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Why are Victoria Falls also called Mosi-oa-Tunya?
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David Livingstone
Portrait of Scottish missionary. physician, and explorer David Livingstone, albumen silver print by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, c. 1857; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The name Mosi-oa-Tunya, which translates to "The Smoke That Thunders," was given to the waterfall by the Kalolo-Lozi people. This name describes the mighty roar and the characteristic veil of mist produced by the Zambezi River as it plunges over the precipice.1
While the British explorer David Livingstone became the first European to see the falls on November 16, 1855, and subsequently named them after Queen Victoria, the indigenous name Mosi-oa-Tunya remains in use and is honored through the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia.12