timeline

1. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918
2. Mandela was educated at University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand and qualified in law in 1942
3.  Mandela joined the African National Congress in 1944
4. Mandela was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party's apartheid policies after 1948
5. Mandela went on trial for treason in 1956-1961
6. Mandela was acquitted in 1961
7. After the banning of the ANC,  Mandela argued for the setting up of a military wing within the ANC in 1960
8.  the ANC executive considered Mandela's proposal on the use of violent tactics and agreed that those members who wished to involve themselves in Mandela's campaign would not be stopped from doing so by the ANC in 1961
9. Many fellow leaders of the ANC and the Umkhonto we Sizwe were arrested, Mandela was brought to stand trial with them for plotting to overthrow the government by violence in 1963
10. Eight of the accused, including Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment on June 12, 1964
11.  Mandela was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town. Thereafter, mandela was at Pollsmoor Prison, nearby on the mainland from 1964 to 1982
12. Mandela was released on February 11, 1990
13.  At the first national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa after the organization had been banned in 1960, In 1991