istoryworld
Events relating to south africa
UK prime minister Harold Macmillan, in Cape Town, warns the white settlers of Africa that 'the wind of change' is blowing through their continent
Kenneth Kaunda is elected president of UNIP, a new party fighting for an independent Northern Rhodesia
South African police fire on a crowd in Sharpeville, near Johannesburg, killing more than sixty people
Madagascar becomes independent (under the name Malagasy republic from till 1975), with Philibert Tsiranana as president
The South West Africa People's Organization is founded to fight against South African control of Namibia
Nelson Mandela leads a new armed section of the ANC (African National Congress), formed in response to Sharpeville
Albert Luthuli, president of the ANC in South Africa, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Joshua Nkomo founds ZAPU, the Zimbabwe African People's Union, in the British colony of Southern Rhodesia
Commonwealth opposition to apartheid causes South Africa to leave the organization and become a republic
Nelson Mandela and the ANC adopt guerrilla tactics against the apartheid regime in South Africa
Frelimo emerges as a Marxist guerrilla group dedicated to winning independence for Mozambique
Ian Smith's white supremacist party, the Rhodesian Front, wins power in Rhodesia's election
Robert Mugabe and Ndabaningi Sithole split from ZAPU to found ZANU, the Zimbabwe African National Union
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved, as the three colonies go their separate ways
Ian Smith, now prime minister of Rhodesia, arrests leading black politicians Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe
Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life imprisonment and is sent to a gaol on Robben Island
Hastings Banda is prime minister of the newly independent nation of Malawi, formerly Nyasaland
Kenneth Kaunda becomes president of the independent republic of Zambia, previously Northern Rhodesia
Ian Smith makes a unilateral declaration of Rhodesia's independence
UNITA, led by Jonas Savimbi, joins the fight for Angolan independence
Prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd is stabbed to death in the South African parliament
Former chief Seretse Khama becomes the first president of an independent Botswana
South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard, in Cape Town, transplants the heart of a young woman into a 55-year-old grocer, Louis Washkansky
The United Nations, with the approval of Britain as the colonial power, imposes economic sanctions on Rhodesia
Paintings discovered on stone slabs in a cave in Namibia are dated to about 28,000 years ago
