African Association

On this day, the Scottish soldier and explorer, Alexander Gordon Laing, was the first European to reach the city of Timbuktu via the north-to-south route. Convinced that he had located the source of the Niger, Laing proposed to travel along the river to its delta. Joseph Banks, president of the African Association, supported his project, hoping that the expedition would reveal the location of Timbuktu. Having crossed the Sahara desert and the desert of Tanezrouft, Laing finally reached Timbuktu on 18th August according to a letter posted on the 21st September. No more was heard from him, but from information pieced together later, it was ascertained that he left Timbuktu on the day he had planned and just after leaving the city, was murdered by his own Arab escorts. In 1903, the French government placed a tablet with Laing’s name and the date of his visit on the house occupied by him during his 38-day stay in Timbuktu.