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Key dates in the life of Nelson Mandela
On the 100th anniversary of his birth, the key dates in the life of the late anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, are remembered.
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Former South African president Nelson Mandela in Cape Town on February 11, 2010. (AFP/Schalk Van Zuydam/Pool)
O
n the 100th anniversary of his birth, here are key dates in the life of the late anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president.
- July 18, 1918: He is born into the Thembu royal family in the rural Transkei.
- 1943: Joins the African National Congress (ANC), co-founding its Youth League the following year.
- 1952: Mandela leads a campaign of defiance against the apartheid system, installed four years earlier. He and Oliver Tambo open the first black law firm in Johannesburg.
- 1958: Marries his second wife, anti-apartheid figure Winnie Madikizela, whom he divorces in 1996.
- 1961: Mandela and other activists are acquitted on treason charges laid five years earlier. The ANC launches its armed wing with Mandela as commander in chief.
- 1962: He is captured and sentenced to prison for incitement and leaving the country illegally.
- 1964: Mandela and other senior anti-apartheid leaders are tried and sentenced to life for sabotage. He is sent to Robben Island prison off Cape Town.
Read also: Anger over charity auction of night in Mandela's cell
- 1985: Refuses pardon offered by president P. W. Botha on condition he renounce violence.
- 1990: After 27 years in jail, Mandela is released.
- 1991: He is elected ANC president.
- 1993: Mandela and the last apartheid-era president, F.W. de Klerk, are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
- 1994: The ANC wins the first all-race elections and Mandela is inaugurated as president.
- 1998: Marries Graca Machel, widow of former Mozambican president Samora Machel.
- 1999: He steps down after one term.
- December 5, 2013: After months of intensive medical care, Mandela dies aged 95.
