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Events on Friday 18 April 1980 2
1980Bob Marley plays Zimbabwe's independence celebrationsHarareSings Zimbabwe at the birth of the new nation.
1980Independence of ZimbabweRhodesia becomes Zimbabwe under Robert MugabeZimbabwe achieved formal independence from Britain on 18 April 1980, ending decades of white-minority rule in Rhodesia. Robert Mugabe, leader of ZANU, became the country's first prime minister after winning elections earlier that year. The transition followed the Lancaster House Agreement that ended the Rhodesian Bush War.