Sport in Ethiopia Africa to win an Olympic gold medal, doing so over 10,000 meters at Barcelona. Abebe Bikila, the first Olympic champion representing an African nation, won the Olympic marathon in 1960 and 1964, setting world records both times. He is well-known to this day for winning the 1960 marathon in Rome while running barefoot. Miruts Yifter, the first in a tradition of Ethiopians known for their brilliant finishing speed, won gold at 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Moscow Olympics. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Kenenisa Bekele became the second man to achieve this feat, while fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba became
History of glass in sub-Saharan Africa Empire helped to broaden trade patterns and the introduction of the camel as means of transport significantly fostered the spread of imported goods. European nations entered the African trading market, beginning with Portugal, Italy and Bohemia in the 15th century, followed by the Dutch, English, French, Belgians and Germans. By the 17th century, the Netherlands managed to secure an impressive monopoly on the glass bead exchange with Sub-Saharan Africa. A Dutch merchant and entrepreneur named Sir Nicholas Crisp is recorded to have been awarded a patent “for the sole making and vending of beads and beugles to trade to Guinea,”