On this day, May 2, in 1885

King Leopold II of Belgium established the Congo Free State, becoming the private owner of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Under his terror regime, the people of the Congo Free State endured abusive hard labor and were maimed, raped, tortured and killed at the hands of an Army assembled for the sole purpose of terrorizing the local populations. 23 years later Leopold succumbed to the growing international disapproval of his brutal rule and gave up personal ownership of the Congo, converting it into a Belgium Colony. But I’m sure the nightmare didn’t end there.