End:1913

What happened?:Imperialism disrupted traditional African ways of life, political organization, and social norms. European imperialism turned subsistence farming into large-scale commodity exports and patriarchal social structures into European-dominated hierarchies and imposed Christianity and Western ideals.

Important to people to know:Britain, France, and Germany and the weaker powers of Spain, Portugal and Italy

End:1914

What Happened?:The Scramble for Africa was the invasion, annexation, division, and colonization of most of Africa by seven Western European powers during an era known as "New Imperialism" (between 1833 and 1914).

Important to people to know:David Livingstone, Henry M. Stanley, King Leopold II

End:1963

What Happened?n 1942, members of the Kikuyu, Embu, Meru and Kamba tribes took an oath of unity and secrecy to fight for freedom from British rule. The Mau Mau Movement began with that oath and Kenya embarked on its long hard road to National Sovereignty.

Important for people to know:Jomo Kenyatta, Paul Ngei, Kungu Karumba, Bildad Kaggia, Fred Kubai and Achieng Oneko

End:1960

What happened?

In 1953, Enahoro became the first to move the motion for Nigeria's independence which was eventually granted in 1960, after several political setbacks and defeats in the parliament. Enahoro has been regarded by academics and many Nigerians, as the "Father of Nigeria State".

Important people to know:e troika of Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, and Ahmadu Bello negotiated Nigeria's independence from Britain, aided by such figures as Chief Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti.

End:1961

What happened?The ANC and PAC were forced underground and fought apartheid through guerrilla warfareand sabotage. In May 1961, South Africa relinquished its dominion status and declareditself a republic. Later that year, it withdrew from the Commonwealth, in part because ofinternational protests against apartheid.

Important people to know: Nelson Mandela

mportant people to know:Nelson Mandela

End:Dec. 2013

What happened?Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison for opposing South Africa's apartheid system. He faced harsh conditions meant to break his resolve, but Mandela refused to give up his efforts to achieve equality for all people.

Important people to know:de Klerk

End:1994

What Happened?The Apartheid (1948 to 1994) in South Africa was the racial segregation under the all-white government of South Africa which dictated that non-white South Africans (a majority of the population) were required to live in separate areas from whites and use separate public facilities, and contact between the two groups .

Important people to know:Ruth First (1925 -- 1982) — ...

• Leon Sullivan (1922 -- 2001) — ...

• Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (1912 -- 2003) — ...

• Desmond Tutu (1931) — ...

• Oliver Tambo (1917 -- 1993) — ...

• Robert Sobukwe (1924 -- 1978) — ...

• Denis Goldberg (1933) — ...

• Helen Suzman (1917 -- 2009) —

End:1994

What happened?From April through June 1994, more than 800,000 Rwandans were brutally slaughtered by fellow citizens in a state-led genocide targeting the Tutsi ethnic group. About 75% of the Tutsi population died in the mass killings

Important people to know:Théoneste Bagosora

End:1994

What Happened?As South Africa's last head of state from the era of white-minority rule, he and his government dismantled the apartheid system and introduced universal suffrage. Ideologically a social conservative and an economic liberal, he led the National Party (NP) from 1989 to 1997.

Important people to know:Nelson Mandela

End:February 11, 2011

What happened?The African theatre of the First World War comprises campaigns in North Africa instigated by the German and Ottoman empires, local rebellions against European colonial rule and Allied campaigns against the German colonies of Kamerun, Togoland, German South West Africa, and German East Africa.

Important people to know:the Allies and the Axis Powers