Like so many great African leaders of his time, on this date in 1973 Amílcar Cabral was assassinated. Cabral was killed by Guinea-native agents of the Portuguese colonial authorities. His murder was a few months before Guinea-Bissau declared unilateral independence. Cabral was the leader in the African nationalist movements in Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde Islands and led Guinea-Bissau's independence movement. Because of his affiliation as a Marxist and guerrilla warfare tactics, he was viewed as a enemy and huge threat to the west.

Today Cabral is a national hero in Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau. Cape Verde's principal international airport at Sal, is named in his honor. Also the only privately owned university in Guinea-Bissau is named after him, Amílcar Cabral University.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O-obP3r6Hw]