I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people.

4 years later, Mandela is elected South Africa’s president in its first multi-racial elections after apartheid is abolished.

1945During the final month of World War II, the top Allied leaders sign the Yalta Accords in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. The accords play a part in the split between Washington and Moscow as the two superpowers later enter the Cold War.

1979In Iran, followers of Ayatollah Khomeini seize power, establishing an Islamic fundamentalist regime. Months later, dozens of Americans at the U.S. Embassy in Iran’s capital Tehran are taken hostage and held captive for 444 days.

And 1847Inventor Thomas Edison is born in Milan, Ohio. Among his many inventions, the electric light bulb, a phonograph and a motion picture camera.

Today in History, February 11th, Carload Bradley, the Associated Press