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Founding of the ANC
The ANC was first called South African Native National Congress (SANNC). -
Founding Of The Congress Youth League
Founded in 1944 by Nick Gombart, it developed a manifesto in 1944 and published a program in 1948. It called for civil disobedience and strikes in protest at the hundreds of laws associated with the new apartheid system. -
Defiance Campaign
Presented by the ANC at a conference held in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The ANC decided to implement a national action the following year based on non-cooperation with certain laws considered unjust and discriminatory.
Of approximately 10,000 people who protested the unjust apartheid laws, around 8,500 of them were imprisoned, including Nelson Mandela. -
Albert Luthuli
In 1960, Luthuli won the noble peace prize for his firm beliefs in political and spiritual passive resistance. Although, he was arrested in 1956 for treason. -
Sharpeville Massacre
Happening infront of a police station in Sharpeville, South Africa. The police opened fire on a crowd of black protesters, killing 69 people. Some say that the crowd was peaceful, while others say that the crowd had been hurling stones at the police. In present day South Africa, 21 March is celebrated as a public holiday to commemorate the Sharpeville Massacre and to celebrate South Africa's democratic government enforcing equal human rights. -
Spear Of The Nation
The armed wing of the ANC which fought against the South African apartheid. Launching its first guerrilla attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961, it was subsequently classified as a terrorist organization by the South African government and the United States, and banned. -
Nelson Mandela's Imprisonment
While in jail, his reputation grew and he became widely known as the most significant black leader in South Africa. While in prison Mandela undertook study with the University of London. He was nominated for the position of Chancellor of the University of London in the 1981 election, but lost to Princess Anne. He was imprisoned for 27 years. -
Soweto Uprising
A series of high school student-led protests in South Africa.Students were protesting the use of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in local schools. About 20,000 students took part in the protests, and roughly 176 people were killed. The 16th of June is now a public holiday, Youth Day, in South Africa, in remembrance of the events in 1976 -
Steve Biko Dies in Custody
He was an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. On the 18th of August, 1977, Biko was arrested at a police roadblock in 1967. The interrogation lasted twenty-two hours and included torture and beatings resulting in a coma. He suffered a major head injury while in police custody, and was chained to a window grille for a day. The police claimed his death was the result of an extended hunger strike, but really he ultimately succumbed to a brain hemorrhage. -
Desmond Tutu Wins The Nobel Peace Prize
He has campaigned to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia. Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism in 1986, the Pacem in Terris Award in 1987, the Sydney Peace Prize in 1999, the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2005, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. -
Nelson Mandela's Release From Prison
F. W. de Klerk reversed the ban on the ANC and other anti-apartheid organisations, and announced that Mandela would shortly be released from prison. On the day of his release, Mandela made a speech to the nation. He declared his commitment to peace and reconciliation with the country's white minority, but made it clear that the ANC's armed struggle was not yet over. -
Nelson Mandela's Presidency of South Africa
The country's first black President. In South Africa's first post-apartheid military operation, Mandela ordered troops into Lesotho in September 1998 to protect the government of Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili. AIDS activists have criticised Mandela for his government's ineffectiveness in stemming the AIDS crisis.