Ethiopian History: The yekatit 12 incident.

During a ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (Haile Sellassie's former residence; now Ras Makonnen Hall of Addis Ababa University), on 19 February 1937 (Yekatit 12), two young Eritreans lobbed as many as ten grenades into a crowd of Ethiopian and Italian dignitaries attending Graziani. One Ethiopian was killed, an Italian general was
seriously injured, but the viceroy suffered only superficial wounds. The confused Italian security guard responded by firing into a crowd of Ethiopian onlookers,whose deaths prefaced an Italian orgy of vengeful killing.

Shortly after the incident, the Italian command ordered all shops closed and shuttered, directed people to return home, and suspended postal and telegraphic communications. Within an hour, the capital was isolated from the world, and its streets were empty. During the afternoon, Addis Abeba's Fascist Italian party, voted a pogrom against the city's population. The slaughter began that night and
continued into the next day.

Ethiopians were killed indiscriminately, burnt alive in their huts, or shot as they tried to escape.Italian truckers chased people down and then ran them over, or tied their feet to tailgates and dragged them to death. People were beaten and stoned until dead. Women were scourged, men emasculated, and children crushed underfoot; throats were cut, people were disemboweled and left to die, or hung, or stabbed to death. A relatively large percentage of the victims came from the traditional ruling class and the Young Ethiopians, although many of these had already formally
submitted to Italian authority.

The fight continued nation wide and churches and monstries were burnt and as many as 10,000 people died .The day,19 February, is marked to this day to remember those who has fallen.