# data[].attributes.body
Born Rolihlahla Mandela at Mvezo in the Transkei

# data[].attributes.body
Attends primary school near Qunu (receives the name ‘Nelson’ from a teacher)

# data[].attributes.body
Attends Healdtown, the Wesleyan College at Fort Beaufort

# data[].attributes.body
Enrols at the University College of Fort Hare, in Alice

# data[].attributes.body
Escapes an arranged marriage; becomes a mine security officer; starts articles at the law firm Witkin, Sidelsky & Eidelman

# data[].attributes.body
Graduates with BA from Fort Hare; Enrols for an LLB at Wits University

# data[].attributes.body
Co-founds the ANC Youth League (ANCYL); marries Evelyn Ntoko Mase – they have four children: Thembekile (1945); Makaziwe (1947 – who dies after nine months); Makgatho (1950); Makaziwe (1954)

# data[].attributes.body
Elected President of the ANCYL

# data[].attributes.body
Defiance Campaign begins; Arrested and charged for violating the Suppression of Communism Act; Elected Transvaal ANC President; Convicted with J.S Moroka, Walter Sisulu and 17 others under the Suppression of Communism Act

# data[].attributes.body
Arrested and later joins 155 others on trial for teason. All are acquitted by 29 March 1961

# data[].attributes.body
Divorces Evelyn Mase; Marries Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela – they have two daughters: Zenani (1959) and Zindzi (1960)

# data[].attributes.body
Leaves the country for military training and to garner support for the ANC
| 23 July | Returns to South Africa
| 5 August | Arrested near Howick in KwaZulu-Natal
| 7 November | Sentenced to five years in prison for incitement and leaving the country without a passport

# data[].attributes.body
Thembekile is killed in a car accident

# data[].attributes.body
Rejects, through his daughter, Zindzi, South African President PW Botha's offer to release him if he renounces violence

# data[].attributes.body
ANC is unbanned
| 11 February | Released
| 2 March | Elected ANC Deputy President

# data[].attributes.body
27 April | Votes for the first time in his life
| 9 May | Elected by Parliament as first president of a democratic South Africa
| 10 May | Inaugurated as President of the Republic of South Africa
| 14 December | Launches his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom

# data[].attributes.body
Marries Graça Machel on his 80th birthday
1999 |   | Steps down after one term as President, establishes the Nelson Mandela Foundation

# data[].attributes.body
Diagnosed with prostate cancer

# data[].attributes.body
Establishes the Mandela Rhodes Foundation

# data[].attributes.body
Announces that his eldest son Makgatho had died of AIDS

# data[].attributes.body
Asks future generations to continue the fight for social justice

# data[].attributes.body
Votes for the fourth time in his life; Attends the inauguration of President Jacob Zuma on 9 May and witnesses Zuma's first State of the Nation address; Turns 91

# data[].attributes.body
Formally presented with the Fifa World Cup trophy before it embarks on a tour of South Africa

# data[].attributes.body
January | Admitted to hospital in Johannesburg. Discharged after two nights
| 16 May | Votes in the local government elections
| 27 June | His book Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations is launched

# data[].attributes.body
25 February | Admitted to hospital
| 26 February | Discharged from hospital
| 18 July | Celebrates his 94th birthday with his family in Qunu, Transkei
| 8 December | Admitted to hospital
| 26 December | Discharged from hospital

# data[].attributes.body
18 July | Spends his 95th birthday in hospital
| 1 September | Discharged from hospital
| 5 December | Passes away at home in Johannesburg