Nelson Mandela was born on July 18th 1918, making his zodiac sign a cancer. Mandela grew up in South Africa in a town called Mvezo. He has 13 siblings all fromthe same father but two mothers. His birth name, Rolihlahla, meant "troublemaker."

Mandela was the son of Chief Henry Mandela of the Madiba clan of the Tembu people. He was only 12 years old when his father died. He and his mom lived off of local harvest and all cooking was done outdoors. After his dad died, he gave up on being the next chief and decided to become a lawyer instead. 

Nelson Mandela went to primary school with many other white kids. He was given the name Nelson because it was a 'christian' name and made him fit in more. He then went to college and studied for a Bachelor of arts degree. He went to the College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand to study law. However, he did not graduate because he was kicked out for joining a

student protest. When he joined the student strike for equality, he got suspended from school. It was all because he was trying to oppose racist

policies. That was one of the reasons he was imprisoned for 27 years.

Nelson Mandela Mandela got increasingly involved with politics and helped form the ANC youth league. He then recognized the racist injustice and tried to make a stand for it. His tactic of petitioning for a change worked really well. He was chosen as the National Volunteer-in-Chief of the Defiance Campaign. This campaign was of civil disobedience against unjust laws.

He and 19 others were charged for their part in the campaign and sentenced to nine months of

hard labor, suspended for two years.