20 interesting facts about Nelson Mandela that you don't know

Here are 20 facts about Nelson Mandela you probably don't know:

1. Nelson Mandela was born in July 18 1918 into the Xhosa-speaking Thembu people in a small village in the Eastern Cape of South Africa
2. He was named Rolihlahla Dalibhunga by his parents and was given his English name, Nelson, by a teacher at his school.
3. He is also sometimes called Madiba, which is his traditional clan name.
4. He was circumcised at the age of 16
5. Nelson Mandela was an activist against apartheid, and he was the leader of the armed wing of the African National Congress.
6. Nelson Mandela was the first South African President who was elected in a completely democratic election.
7. He was elected at the age of 77
8. Mr Mandela set up South Africa's first black law firm with Oliver Tambo
9. Nelson Mandela spent twenty-seven years in prison.
10. Nelson Mandela won the Nobel prize in 1993.
11. Nelson Mandela's favorite breakfast is plain porridge, with fresh fruit and fresh milk.
12. Nelson Mandela has honorary degrees from more than 50 international universities.
13. He was diagnosed of prostate cancer in 2001
14. In June 2004 aged 85, Mandela officially retired from public life. His parting gift – a R1-billion endowment to South Africa, to be raised by the three charitable organisations that bear his name: the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and the Nelson Mandela Rhodes Foundation.
15. While in jail on Robben Island in the 1980s, the former president contracted tuberculosis.
16. He was expelled from the University of Fort Hare after joining a student protest. He later completed his degree through Unisa, which he followed up with a law degree from Wits University.
17. He fled the Eastern Cape for Johannesburg after Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the leader of the Tembu people, tried to set up an arranged marriage for him. After arriving in the city, he found work as a night watchman at a mine.
18. Mandela's first wife, Evelyn Mase, was a nurse and Walter Sisulu's cousin. She was the breadwinner in the family and supported Mandela while he studied law at Wits University and became further involved in politics. They had four children together and divorced in 1958.
19. During his time in prison, Mandela was restricted to a 2m x 2.5m cell, with nothing but a bedroll on the floor and a bucket for sanitation in it. He was consigned to hard labour in a lime quarry for much of that time and was, at first, only allowed one visitor and one letter every six months.
20. The apartheid government offered to release Mandela on no less than six occasions but he rejected them each time. On one such occasion Mandela released a statement saying: "I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom … What freedom am I being offered while the organisation of the people [the ANC] remains banned?"