Falaba

Falaba was a large town in Koinadugu District, northern Sierra Leone, Africa. It may now be a village, but its size and even its current status as a populated site are uncertain. Image File history File links CIASierraLeoneFalaba. ... Image File history File links CIASierraLeoneFalaba. ... A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. ...

History

As the capital of Solimana, Falaba was a fortress town on the rich slave-trading routes to the western coast of Africa. It was visited in 1822 by Alexander Gordon Laing, and in 1869 by William Winwood Reade; and was thus deemed nominally British. Solimana was a minor West African state of the nineteenth century. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... 1822 (MDCCCXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Alexander Gordon Laing (December 27, 1793–September 26, 1826) was a Scottish explorer and the first European to reach Timbuktu. ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... William Winwood Reade (1838 - 1875) was an English historian, explorer, and philosopher. ...

In 1884, Mandinka conqueror Samori joined the king of Kaliere in attacking Solimana, then under the rule of Manga Sewa. After Samori's general N'fa Ali destroyed a number of surrounding villages, the Mandinka forces began a five-month siege of Falaba itself. With the city's residents starved nearly to death, Manga Sewa gathered his family in Falaba's gunpowder magazine and lit a torch, simultaneously killing himself and breaching Falaba's walls. Falaba was then briefly assimilated into Samori's Wassoulou Empire; following Samori's own fall several years later, it was reclaimed by the British. 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Mandinka are a Mande people of West Africa, all descendent physically or culturally from the ancient Mali Empire which controlled the trans-Saharic trade from the Middle East to West Africa. ... Samori Ture (var: Samory Toure’ or Samori ibn Lafiya Ture): Samori Ture (c. ... Manga Sewa was a nineteenth-century ruler of Solimana in what is now Sierra Leone. ... Smokeless powder Gunpowder, whether black powder or smokeless powder, is a substance that burns very rapidly, releasing gases that act as a propellant in firearms. ... The Wassoulou Empire was a short-lived (1878 - 1898) empire of West Africa built from the conquests of Dyula ruler Samori Ture and destroyed by the French colonial army. ...

The Anglo-French treaty of 1895 left the town without an affluent hinterland, and the colonial administrative post was moved from Falaba to Kabala. As a result, Falaba declined after 1895. 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Kabala is a town in northern Sierra Leone, mostly inhabited by Koranke and Limba people. ...

Destruction

Reports indicate that fighting in Fabala during the Sierra Leone Civil War of the 1990s caused most people to flee the town. In a press report of May 27, 1998, one witness said "the towns of Falaba, Sinkunia, Musaia-Mongo Bendugu, Krubonia, Bafodia and Yiffin had all been partly or totally destroyed" ¹. The roads and bridges into Fabala were also almost totally destroyed, and the town very severely damaged, according to a post-war damage survey. An air survey in 2001 reported Falaba as a "village" ². National motto: Unity - Freedom - Justice // Background Main article: History of Sierra Leone The colonial history of Sierra Leone was not placid. ... May 27 is the 147th day (148th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 218 days remaining. ...

R.M.S. Falaba

The British "R.M.S. Falaba", a West African steamship, was hit and sunk by a U-boat torpedo in 1915. It was the first passenger ship sunk during World War I. U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... A torpedo in Rail terminology refers to a small explosive device strapped to the top of the rail to alert an approaching train of immediate danger ahead. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Combatants Allies: • Serbia, • Russia, • France, • Romania, • Belgium, • British Empire and Dominions, • United States, • Italy, • ...and others Central Powers: • Germany, • Austria-Hungary, • Ottoman Empire, • Bulgaria Casualties 5 million military, 3 million civilian (full list) 3 million military, 3 million civilian (full list) World War I, also known as the First World...

External links

• Description of Samori's siege of Falaba

Footnotes

• Note 1: [1].

• Note 2: [2].