{"id":731,"canonical_url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1897ce-feb-9--731","name":"1897 CE, February 9","year":1897,"era":"CE","month":2,"day":9,"url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1897ce-feb-9--731","iso-date":"1897-02-09","precision":"year-month-day","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe British invasion of the Kingdom of Benin, a powerful, highly organized West African state in modern-day Nigeria, begins on February 9, 1897. The operation was named the Benin Punitive Expedition and part of its objectives was to capture the Benin Oba. \u003c/p\u003e","additional_details":"\u003cp\u003eThe British invasion force of about 1,200 Royal Marines, sailors and Niger Coast Protectorate Forces. eventually captured Benin City on February 18, 1897 and went on to\u0026nbsp; burn it, sacked the palace, looting over 2,500 bronze, ivory, and wood artifacts, which were then taken to Britain.\u0026nbsp; Benin, was absorbed into the British Niger Coast Protectorate and eventually into British colonial Nigeria. \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benin_Expedition_of_1897\"\u003eMore\u003c/a\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e","photo":"","created_at":"2025-03-17T11:58:26-07:00","updated_at":"2026-02-08T20:45:26-08:00","breadcrumbs":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"February History","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/february"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"February 9","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/february-9"}]},"schema":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Thing","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1897ce-feb-9--731#eventK365","name":"1897 CE, February 9","headline":"The British invasion of the Kingdom of Benin, a powerful, highly organized West African state in modern-day... - 1897 CE","description":"The British invasion of the Kingdom of Benin, a powerful, highly organized West African state in modern-day Nigeria, begins on February 9, 1897. The...","url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1897ce-feb-9--731","additionalType":"HistoricalEvent","inLanguage":"en","datePublished":"2025-03-17T11:58:26-07:00","dateModified":"2026-02-08T20:45:26-08:00","publisher":{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#organizationK365"},"temporalCoverage":"1897-02-09","isPartOf":[{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#websiteK365"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/february","name":"What Happened in February History"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/february-9#pageK365","name":"What Happened on February 9"}]}}