Mandela Freed After 27 Years: Apartheid's End Begins
F.W. de Klerk unconditionally released Nelson Mandela from Victor Verster Prison on February 2, 1990, and legalised the ANC after secretly debating the move with his cabinet. This immediate action ended two decades of media bans on Mandela's image and forced the white minority government to negotiate an end to apartheid. Mandela walked free to a global audience, declaring his commitment to peace while insisting that armed resistance would continue as long as violence persisted against the black majority.
February 11, 1990
36 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on February 11
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Robert of Chester finished translating an Arabic alchemy text in 1144. It was the first time Western Europe had access to practical chemical procedures written …
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