Dahomey was a French colony of and a part of French West Africa from 1904 to 1958. After World War II, by the establishment of the French Fourth Republic in 1947, Dahomey became part of the French Union with an increased autonomy. On 11 December 1958, the French Fifth Republic was established and the French Union became the French Community. The colony became the self-governing Republic of Dahomey within the Community, and two years later on 1 August 1960 it gained full independence (and in 1975 it changed its name in Benin).

During the 13th century, the indigenous Edo people of the west Niger area were run by a group of local chieftains, but by the 15th century a single ruler known as the 'oba' had asserted control. See Kingdom of Benin. Under the dynasty established by Ewuare the Great, the most famous of the obas, Benin's territory expanded to cover a region between the Niger River delta and what is now the Nigerian city of Lagos. The obas brought great prosperity and a highly organized state to Benin. They also established good relations and an extensive slave trade with the Portuguese and Dutch who arrived from the 15th century onwards.

Dahomey was a country in west Africa in what is now the Republic of Benin. The Kingdom of Dahomey was a powerful west African state that was founded in the seventeenth century and survived until 1894. From 1894 until 1960 Dahomey was a part of French West Africa. The independent Republic of Dahomey existed from 1960 to 1975. In 1975, the country was renamed "The People's Republic of Benin" after the Bight of Benin (not the unrelated historical Kingdom of Benin) since "Benin," unlike "Dahomey," was deemed politically neutral for all ethnic groups in the state.

Based in his capital of Agbome, Wegbaja and his successors established a highly centralized state with a deep-rooted kingship cult of sacrificial offerings. These included an emphasis on human sacrifices in large numbers, to the ancestors of the monarch. Human sacrifices were not only made in time of war, pestilence, calamity, and on the death of kings and chiefs, they were also made regularly in the Annual Customs, believed to supply deceased kings with a fresh group of servants.

David Michael Stratton (born April 10, 1941 in Vonore, Tennessee) was an American football linebacker in the AFL and NFL for the Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers.

Drafted out of the University of Tennessee in the 13th round of the 1962 AFL Draft, Stratton was selected as an AFL All-Star six straight seasons from 1963 through 1968. Lou Saban used him at linebacker, where with Harry Jacobs and John Tracey he filled out the AFL's best linebacking crew, playing together for 62 consecutive games from 1963 through 1967, a pro football record.  They helped the formidable front four hold opposing teams without a 100-yard rusher for seventeen consecutive games in 1964 and 1965, and achieved American Football League championships in both those years.

In the 1964 AFL championship game against the San Diego Chargers, he made the memorable "hit heard 'round the world".  The Chargers led 7-0 and were marching toward another score when Stratton tackled the Chargers' Hall of Famer Keith Lincoln, putting him out of the game. The Bills shut out San Diego for the rest of the game, and won, 20-7. Stratton was selected to the All-Time All-AFL second team.

Don Ellis (July 25, 1934 - December 17, 1978) was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of unusual time signatures. Later in his life he worked as a film composer, among other works contributing a score to 1971's The French Connection and 1973's The Seven-Ups.

Ellis was born in Los Angeles, CA on July 25, 1934. His father was a Methodist minister and his mother a church organist. He attended West High School in Minneapolis, MN. It was after seeing a Tommy Dorsey Big Band concert that he first became interested in jazz. Other early inspirations were Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. He graduated from Boston University in 1956 with a composition degree.

Ellis' first job was with the Glenn Miller band, directed by Ray McKinley. He stayed with the band until September, 1956, when he joined the Seventh Army Symphony and Soldiers' Show Company. He was sent to Frankfurt, Germany. In the Army band, Ellis met pianist Cedar Walton, and saxophonists Eddie Harris and Don Menza. It was also in this band that Ellis got his first opportunity to write for a big band.