Apartheid - Timeline

Apartheid begins after the 1948 general election. (19 May 1948)

The African National Congress starts the Defiance Campaign. (19 Jun 1952)

The Bantu Education Act is passed. (19 Jan 1953)

Nelson Mandela is arrested for treason. (19 Dec 1956)

Separate homelands are created for the major black groups. (18 Jan 1959)

Sixty-nine people are killed in the Sharpeville Massacre. (21 Mar 1960)

Nelson Mandela is arrested for treason. (5 Aug 1962)

Rhodesia illegally gains independence from Great Britain. (11 Nov 1965)

South Africa is expelled from the United Nations. (1 Nov 1974)

More than 600 students are killed in the Soweto Massacre (30 Jun 1976)

Anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko is killed. (12 Sep 1977)

Musicians form Artists United Against Apartheid. (1 Jan 1985)

President Frederik Willem de Klerk ends the ban on the African National Congress. (2 Feb 1990)

Nelson Mandela is released from prison. (11 Feb 1990)

Nelson Mandela becomes president of South Africa. (10 May 1994)