François (Ngarta) Tombalbaye (June 15, 1918 - April 13, 1975) was the first president of Chad. A former businessman and union activist, Tombalbaye succeeded Gabriel Lisette as head of the Chadian Progressive Party (PPT), heading Chad's colonial government from 1959. As such, he ruled the country during its independence on August 11, 1960 and was appointed its first head of government. June 15 is the 166th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (167th in leap years), with 199 days remaining. ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... April 13 is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... The Republic of Chad (تشاد) is a land-locked nation in central Africa. ... World map of colonialism circa 1945. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... August 11 is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

As a colonial legislator, Tombalbaye had managed to create a coalition of progressive forces from both the north and south of the country, isolating the more conservative Muslim factions in the center. It was hoped that he would continue to do this after independence, while creating the economic and political infrastructure in the vast, underdeveloped country of vastly disparate ethnic and religious groups. Instead he adopted an autocratic form of government, eliminating opposition within his party, banning other parties, and in 1963, responding to rioting by dissolving the National assembly. At the same time, he began nationalizing the civil service, replacing French administrators with locals, who were generally less competent in their new positions. To fund the process, he imposed a "National Loan" on the population, which perceived it only as a sharp increase in taxes. Events January-February January 11 - The Whisky A Go-Go night club in Los Angeles, the first disco in the USA, is opened. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ...

Perhaps the greatest criticism of his Africanization program was that it failed to account for the large population in the north and center of the country, who were Muslim Gorane and did not identify with the African south. A series of incidents convinced this population that their fate under Tombalbaye would be no better than it was under France: colonial rule had simply shifted to the south. On November 1, 1965 riots in the Guéra Prefecture led to five hundred deaths. This sparked a series of disturbances throughout the north and center of the country, compounded by involvement by Chad's neighbors, Libya to the north and Sudan to the east. The most prominent movement in this period was the National Liberation Front of Chad, based in Sudan, but it, like all other movements in the region, was plagued by rivalry and division. Nevertheless, Tombalbaye's government was unable to defeat the rebels, forcing him to resort to calling on the former colonial power, France, for assistance, citing treaties the two countries had signed at independence. A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... The Great Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahiriya or Libya (Arabic: ليبيا) is a country in North Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, located between Egypt on the east, Sudan on the southeast, Chad and Niger on the south and Algeria and Tunisia to the west. ... The Republic of the Sudan, or Republic of Sudan (in recent years the definite article has increasingly been dropped in common usage) is the largest country in Africa, situated in the northeast part of the continent. ...

France agreed to enter the fray, provided that Tombalbaye initiate a series of reforms to the army, government, and civil service. Taxes and laws imposed arbitrarily by Tombalbaye were to be rescinded, and the country's traditional sultans had their role as tax collectors restored (for which they received 10 percent of the income). He agreed to this in 1969 and the country embarked on a gradual liberalization process. In elections in 1969, several hundred political prisoners were released from prison, but Tombalbaye was still the only candidate on the ballot. 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ...

A further sign of liberalization came in 1971, when Tombalbaye admitted to the Congress of the PPT that he had made mistakes. Steps were taken to reform the government, and more Gorane were included in his new government. Order seemed to have been restored, and France withdrew its troops from the country. 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ...

Progress came to a grinding halt in August, 1971, when an attempted coup with links to Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi was uncovered. Tombalbaye immediately severed relations with his northern neighbor and even allowed anti-Qadhafi forces to operate from his territory. In return, Qadhafi granted formal recognition and aid to what remained of the FROLINAT opposition to Tombalbaye. Meanwhile, in the south, where Tombalbaye had his greatest support, he responded to a strike by students by replacing the popular Chief of Staff Jacques Doumro with Colonel Félix Malloum. The country was in the grip of a crippling drought, and Tombalbaye rescinded his amnesty to political prisoners. By the end of 1972, over 1,000 political prisoners had been arrested. At the same time, he also made overtures to the Arab world, reducing Libyan support for FROLINAT and fomenting infighting in that organization. August is the eighth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qaddafi 1 (Arabic: معمر القذافي Mu`ammar al-Qadhdhāfī) (born 1942), leader of Libya since 1970 and a controversial Arab statesman. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ...

Nevertheless, Tombalbaye was feeling insecure with his own government as well. In a bizarre twist of events, he arrested major PPT leaders, including Félix Malloum, for allegedly using magic to overthrow him in what was known as the "Black Sheep Plot," for the animals they allegedly sacrificed. In August, Tombalbaye disbanded the PPT and replaced it with the National Movement for Social and Cultural Revolution (MNRCS). Under the guise of authenticité, the new movement promoted Africanization: the capital of Fort-Lamy was renamed N'Djamena and Tombalbaye himself changed his given name from François to Ngarta. Christianity was disparaged, missionaries were expelled, and all non-Muslim males in the south between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to undergo traditional initiation rites known as yondo in order to gain promotion in the civil service and the military. These rites, however, were native to only one of Chad's ethnic groups, Tombalbaye's own Sara people, and even then, only to a subgroup of that people. To everyone else, the rituals were harsh and foreign. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based on the life, teachings, death by crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament. ... Sarah (שָׂרָה Princess, Standard Hebrew Sara, Tiberian Hebrew Śārāh) is a biblical matriarch and the wife of Abraham, the patriarch of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. ...

Meanwhile the drought worsened throughout Africa, so in order to improve the dismal economy, people were forced to "volunteer" in a major effort to increase cotton production. With his support in the south diminished, Tombalbaye lashed out at the army, making arbitrary promotions and demotions. Finally, on April 13, 1975, after some of the countries leading officers had been arrested for involvement in an alleged coup, a group of soldiers killed Tombalbaye and installed Félix Malloum, now a general, as the new head of state. Cotton is a soft fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to the tropical and subtropical regions of both the Old World and the New World. ... April 13 is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ...