Worldwide Celebrations of Nelson Mandela Day

Thousands of people worldwide celebrated Nelson Mandela Day on Friday, for the first time since his death last year.

Celebrations involved performing a good deed for 67 minutes, symbolizing the number of years the legendary African leader spent organizing for social justice.

In South Africa, citizens donated books, planted vegetables and volunteered to clean their streets and neighborhoods.

The United Nations has proclaimed July 18th, Mandela's birthday, ''Nelson Mandela International Day."

Nelson Mandela was a key leaders of the anti-Apartheid movement in the South Africa. After white-minority rule ended, he became the country's first black president in 1994.

Mandela, or Madiba as he is affectionately called in South Africa, was imprisoned for 27 years by the Apartheid government for his activism against white supremacy.

For a long time, various Western states, including the US and UK, accused Mandela and his African National Congress party of terrorism. Madiba was only taken off the US terrorist list in 2008.