International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
August 23 · Level 8 · #670 of 2238
This UNESCO observance remembers enslaved people and the struggle to end the slave trade. It encourages people to examine that history, the resistance to enslavement and the lasting consequences for societies today.
How it is celebrated: museums, cultural organisations and researchers hold exhibitions, lectures and commemorative gatherings. Historical records, family stories and art help bring individual lives into view.
The date recalls an uprising that began during the night of 22–23 August 1791 in the French colony of Saint-Domingue. It became a pivotal moment in the Haitian Revolution, which led to an independent Haiti.