CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Feb. 11, 1990 (UPI) --Black nationalist leader Nelson Mandela walked free Sunday from 27 years in prison and told a rally marred by two deaths and 200 shotgun wounds that South Africa's blacks must not yet abandon the armed struggle to end white domination.

JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 12, 1990 (UPI) - Black leader Nelson Mandela, vowing to ''seize the earliest opportunity'' to negotiate a peaceful end to South Africa's racial conflict, arrived Monday from Cape Town but aides wary of huge crowds awaiting him kept his whereabouts overnight a secret.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, a powerful symbol of opposition to apartheid and, until Sunday, one of the world's most celebrated political prisoners, has been a faceless, voiceless legend to black South Africans for more than 27 years.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Feb. 12, 1990 (UPI) - Here is a chronology of the highlights of Nelson Mandela's life:July 18, 1918 -- Nelson Mandela born at Qunu near the Transkeian capital of Umtata. Baby given the middle name of Rolihlahla, Xhosa for ''stirring up trouble.''

The release of black leader Nelson Mandela was hailed as a critical step toward racial reform in South Africa and brought elated cheers worldwide from governments, civil rights leaders and others who oppose apartheid.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Feb. 12, 1990 (UPI) -- Despite having spent nearly a third of his life in prison, black leader Nelson Mandela showed neither bitterness nor drift from his political ideology Monday on his first full day of freedom.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Feb. 12, 1990 (UPI) -- Here is the text of Nelson Mandela's formal address Sunday to a rally on the Grand Parade:Friends, comrades and fellow South Africans, I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all. I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people.

SOWETO, South Africa, Feb. 13, 1990 (UPI) - Black leader Nelson Mandela returned home Tuesday after more than 27 years imprisonment to a tumultuous welcome by more than 100,000 supporters and appealed for discipline in the fight against ''the dark hell of apartheid.''

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 1990 (UPI) - President Bush praised the ''positive leadership'' shown in the release of jailed South African activist Nelson Mandela, but he stressed that U.S. sanctions must remain until apartheid ends.The president has invited Mandela and South African President Frederik de Klerk to Washington, where Bush wants to discuss sanctions imposed in 1988 by Congress over the objections of the Reagan administration.

SOWETO, South Africa, Feb. 14, 1990 (UPI) - Text of the speech Nelson Mandela gave Tuesday at a rally on his return to Soweto, his hometown:Comrades, friends, and the people of Soweto at large: I greet you in the name of the heroic struggle of our people to establish justice and freedom for all in our country.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 1990 (UPI) -- As the world celebrates Nelson Mandela's emancipation in South Africa, heightened racial tensions in the United States challenge America to restate its commitment to civil rights.

PRETORIA, South Africa, Feb. 15, 1990 (UPI) - Thousands of white supremacists marched through the capital in their first major protest against the government's racial reform program Thursday, warning black leader Nelson Mandela to ''keep your eyes off white South Africa.''

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Feb. 17, 1990 (UPI) - Black leader Nelson Mandela, in his first official meeting with South Africa's diplomatic corps, spelled out his preconditions for negotiations Friday but revealed a ''spirit of reconciliation.''