Apartheid was the social and political segregation of the non-white population by white minority government officials in South Africa that lasted for almost 50 years in the latter part of the 20th century.

Strict apartheid laws dictated where people were allowed to live, where they could go to school, what occupations they could hold and who they could interact with. Social contact between members of different ethnic groups was prohibited and non-whites were denied governmental representation.

People who openly opposed the system were branded as "communists," often jailed or beaten for striking or demonstrating, and prohibited from forming or belonging to anti-apartheid organizations.

Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison after publicly denouncing the Apartheid government in 1964. After 28 years in jail, Mandela was released in 1990 and awarded the Nobel Prize in 1993 for his dedication to bringing about the end of government sanctioned racism and abuse in South Africa. In 1994, Mandela became the first democratically elected and the first black President of South Africa.

• Google Images: Apartheid In South Africa Images

• Yahoo Images: Apartheid Images

• YouTube: Life Under Apartheid (Time: 4:40)

• WGBH: Aggrey Mbere on life under Apartheid

• 1651: Dutch settlers arrive in South Africa.

• 1700s: Dutch farmers (called Boers) migrate across land inhabited by Bantu and Khoi people.

• 1810s: British missionaries arrive and criticize the racist practises of the Boers.

• 1867: Diamond mining begins in South Africa.

• 1908: A constitutional convention is held to establish South African independence from Britain.

• 1910: The South Africa Act created the Union of South Africa.

• 1912: The African National Congress is formed.

• 1913: The Native Lands Act limited ownership of land by blacks.

• 1920: Blacks are fired from jobs which are given to whites.

• 1936: Representation of Voters Act a process to remove all non-white people from voting.

• 1946: Black mine workers are paid twelve times less than whites.

• 1950: The Population Registration Act required citizens to be classified by race.

• 1951: The Group Areas Act designated races to different residential and business sections.

• 1951: The Bantu Homelands Act made inhabitants of the "black homeland" non citizens of South Africa.

• 1953: The Preservation of Separate Amenities Act enforced segregation of all public facilities.

• 1960: South African Police shot a crowd of black protesters in the Sharpeville Massacre

• 1962: The United Nations establishes the Special Committee Against Apartheid.

• 1963: Nelson Mandela is jailed for sabotage, treason, and violent conspiracy.

• 1970: The all-black South African Students Organization

• 1976: The Soweto uprising, riots between black youths and South African police.

• 1980s: International campaign to boycott South Africa.

• Late 1980s: Countries around the world increasingly pressure South Africa to end its system of apartheid.

• 1991: South Africa President F.W. de Klerk repeals the rest of the apartheid laws.

• 1993: A multiracial, multiparty transitional government is approved.

• 1994: Elections are held.

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