Nelson Mandela

1918 – 2013

Anti-apartheid leader released after 27 years.

• 1990 CE

  Nelson Mandela freed

  Anti-apartheid leader released after 27 years.

• 1990 CE

  Mandela freed; apartheid's end begins

  Nelson Mandela walks free after 27 years in prison, delivering a speech calling for negotiation, not revenge. Within four years, apartheid ends and South Africa holds its first fully democratic election—a peaceful transition widely seen as a political miracle.

• 1994 CE

  Nelson Mandela president

  First black president of South Africa.