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Founding of the ANC
It defines itself as a "disciplined force of the left". Members founded the organization as the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) -
Congress Youth League Founded
By the end of the 1940s, the Youth League had gained control of the African National Congress. It called for civil disobedience and strikes in protest at the hundreds of laws associated with the new apartheid system. -
Defiance Campaign
The ANC decided to implement a national action the following year based on non-cooperation with certain laws considered unjust and discriminatory. -
Sharpeville Massacre
After a day of demonstrations, at which a crowd of black protesters far outnumbered the police, the South African police opened fire on the crowd, killing 69 people. Sources disagree as to the behaviour of the crowd; some state that the crowd were peaceful,[1] while others state that the crowd had been hurling stones at the police, and that the shooting started when the crowd started advancing toward the fence around the police station. -
Spear of the Nation formed
The African National Congress (ANC) is South Africa's governing political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP), since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a "disciplined force of the left". -
Albert Luthuli wins the Nobel Peace Prize
According to the Nobel Foundation's statutes, the Nobel Prize can in such a case be reserved until the following year, and this statute was then applied. Albert Lutuli therefore received his Nobel Prize for 1960 one year later, in 1961. -
Nelson Manela sentenced to life in prison
On 5 August 1962 Mandela was arrested after living on the run for seventeen months, and was imprisoned in the Johannesburg Fort.[43] The arrest was made possible because the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) allegedly tipped off the security police as to Mandela's whereabouts and disguise. -
The Soweto Uprising
The Soweto Uprising, also known as June 16, was a series of high school student-led protests in South Africa that began on the morning of June 16, 1976. Students from numerous Sowetan schools began to protest in the streets of Soweto, in response to the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in local schools. -
The Soweto Uprising
was a series of high school student-led protests in South Africa that began on the morning of June 16, 1976. Students from numerous Sowetan schools began to protest in the streets of Soweto, in response to the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in local schools. -
Steve Biko dies in police custody
A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the anti-apartheid movement. -
Desmond Tutu wins the Nobel Peace prize
The Committee has attached importance to Desmond Tutu's role as a unifying leader figure in the campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid in South Africa. The means by which this campaign is conducted is of vital importance for the whole of the continent of Africa and for the cause of peace in the world. -
Nelson Mandela released from prison
first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). In 1962 he was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges, and sentenced to life in prison. Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island. -
Nelson Mandela becomes president of South Africa
served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election.