Nelson Mandela Day: Ellen DeGeneres, Kerry Washington, Michelle Obama, Pharrell and More Celebrate Late South African Leader

The South African leader and anti-apartheid revolutionary died on Dec. 5, leaving July 18, his birthday, as an opportunity for his contributions to the advancement of global peace to be celebrated in his absence.

In honor of Mandela's legacy, social media has been
packed with remembrances and tributes, many of them coming from the celebrity crowd that has practically deified Mandela, reserving an almost spiritual reverence for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was also an A-list celeb in his own right.

But first and foremost, they remember what the man himself both tried to do and managed to accomplish: "Nelson Mandela was born into a world of unbelievable injustice, and he changed it. Imagine if all the world's people aspired to that," tweeted Ellen DeGeneres, one of many Hollywood types who took a moment to pay their respects.

"Let's draw inspiration from Madiba's example & recommit ourselves to leaving our kids a better world. #MandelaDay - mo," Michelle Obama tweeted. "I was in awe when I met Nelson Mandela, I didn't even know all of the things he accomplished, he knew my name!" wrote boxer Evander Holyfield.