Evelyn Mase (1922–2004) was a South African nurse who was the first wife of the anti-apartheid activist and later president Nelson Mandela, to whom she was married from 1944 to 1958. Born in Engcobo, Transkei, Mase moved to Johannesburg to train as a nurse, and there met and married Mandela. Living together in Soweto, they raised four children; three of them—Thembekile, Makgatho, and Makaziwe—survived into adulthood. In the 1950s, her relationship with Mandela became strained; they separated in 1956 and divorced in 1958. Mase moved to Cofimvaba with the children and opened a grocery store. She spoke to reporters in 1990, when Mandela was released from prison after 27 years, and in 1994, when he was elected as South Africa's first Black president. In 1998 she married a businessman, Simon Rakeepile. Her 2004 funeral attracted international media attention and was attended by Mandela, his second wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and his third wife, Graça Machel.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Mase

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1846:

Polish insurgents in the Free City of Kraków led an uprising to incite a fight for national independence, which was put down by the Austrian Empire nine days later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w_uprising

1943:

A fissure opened in a cornfield in the Mexican state of Michoacán and continued to erupt for nine years, forming the cinder cone Parícutin (pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par%C3%ADcutin

1988:

The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast voted to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Nagorno-Karabakh_War

2009:

The Tamil Tigers attempted to crash two aircraft loaded with C-4 in suicide attacks on Colombo, Sri Lanka, but the planes were shot down before they reached their targets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_suicide_air_raid_on_Colombo

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

womannap: (transitive, informal) To abduct or kidnap a woman. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/womannap

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

It is a secret but I have pulled the chain out of the wall. I can see out the little window all I like.   --Richard Matheson https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Matheson