-
Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Mandela is born a member of the Madiba clan. His tribal name, "Rolihalah," means "troublemaker." He is later given his English name, Nelson, by a teacher at his school
-
Enrols at the University College of Fort Hare, in Alice
-
Expelled from the University because he attended a student strike
-
Joins the African National Congress (ANC) as an activist.
-
Opens the first black legal firm in South Africa with fellow lawyer Oliver Tambo providing free or low-cost legal counsel to many blacks who would otherwise have been without legal representation.
Mandela was prominent in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign -
Accused of conspiring to overthrow the South African state by violent means with 155 other political activists and charged with high treason. The Treason Trial of 1956–61 follows and all were acquitted
-
Police kill 69 peaceful protestors and the ANC is banned
Mandela goes into hiding and forms an underground military group with armed resistance -
Arrested after living on the run for seventeen months and was imprisoned in the Johannesburg Fort.
-
Nelson Mandela was sentenced to five years in prison but again goes on the run
-
Captured and convicted of sabotage and treason and sentenced to life imprisonment at the age of 46, initially on Robben island where he would be kept for 18 years
-
Nelson Mandela is released from prison after 27 years
President De Klerk lifts the ban on the African National Congress (ANC)
The ANC and the white National Party begin talks on forming a multi-racial democracy for South Africa. -
Becomes President of the African National Congress ( ANC )
-
Free Elections where black South Africans are allowed to vote for the first time. Nelson Mandela runs for President
The ANC won 252 of the 400 seats in the national assembly -
Nelson Mandela was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer with radiation
-
Attacked the foreign policy of the George W. Bush
Later that same year, he lent his support to the 46664 AIDS fundraising campaign. The initiative was named after his prison number -
Nelson Mandela announced that he would be retiring from public life at the age of 85 and Johannesburg bestowed its highest honour by granting Nelson Mandela the freedom of the city
-
After spending his 95th birhtday in the Hospital Nelson died.
