Nelson Mandela: Key dates
2012-07-16 19:50
Johannesburg - Key dates in the life of Nelson Mandela:
- 18 July 1918: Born into Thembu royal family in Mvezo village in southeast of South Africa
- 1940: Is expelled from Fort Hare University College for participating in student strike
- 1941: Moves to Johannesburg, becomes mine policeman
- 1943: Joins African National Congress (ANC)
- 1944: Marries Evelyn Mase, trainee nurse
- 1952: Opens first black law practice in Johannesburg with Oliver Tambo
- 5 December 1956: Is among 156 political activists arrested and charged with treason
- 1958: Marries social worker Nomzamo Zaniewe Winifred "Winnie" Madikizela, having divorced Mase in 1954
- 21 March 1960: Security forces massacre 67 protesters in Sharpeville. Government bans ANC and Pan African Congress and declares state of emergency
- 1961: Is acquitted in treason trial, along with co-accused
- 16 December 1961: Launch of ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto weSizwe (Spear of the Nation), with Mandela as commander-in-chief
- 5 August 1962: Captured, and sentenced on November 7 to five years in prison for incitement to strike and leaving country illegally, having earlier travelled to Ethiopia and Algeria for military training
- 1963: While serving this sentence, is charged with sabotage along with other ANC activists arrested in Rivonia, near Johannesburg
- 12 June 1964: After famous speech from dock (democracy "is an ideal for which I am prepared to die"), is sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to Robben Island prison off Cape Town
- 5 July 1989: Meets with president PW Botha and then on 13 December with FW de Klerk, who later succeeds Botha
- 11 February 1990: Released from prison
- 5 July 1991: Elected ANC president
- April 1992: Separated from wife Winnie
- 15 October 1993: Wins Nobel peace prize with De Klerk
- 27 April 1994: Votes for the first time in his life, in the country's first all-race elections
- 10 May 1994: Inaugurated as president
-18 July 1998: Marries Graca Machel, widow of Mozambican president Samora Machel
- 1999: Steps down as president after one term
- 1 June 2004: Announces his retirement from public life
- 6 January 2005: Announces that his son Makgatho had died of Aids
- 19 April 2009: Makes his final political address in a recorded message at an ANC election rally
- 11 July 2010: Appears at the closing ceremony of the Football World Cup in South Africa
- 28 January 2011: Discharged from hospital after two days of treatment for an acute respiratory infection
- 25 February 2012: Admitted to hospital to treat a long-running abdominal complaint
- 30 May 2012: Makes rare television appearance to receive symbolic flame marking the ANC centenary
