June 30, 1960: The No-Longer Belgian Congo Leads the Year of Africa

President Patrice Lumumba stands at center

June 30, 1960: The Republic of the Congo declares its independence from the Kingdom of Belgium. No longer will it be "The Belgian Congo."

It had to be called that, because France also had a colony it called "Congo." That one gained its independence on August 15. It had been nicknamed, for its capital, "Congo-Brazzaville," as opposed to formerly Belgian "Congo-Kinshasa." The name "Congo" originally referred to the river in both of those nations in West Africa, or to the Basin thereof.

These nations gained their independence from France in 1960, unless otherwise mentioned: Cameroon kicked off "The Year of Africa" by declaring independence on January 1, Togo on April 27, Mali on June 20, Madagascar on June 26, and Somalia from Italy on July 1. In addition, on April 27, Ghana left the British Commonwealth, and became a Republic.

And then, in August, 9 more nations gained their independence from France: Dahomey on the 1st, Niger (not to be confused with Nigeria) on the 3rd, Upper Volta on the 5th, the Ivory Coast (they prefer their French name, Côte d'Ivoire) on the 7th, Chad on the 11th, the Central African Republic on the 13th, France's Congo on the 15th, and Gabon on the 17th. And on the 20th, Senegal separated from the Mali Federation, and became independent. Nigeria gained independence from Britain on October 1, and, closing it out, Mauritania from France on November 28.

Dahomey became Benin in 1975, and Upper Volta became Burkina Faso in 1984. The former Belgian Congo/Congo-Kinshasa became Zaire in 1971, and "The Democratic Republic of the Congo" in 1997.

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June 30, 1960 was a Thursday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Athletics, 10-3 at Yankee Stadium. Ralph Terry, not yet the Yankee World Series hero of 1962, went the distance for the win; while Don Larsen, the Yankee World Series hero of 1956, didn't get out of the 3rd inning for the A's. Bill "Moose" Skowron hit 2 home runs, and the Yankees also got home runs from Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Tony Kubek. Yogi Berra did not play.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 11-7 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ted Williams hit his 505th career home run. Al Kaline went 1-for-4. Rocky Colavito went 2-for-4 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-6 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. The Brooklyn "Boys of Summer" were pretty much done: Duke Snider did not play, and Gil Hodges did so only as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Senators, 4-2 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Joe Ginsberg doubled home the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

* A doubleheader was split at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The San Francisco Giants won the opener, 11-0. Jack Sanford pitched a 3-hit shutout. The Pittsburgh Pirates won the nightcap, 11-6. Dick Stuart, already known as a bad fielder but not yet with the nicknames Dr. Strangeglove or Stonefingers, went 4-for-5 with 3 home runs and 7 RBIs.

Over the 2 games, Willie Mays went 6-for-9 with a home run in each game, a walk, and 5 RBIs; Willie McCovey went 3-for-5 with a walk (only appearing as a pinch-hitter in the nightcap, but getting a hit); and Roberto Clemente went 1-for-6 with 2 walks and an RBI.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Braves, 11-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 3-for-6 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Hank Aaron went 1-for-2 with 2 walks and an RBI.

* And the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals were not scheduled.