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1917 Tutu is hospitalized with tuberculosis and becomes friends with Father Trevor Huddleston.
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1931 October 7 - Desmond Mpilo Tutu is born at Klerksdorp, 120 miles (193 km) from Johannesburg.
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1954 Tutu receives his teacher's diploma.
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1955 July 2 - Desmond Tutu marries Leah Nomalizo Shenxane.
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1958 Tutu enters St. Peter's Theological College to begin religious training.March 21 - Tutu is ordained a deacon in the Anglican Church.
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1961 Nelson Mandela forms Umkhonto we Sizwe, a military wing of the ANC, to sabotage government targets. Tutu is ordained a priest.
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1962 Nelson Mandela is arrested and later sentenced to life in prison. September - Tutu goes to London to study theology at King's College.
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1968 Tutu returns to South Africa to teach at St. Peter's College, Alice. While there, Black students are brutalized by police during a peaceful demonstration. The incident is a turning point for Tutu. The Black Consciousness movement is founded by Steven Biko.
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1970 Tutu begins his duties as lecturer at the University of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland.
