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| - On the 30th anniversary of his release from prison, where he spent more than 27 years, here are key dates in the life of the late anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president. - July 18, 1918: 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: 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: 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. - 1985: Refuses pardon offered by president P. W. Botha on condition that he renounces violence. - 1990: After 27 years in jail, Mandela is released. - 1991: 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: Steps down after one term. - December 5, 2013: After months of intensive medical care, Mandela dies aged 95. bur-ang/eab/sn/ach
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