Nelson Mandela was awarded an honorary degree from Harvard at a special ceremony on September 18, 1998. While most honorary degrees are awarded at commencement, Mandela received his degree at a special ceremony, timed during a planned visit to the U.S. Mandela was just the third person to be honored with a degree outside of commencement: the other two recipients were George Washington and Winston Churchill.⠀ ⠀ During his speech at Harvard, Mandela said, "I know that through this award you are not so much recognizing any individual achievement, but are rather paying tribute to the struggles and achievements of the South African people as a whole. I humbly accept the award in that spirit, while at the same time wishing you to know that we are not unaware of nor unmoved by the great compliment you pay us by conferring this degree at a specially convened Convocation."⠀ ⠀ #MandelaDay #Mandela100 #NelsonMandela⠀ ⠀ Photo by Mike Quan