South Africa Celebrates Nelson Mandela's 95th Birthday July 18,2013

Nelson Mandela(DOB July 18,1918) is spending his 95th birthday in hospital in Pretoria.Nelson Mandela, who is in critical but stable condition with a recurring lung infection, entered hospital on June 8,2013

For South Africans, the best birthday present for Mandela would be for him to recover and be among the people who love him most

South Africans are being urged to mark the former president and anti-apartheid leader's 67 years of public service with 67 minutes of charitable acts.

Activities throughout the day included -

• School-children across the country singing a synchronised Happy Birthday to the former president
• Mandela family members handing out gifts to Mamelodi township residents before holding a birthday lunch with Nelson Mandela. They have prepared 95 cupcakes in his honour
• President Zuma visiting Mr Mandela in hospital and overseeing the donation of houses to poor white families in the Pretoria area
• Volunteers spending 67 minutes each renovating schools and orphanages, cleaning hospitals and distributing food to the poor to mark the former statesman's 67 years as a lawyer, activist, prisoner and president
• Mr Mandela becoming the first recipient of South Africa's new Smart ID Card, introduced on Thursday. His card will be collected on his behalf by his daughter Zindzi
• The forming of a human chain from Johannesburg's Fashion District into the heart of the city

Nelson Mandela's birthday is also Nelson Mandela International Day, a day declared by the UN as a way to recognise the Nobel Prize winner's contribution to reconciliation

Events are also taking place internationally -
Image of a large Mandela painting by South African artist Paul Blomkamp featured in New York's Times Square
concerts are planned later this week in the Australian city of Melbourne, featuring local and African artists

Nelson Mandela's key dates

• 1918 - Born in the Eastern Cape
• 1944 - Joined African National Congress
• 1956 - Charged with high treason, but charges dropped
• 1962 - Arrested, convicted of sabotage, sentenced to five years in prison
• 1964 - Charged again, sentenced to life
• 1990 - Freed from prison
• 1993 - Wins Nobel Peace Prize
• 1994 - Elected first black president
• 1999 - Steps down as leader
• 2001 - Diagnosed with prostate cancer
• 2004 - Retires from public life
• 2005 - Announces his son has died of an HIV/Aids-related illness
• 2007 - Forms The Elders group
• 2010 - Appears at closing ceremony of World Cup