Nelson Mandela Dies

One of the great leaders of the world has passed away at the age of 95.  Nelson Mandela led South Africa from apartheid to democracy, and in doing so chose a path of reconciliation and national unity over retribution and violence.

Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for his political beliefs, won the 1993 Nobel Prize for Peace, and has served as an inspiration to the world for his emancipation of the South African people from an apartheid system of separation of people based on the color of their skin.

His one-time political adversary (and later partner) F.W. de Klerk said some time ago, 

“When Mandela goes, it will be a moment when all South Africans put away their political differences, take hands, and will together honor maybe the biggest South African that has ever lived."

The world is in mourning for a man who rose from a political prisoner, to the leader of his country, to a giant on the world stage and a beloved figure worldwide.

UPDATE:  Tributes from around the world pour in.