1980 Upper Voltan coup d'état similar actions, Zerbo was overthrown by the military in yet another coup in 1982, making Major Dr. Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo President. Military rule has continued in the country since then, with numerous coups and coup attempts. 1980 Upper Voltan coup d'état The 1980 Upper Voltan coup d'état took place on 25 November 1980 in the Republic of Upper Volta (today Burkina Faso). Following a long period of drought, famine, popular unrest and labour strikes, Colonel Saye Zerbo overthrew President Sangoulé Lamizana, another military leader. Zerbo himself would be overthrown only two years later. Upper Volta had gained independence from France in
Volta Prize Fund')", and then in 1887 the "'Volta Bureau'," which later became the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell). The prize was discontinued in 1888. The Volta prize was inspired on the earlier French Academy of Sciences prize ""prix du Galvanisme"" (Galvanism Prize) created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1801. A Grand Prize of 60,000 francs and a medal of 30,000 francs to be given for discoveries similar to those of Volta and Benjamin Franklin. The Grand Prize never found a deserving recipient. Only four recipients received the 30,000 francs "prix du Galvanisme": Additionally, the