Brief out line of Nelson Mandela life.

18 July 1918

Rolihlahla Mandela is born in a small South African village called Mvezo, a small village located in

the district of Umtata.

1925

Mandela becomes the first person in his family to go to school. His teacher, Miss Mdingane gives him the name Nelson after having difficulty pronouncing his real name.

1937

Having passed his Junior Certificate in two years at Clarkebury Boarding Institute Mandela joins Healdtown, a college in Fort Beaufort.

1941

Mandela flees to Johannesburg, to avoid an arranged marriage. There he meets Walter Sisulu and begins work at his law firm as an articled clerk. He completed his B.A. degree at the University of South Africa via correspondence, after which he began law studies at the University of Witwatersrand.

1944

Two years after joining the African National Congress (ANC), Mandela and 60 other young members form the ANC Youth League.

1948

The National Party comes to power which supported the apartheid policy of racial segregation. The ANC launch a campaign of passive resistance against the laws. They later begin the Campaign for the Defence of Unjust Laws.

1952

Mandela sets up the country's first black law firm with Oliver Tambo. They provide legal services to those who would have normally had no representation.

1952

1953

The ANC is concerned that it will be banned so Mandela is tasked with ensuring the party can work underground.

1956

Initially committed to nonviolent resistance, along with 155 others Mandela is arrested and charged with treason. After a four-year trial, the charges are dropped.

1956

1960 21 March

Police kill 69 people, including women and children, as black people protest in Sharpeville against restrictions on their freedom of movement. A state of emergency is declared, amid fears of retaliation, and the ANC is banned.

Sharpeville massacre

1961

The ANC concludes that peaceful protest is not enough to combat apartheid and forms an underground military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). Mandela, now vice-president of the ANC, is appointed as the group's first leader.

1962

Having spent a year underground, Mandela is arrested for leaving the country illegally. He is sentenced to five years in jail.

1963

While Mandela is in prison, fellow ANC members are arrested. They are charged with sabotage and treason, along with Mandela. The men appear in court in Rivonia.

1964 12 june.

In his statement from the dock at the opening of the defence case in the trial on 20 April 1964 at Pretoria Supreme Court, Mandela laid out the reasoning in the ANC's choice to use violence as a tactic. His statement described how the ANC had used peaceful means to resist apartheid for years until the Sharpeville Massacre. At the end of the eight-month trial, Mandela and seven other defendants are given life sentences and taken to prison on Robben Island.

1982 March

Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island where he remained for the next eighteen of his twenty-seven years in prison. Mandela and fellow ANC leaders are transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in 1982.

11 February 1990

Mandela is freed after 27 years, as a result of a relaxation of apartheid laws and the lifting of the ban on the ANC. He is greeted by large crowds as he and wife Winnie leave the prison grounds.

1991

At the ANC's first national conference in South Africa, Mandela is elected president of the party.

1993

Mandela, along with South African President FW De Klerk, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to bring stability to South Africa. Accepting the award, Mandela

says: "We will do what we can to contribute to the renewal of our world."

Nelson Mandela and F W De Klerk

27 April 1994

South Africans, including Nelson Mandela, vote in the country's first democratic election. Mandela, leader of the ANC, is elected as the country's first black president.

10 May 1994

Nelson Mandela addresses the crowds at his inauguration, saying: "Let freedom reign, God bless Africa!" Thabo Mbeki, Mandela's deputy, takes over the day-to-day running of government, leaving Mandela to promote the country around the world.

1995 February

To mark the fifth anniversary of his release, Nelson Mandela visits Robben Island, the prison he was held in for 18 years.

1999

Thabo Mbeki takes over from Mandela as president of South Africa and goes on to win the 1999 presidential election.

2001

Mandela is diagnosed with prostate cancer and begins a course of radiation.

2004

Announcing his retirement from public life, Mandela says he plans to enjoy a quieter life and spend more time with his family. Joking with reporters, he says: "The appeal therefore is don't call me, I'll call you."

2007

Despite his retirement, Mandela forms The Elders. The group, which includes Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other statesmen and women, aims to help tackle the world's problems.

2008 
Musicians, film stars and politicians join Mandela at a concert in London's Hyde Park to celebrate his 90th birthday. Speaking to the crowd he says "It is time for new hands to lift the burdens, it is in your hands now."

Sources -: BBC

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