives to the festivities. #KenyaAt55 #JamhuriDay
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And now #Kenya’s Gladys Cherono wins the women’s edition of the 2018 #BerlinMarathon, smashing the course record. Well done, girl!. Kenya reigns supreme once again. She wins at a time of 2:18:11.
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Brazil’s soccer legend Pele conducts a soccer training clinic at Jamhuri Park, Nairobi, in 1976.
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Can anyone recognize this township in the shadows of Kilimanjaro, but on the Kenyan side of our common border with Tanzania?. The photo was taken by a visiting Australian in 1984.
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1967: Jane Kenyatta, daughter of President Jomo Kenyatta, during her student days at Kenya High School. Did you know that Jane at the time was the fastest athlete and national record holder in the 220 yards sprints? Some expected she’d represent Kenya in the 1968 olympics.
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A gîkûyû warrior photographed in present-day Nyeri in 1902 by William Scoresby Routledge. Note the item on his shoulder, which we now know was carved out from buffalo horn and ornamented with copper. It was used to suspend shields in order to free the arms. Cont’d 👇🏽.
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“The greatest lesson from history is that people don’t learn from history….”. - Unknown.
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Sights and scenes of Nairobi precisely on 12th December, 1963.
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Dedan Kîmathi Waciûri’s wife, Mukami Kimathi, during her time as a #MauMau informant in the 1950s.
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In 2011, Safaricom in partnership with Huawei unveiled the Ideos smartphone. What do folks remember about it?
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April, 1962: Thomas J. Mboya, 32, and his wife, Pamela Mboya (neé Odede), departing from St. Peter’s Clavers Church, Nairobi, shortly after their wedding.
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A colonialistic mtego/snare has been placed on Kenya. For whatever benefit - selfish gain, or simply eagerness to suck up to western interests and foreign multinationals, the current admin. seems keen to look the other way and throw hapless, unsuspecting Kenyans to commercially
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These photos by Martin van Asseldonk are 37 years old. Taken in 1983 in Gikomba and Shauri Moyo respectively, they depict ordinary hassles in Nairobi’s Eastlands in the early 80s. #VintageNairobi
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“Not a single President from AU has released a statement concerning the developments in Kenya…. they’re scared ….”. - A Botswana national living in Finland.
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A section of downtown Nairobi’s skyline in 1987. Check out the 80s-era yellow line taxis parked in the shadow of the Archives building. Credit: Chris Robart
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#HistoryKeThread: The Man Who Refused To Die. In February of 1987, Kenya’s Environment Minister, Jeremiah Nyaga, was visiting Scandinavia.
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A gathering of Luo elders. The date when the photo was taken is unknown, should be in the early 1900s.
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The Kenya Lionesses, the country’s women’s basketball national team, has beaten Egypt 99 - 83 in the Afrobasket Zone 5 finals held in Kigali. Kenya has now qualified for the 2021 Afrobasket Championships. Well done, ladies! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
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Veteran comedian (from VoK days) and actor Baba Zero has passed on. He acted in various comedy shows including Vitimbi, Kinyonga, Plot 10, among others. May his soul rest in peace.
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How the Kenyan contingent returning from the 1968 Mexico Olympics was received in Nairobi.
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Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech smashes the 3,000m women’s steeplechase record, slicing 8 seconds off the previous one. Some performance!
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Ret. President Daniel T. arap Moi is 93 years old today. Retweet to join me in wishing him many happy returns.
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Looks like #KOT likes vintage #Nairobi. This is Ambassadeur stage in 1978, featuring a bus from @KenyaAirways.
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Ahead of the 1978 #WorldCup in Argentina, Tanzania honoured Kenya’s soccer legend Joe Kadenge with a commemorative stamp (pictured). The former Abaluhya United (now AFC Leopards) and Harambee Stars legend, seen in these other pics, died today aged 84. #RIPKadenge
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Who Is Your Shujaa?. One late afternoon on 20th December 2015, a bus packed with passengers blew up dust as it hurtled northwards towards Mandera. As it approached El Wak, along a section lined with shrubbery on either side, the din of the bus engine stuttered. Suddenly, the
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#HistoryKeThread: The Man Who Built Chiromo. Once there lived a man in Kenya - a man born to break rules. And norms. And records.
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1966: #TBT: Back in the day when Murang’a Senior Chief Njiiri wa Karanja (Njiiri’s School is named after him) was the endorsement icon of the Volkswagen Beetle.
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The Siri Guru Singh Sabha Sikh temple along Uyoma Street in downtown Nairobi. The photo was likely taken in the late 1970s.
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African american jazz great Louis Armstrong performs at Doonholm Road Stadium, Nairobi, in 1962. Doonholm Road was later renamed Jogoo Road. Doonholm Road Stadium is now City Stadium.
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Chief Nderi Wang’ombe hailed from Kamakwa in Nyeri Town Constituency. He was hacked to death in a banana grove on 22nd Oct. 1952. He and a constable accompanying him had attempted to stop a Mau Mau oath-taking ceremony at Tetu’s Thegenge area, from where Kimathi Wachiuri hailed.
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Inside Nairobi’s City Market in a photo taken by Peter Cay in late 1978. See Mzee Kenyatta’s and Moi’s portraits hung almost side by side? The former had died earlier in the year. Notice that farm produce appear below, carvings and baskets above.
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Once there were open air Drive-In movie theatres in Nairobi. The most popular ones were Bellevue, South C, and Drive-In, Ruaraka. You parked next to these speakers, drew them inside your car and followed the movie with popcorn or other snack. ‘NSSF Twitter’ will recall this.
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The Luo largely lived behind walled villages as shown by these photos from the 1900s. These fortifications played a crucial role in the security of the community. The Luhya, or “Bantu Kavirondo” as early European visitors called them, also mounted similar fortifications.
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Majority of those reading this tweet have never touched or seen these coins. Nairobi slang back-in-the-day referred to the 50 cents coin as “fiyu”, and the ten cents coin as “ng’och”. If you remember this, you must have known the loyalty pledge by heart 😁.
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Retired President and veteran politician Mwai Kibaki is seen here (holding shield) campaigning in Othaya just before the 1974 national polls. On this very day, Mwai Kibaki is turning 90. Happy birthday, Mr. President.
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Some media houses getting it wrong, claiming tonight’s #KQDirectFlight to NY from Nairobi is the first ever. It’s not. Check this out 👇🏾.
Dec. 1965: Mama Ngina (2nd left) was among 44 passengers in the inaugural PanAm direct flight to the US from NBO.
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A rare colour photo of a car parking lot in downtown #Nairobi, at the spot from which the Nairobi Hilton Hotel emerged. This photo was taken in January of 1964. #VintageNairobi
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American adventurer Peter MacQueen took this photo of Luo women with fish baskets on the banks of L. Victoria in 1908. He is also the one who took the second Chania Falls photo earlier that year, near present-day Blue Post Hotel. Spot Chania bridge in the background?
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For many years, Waswahili of the East African coast, notably Mombasa and also Zanzibar, made use of a wooden comb, such as that shown here, for plaiting their hair. These combs are still in use throughout East Africa.
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A bus in Kajiado town in 1951. Did you know that the name "Kajiado" came about because whites had a problem pronouncing the original name, "Olkejuado"?. That's right. Have a problem-free weekend.
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The Luo swag spoken through their cultural and battle dress. These images were taken between 1924 and 1925 near Yala.
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#HistoryKeThread: Sharpened Senses Of The Mau Mau. Here is a photo of Gen. Kariba and an unknown female freedom fighter after he was captured together in Mount Kenya forest in 1954.
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C. 1966: Raila Odinga during his time at Technische Hochschule Magdeburg (Technical University Magdeburg) in former E. Germany.
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#HistoryKeThread This first photo of a Gîkûyû elder was taken by William S. Routledge in circa 1903. Note how the dress differs from that of warriors of the community in the following pic, also taken by Routledge.
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#HistoryKeTrivia In colonial times, the train to Karatina and Nanyuki was referred to as “mixed train”, since it carried both goods and passengers. Locals found it hard to pronounce “mixed train”. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the word “mûgithi” came about.
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General Kavote (pictured) was among #MauMau leaders from Embu, and fought from the forests of Mt. Kenya. In the second picture, he is pictured with another fighter, Nthirima, in 1963.
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The curtain falls on the life of Mûthoni Kîrima, former freedom fighter and past Personal Assistant to Field Marshal Kîmathi Waciuri. She took part in the armed struggle of independence from the forests of both the Aberdares and Mt. Kenya. Enclosed are two photos of her,
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Clip in which an unenthusiastic Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta, flanked by his wife Mama Ngina, responds to a journalist's questions in 1964.
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On 14th September 2003, which is 17 years ago yesterday, gunmen burst into the home of university don Dr. Christian Odhiambo-Mbai and shot him dead after a brief scuffle. Dr. Mbai was among experts involved in the drafting of Kenya’s new Constitution.
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Victor Wanyama of Tottenham Hotspurs will be the second Kenyan in a #UEFA Champions League Final after his brother, MacDonald Mariga, who won with Inter Milan in 2010. The 2019 finals will be played in Madrid on the anniversary of #MadarakaDay. #UCL #AJATOT
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1913: In the background, Luo women brandishing fishtraps walk away from River Awach.
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Sept. 1959: Tom Mboya (centre, in dark suit) poses with US-bound Kenyan students who were part of the airlift program. The 2nd lady to Mboya’s left is Wangarî Maathai. The beaming, bespectacled man standing third from right of the photo is none other than Barrack Obama Snr.
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Agîkûyû women pictured in then Fort Hall district (Murang’a county today), circa 1936.
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Heroes! Jocelyne Jepkosgei and Geoffrey Kamworor, respectively female and male champs of today's 2019 #nycmarathon
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Photo of a young Kamba man playing with a snake. The photo was taken in 1912 by one Gerhard Lindblom.
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Prof. Bethwell Ogot, one of Kenya’s foremost historians, during his days as a history lecturer at Makerere University. This was during the early 1960s. The 1965 thesis for his Doctorate degree was titled "Migration and Settlement among the Southern Luo Peoples, 1500-1900”.
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#HistoryKeThread: The Indian Ocean Battles.— — — — — -.A man who was loathful of the Portuguese and their incursions into the East Coast of Africa, Ali Bey was a Turkish admiral. In 1585, he arrived in Mogadishu in a fleet of several ships.
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A Sebei man poses for a photo outside his hut near Mt. Elgon. Photo was taken by Sir Harry H. Johnston circa 1902.
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