125 Moroccan soldiers deserted during the Indochina War. They escaped death seeking refuge in Vietnam to lead a miserable life away from their country for several years after being repatriated in January 1972. Flashback.
On the 11th of January 1944, the Istiqlal party, recently formed, wrote a Manifesto demanding Morocco’s full independence. The party’s struggle against the French protectorate was carried out throughout the years even after the exile of Sultan Mohammed ben Youssef. Flash back.
On January the 10th, 1966, L’Express published on its cover the testimony of a French man who witnessed the kidnapping, a few weeks earlier, of Mehdi Ben Barka. Seven days later, George Figon was found dead in his apartment. On January the 20th, an international arrest warrant was issued against General Oufkir and General Dlimi. The French weekly news magazine’s story that caused a scandal. History.
25 years ago, Abderrahim Bouabid, a politician and former minister passed away. The founding member of the National Union of Popular Forces was known for his firm positions when it comes to the first constitutional referendum and the Western Sahara cause. History.
World Braille Day is annually celebrated on the 4th of January all over the world. In Morocco, teaching using this tactile writing system utilized by people is provided by the 13 centers of the Alaouite Organization for the Promotion of the Blind and the Moroccan Braille League, located in Taza. A close up on Braille teaching in Morocco.
Named Pasha of Marrakech, Thami El Glaoui was fascinated by the Western culture and lived his life, throwing extravagant parties in his Marrakech residence. He treated his European guests to lavish banquets and offered them expensive gifts.
In 1943, a British bank in Tangier spotted, for the first time, samples of counterfeits, putting an end to the mass forgery of Sterling currency. The operation was initiated by Nazi Germany to destroy the British economy during World War II.
French electrician Emile Leray is known to the rest of the world as the man who turned his car into a motorcycle to survive hunger and thirst in the Moroccan Sahara. In 1993, his car broke near Tan Tan after he was on a solo trip to the desert.
In the 1590s, Saadi sultan Ahmad al-Mansur appointed Spanish military leader Judar Pasha to lead a campaign, conquering the Songhai empire in West Africa. Thanks to his army, Morocco took control of gold and salt trade routes.
In 1200s, a royal zoo in London housed Barbary lions among other exotic wild animals. The skulls of these lions were discovered centuries later by scientists who suggested that they belong to Atlas Lions that lived between Morocco and Egypt.