As part of the Visual Timeline series
1949: Apartheid introduced in South Africa
1960: Congo gains independence from Belgium
1964: Mandela sentenced to life imprisonment
1965: White settlers in Southern Rhodesia declares independence from UK
1967: Biafran/Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970)
1974:
– Ethiopian Marxists outst Emperor Haile Selassie (r.1930-1974)
– (Nov) Lucy 3.2myo discovered
1975:
– (Jun) Mozambique independence from Portugal
– (Nov) Angola independence from Portugal, instant civil war (US-Soviet proxy cold war)
1976: Central African Empire proclaimed by Jean-Bedel Bokassa
1980:
– (Apr) Zimbabwe independence from UK (formerly Southern Rhodesia); Robert Mugabe takes power (r.1980-2017)
1989: UN intervention for Namibia independence
1990:
– (Feb) Mandela released after 27 years in prison
1993:
– (May) Eritrea independence from Ethiopia
1994
– (May) Mandela elected president in first democratic election, ending Apartheid in South Africa
– (Apr-Jul) Rwandan genocide of Tutsi minority; 800k killed in 100 days
1996:
– (Oct96-May97) Hutu Refugee Massacre; Tutsis revenge kill fleeing Hutus; 200k deaths
1998: Second Congo War (1998-2003); Democratic Republic of Congo: Rwandan Tutsi rebels attacked West
2004: Kenyan Wangari Maathai first African woman to Win Nobel Peace Prize
2011:
– (Jul) South Sudan gains independence from Sudan after Jan referendum; oil-rich Catholic South, Muslim North
2013:
– (Dec) South Sudan Civil War breaks out (til Dec16)
2017:
– Zimbabwe president Mugabe steps down (r.1980-2017)
2010-2020: China, with increasing appetite for Africa’s raw materials, ramps up infrastructure investments and overtakes post-colonial countries as largest importer.
2021: (Jul) Mass looting in South Africa
Additional reference:
See also: