Nelson Mandela was born July 18, 1918, in the Transkeian Territories of South Africa's modern Eastern Cape province.
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Nelson Mandela was South Africa's first black president.
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Nelson Mandela's name at birth was
"Rolihlahla" which means “troublemaker."
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Nelson Mandela slept on a thin mat on a stone floor for most of his 27 years in prison.
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Both of Nelson Mandela's parents were illiterate.
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Nelson Mandela lost his son to AIDS.
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Nelson Mandela was not removed from the U.S. terror watchlist until 2008.
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In 1962, the CIA told South Africa the location of Nelson Mandela, leading to his arrest, which put him in jail for 27 years.
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Nelson Mandela and his first wife divorced after 13 years because of his adultery, and the fact that she was a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses, a religion requiring political neutrality.
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Nelson Mandela married the widow of Mozambique's President.
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Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II and Whoopi Goldberg are Honorary Harlem Globetrotters.
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During Apartheid, Glasgow renamed the street where the South African Consulate was located to "Nelson Mandela Place." Consular officials would be forced to look at his name when reading and addressing postal correspondence.
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Nelson Mandela was banned from entering the U.S. and needed a special waiver until 2008.
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When the Spice Girls first met Nelson Mandela in 1997, he joked: "This is one of the greatest moments of my life."
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Nelson Mandela's first son died in a car crash.
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Under Nelson Mandela's presidency 750,000 houses were constructed, 2 million people were connected to the electricity grid, and water access was extended to 3 million people.
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Nelson Mandela has a cameo in the 1992 movie "Malcolm X" as a teacher reciting one of the civil rights activist's speeches.
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Nelson Mandela and Muammar Gaddafi were close friends.
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After suffering from a prolonged respiratory infection, Mandela died at the age of 95.
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Beginning law studies at the University of Witwatersrand, Mandela was the only native African student.
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Nelson Mandela's father was a polygamist, having four wives, four sons and nine daughters. Nelson's mother was the third wife.
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Nelson Mandela co-authored a book with Fidel Castro.
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The hand print of Nelson Mandela resembles the African continent.
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In the 1950s, Nelson Mandela was a crusading attorney by day and an amateur boxer by night.
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