10 May

On the 9th May 1994, the newly elected South African parliament - the country's first ever democratic government - picked Nelson Mandela to be the country's first black president. He was inaugurated the next day - this very day in 1994.

It was the culmination of an amazing journey for an amazing man. Raised in a palace, Mandela was the only black African student in his law school then trained in the military in Morocco and Ethiopia. He spent 27 years in prison on terrorism charges, walked to freedom in his 60s, and then helped to peacefully dismantle the apartheid system he'd fought so hard against.

Mandela's speeches and writing survive him, as does the work he did for South Africa- and his foundation's projects on HIV and AIDS. Most households now have electricity; many more African students graduate university than during the apartheid era; and the nation was the first country in Africa to legalise same sex marriages.

We are toasting the great man, who passed away 5th December 2013, with a classic El Presidente, or you may consider a Mr President, created by Andy Pearson - for Barack Obama, more appropriate.