Nelson Mandela: 27 years in prison

After be­ing re­leased from pris­on on Feb. 11, 1990, Nel­son Man­dela, the anti-apartheid act­iv­ist, No­bel Peace Prize-win­ner and first black pres­id­ent of South Africa, told the world the “march to free­dom is ir­re­vers­ible.”

“I stand here be­fore you not as a proph­et, but as a humble ser­vant of you the people,” Man­dela said in his first pub­lic ad­dress after 27 years in pris­on.

Be­low is a copy of the Los Angeles Times front page for Feb. 12, 1990, the day after Man­dela’s re­lease and a clip from June 13, 1964, when he was first sen­tenced to life in pris­on for sab­ot­age. The Times’ Jo­han­nes­burg bur­eau chief, Robyn Dix­on, notes Man­dela’s 95th birth­day on Thursday and his im­prov­ing health after more than a month in a Pre­tor­ia hos­pit­al in crit­ic­al con­di­tion.