Out of the spotlight

Archbishop Desmond Tutu announced Thursday he was retiring from public life after decades at the forefront of the struggle against apartheid and injustice around the world. Global News takes a look at his life.

Oct. 7, 1931: Desmond Tutu is born in Klerksdorp, South Africa.

1953: Earns his teacher’s diploma.

1954: Begins teaching high school. He completes his BA at the University of South Africa the same year.

1955: Marries his wife, Leah Shenxane.

1961: Ordained as a priest. Tutu begins preaching in Thokoza.

1962: Moves to London, England to study at the University of London King’s College.

1965: Awarded a Bachelor of Divinity.

1966: Earns a Masters of Theology.

1967: Returns to South Africa with his family, and teaches at a seminary. For the next five years he holds the position of lecturer of theology at universities in Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland.

1976: Becomes bishop of Lesotho.

May 1980: Arrested during a protest and held in jail overnight.

Oct. 23, 1984: Delivers a speech to the UN Security Council.

Dec. 7, 1984: Meets U.S. President Ronald Reagan at the White House in Washington.

Dec. 10, 1984: Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, for his non-violent struggle against apartheid.

Feb. 3, 1985: Made bishop of Johannesburg.

Sept. 7, 1986: Made archbishop of Cape Town.

Sept. 1987: Elected president of the All-Africa Council of Churches.

Sept. 13, 1989: Leads a protest of 30,000 people in Cape Town.

May 10, 1994: Leads prayers at the inauguration ceremony of President Nelson Mandela in Pretoria.

Aug. 1994: Publishes a book called The Rainbow People of God.

Dec. 1995: Appointed to the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

June 23, 1996: Retires as archbishop.

Jan. 1997: Begins treatment for prostate cancer.

Oct. 29, 1998: Five volumes of commission report completed.

Nov. 1999: Publishes book called No Future Without Forgiveness.

June 15, 2000: Desmond Tutu Peace Centre opens in New York.

March 21, 2003: Volumes 6 and 7 of commission report completed.

March 2004: Tutu publishes book called God Has a Dream.