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affidavit for tarus - kevin : sadler u. s. republic indigenous moor american national

2022-03-17T02:23:53.28-04:00

affidavit of written initial universal commercial code financing statement

2022-03-12T02:15:14.92-05:00

Christopher Columbus

2021-11-27T15:36:45.787-05:00

Christopher Columbus Biography Christopher Columbus was born between August and October 1451, in Genoa, Italy. He was the oldest son of Domenico Colombo and Susanna Fontanarossa Christopher also had two younger brothers, Bartholomew and Diego. Christopher received little formal education and was a largely self-taught man, later learning to read Latin and Write Castilian. Columbus began on the sea early making his first voyage, to the Aegean Island of Chios, in 1475. One year later he survived a Shipwreck off cape St. Vincent in which he had to swim ashore. In 1477 Columbus sailed to England and Ireland with Portuguese marine, he also bought sugar in Madeira for a Genoese firm. In 1479 Christopher Married Felipa Perestello e Moniz from a impoverished noble Portuguese family. Their son, Diego was born in 1480. Felipa died in 1485, and Columbus later began a relationship with Beatriz Enriquez de Harana of Cordabo, with whom Christopher had his second son, Ferdinand. Columbus and Enriquez never married, but Columbus supported her. In the mid-1480’s Christopher had become focused on his plans of discovery. His biggest dream was to find a westward route to Asia. In 1484 he had asked king John the II of Portugal to back his voyage west, but was refused. The next year he set out to Spain with his son, Diego to seek aid of Queen Elizabeth of Castile and her husband, King Ferdinand of Aragon. Even though the Spanish monarchs first rejected Christopher’s request, they gave him a small annuity to live on, and he remained determend to convince them. In January of 1492 Christopher obtained the support of Elizabeth and Ferdinand, after being rejected twice. On August 3rdthefleet of three ships-Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria-Set forth from Palos, on the Tinto river in southern Spain. The first sight of land came at dawn on October 12th from the Pinta Ship. The place of the first Caribbean landfall was most likely modern, San Salvador, or Waitling Island, in the Bahamas. Thinking he has reached the east Indies, Columbus referred to the native inhabitants of the Island as “Indians,” a term often used to identify indigenous people of the New World. The three ships sailed along other Bahama Islands and landed in Cuba, which Columbus falsely called Mainland of Cathay (China). There was little gold there and his exploration continued by sea to Ayti on December 6th, which Columbus renamed La Isla Espanola, or Hispaniola. He

Letter to the president

2017-07-07T03:08:05.093-04:00

A Message Designated to the Next President Student’s Name: Institutional Affiliation: Name: Address: City: Date His Excellency the Next President P.O. Box 1180 Washington Dear next president; After the enactment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, aimed at educating children with disabilities alongside those who did not have any disabilities, there was a significant change in the US education (Glickman, 2007). Alongside the approach, a similar initiative could be integrated into the scheme of special education in K-12. It is my sincere plea to you Nr. President that you should not forget about our mentally challenged children. These kids have different requirements and therefore, it is integral to consider numerous aspects before placing a disabled student in the classroom. Due to the prevalence of many types of growth disabilities among young children, these kids first receive their initial referral for special education by their parents and teachers. Some of these growth delays are; communicative, social, physical and cognitive. In the prevalence of any of the delays, then it becomes evident that the kid is in need of special needs education. However, the level of assimilation of these children to the K-12 special needs education in this country is still wanting. The students should be presented with learning aid in the event where the subjects are disabled. The tutors, on the other hand, should be equipped with relevant skills and knowledge to facilitate the efficient imparting of the K-12 education. The schools should ensure transparency and a balanced education scheme not forgetting to encourage diversity in the institutions, as a way of promoting collaboration and embracing diversity. In the ancient period, there were only a few classes with disabled individuals and what is more intriguing is that a significant proportion of these disabled kids failed to attend their classes. As such, they had to be placed in special schools or classes. However, this is not the case today as the form of learning has progressively been replaced by an inclusive program. Mr. President, I would like to request that the K-12 special education initiative follows the same approach. With clear goals and specifications on what is expected of the move as presented in this letter, it is much easier to realize the initiative. Therefore, I take this opportunity to present to you some of the various advancements that you should consider enforcing to improve special education in K-12. It is my urge that energies should be focused on the provision of

New formula of nuclear force

2017-06-21T04:07:41.75-04:00

1 New Formula for Nuclear Force 1. NUCLEAR FORCE Kamal Uddin* , MD Organization—Independent, India ABSTRACT It is well established that the forces between nucleons are transmitted by mesons. According to the meson theory, the quantitative explanation of the nuclear forces was extremely tentative and incomplete. But this theory presents a valuable point of view. It is fairly certain now that the nucleons within nuclear matter are in a state made rather different from their free condition by the proximity of other nucleons .Charge independence of nuclear forces demand the existence of neutral meson as amongst the same type of nucleons (P-P) or (N-N). This force demands the same spin and the same orbital angular momentum. The exchange interaction is produced by only a neutral meson. The involving mesons without electric charge that it gives exchange forces between protons and Neutrons. Also therefore maintains charge independence character. It is evident for the nature of the products that neutral mesons decay by both strong and weak interactions. It means that neutral mesons’ constituents are responsible for the electromagnetic interaction. Dramatically neutral mesons play an important role for both electromagnetic and nuclear forces. Keywords: Rest mass energy, Mesons, Differentiation, velocity of light INTRODUCTION It is well established that the forces between nucleons are transmitted by mesons. According to the meson theory, the quantitative explanation of nuclear forces was extremely tentative and incomplete. But this theory presents a valuable point of view. Yukawa first pointed out that the nuclear force can be explained by assuming that the particle of the mass is about 200 times of the electron mass(meson) exists. It can be emitted or absorbed by nuclear particles (neutrons and protons). With such an assumption, a force between the nuclear particles is now being obtained. Now, we have the rest mass energy = m0 c 2 Differentiating with respect to r (Inner radius at which nuclear force comes into play), * * Email: kamal_kahkshan@yahoo.co.in 2Kamal Uddin This force is short-ranged, attractive and along the line, joining the two particles (the central force).The wide success of this first application of quantum mechanics to nuclear phenomena gives us confidence in general use of quantum mechanics for the description of the force between heavy particles present in the nuclei. Where dm0c 2 = either rest mass energy of p 0 mesons (for neutral theory), or rest mass energy of p+, p- & p 0mesons (for symmetrical theory). dm0 =either mass of p 0 mesons or mass of p + , p -& p0 mesons. m0 = mass of nucleons. m0cdc = rest mass energy of nucleons. dr= the range of the nuclear force, which can be calculated from the differentiation of nuclear radius.

Nuclear force

2017-06-21T04:00:53.887-04:00

NUCLEAR FORCE Kamal Uddin*, MD Organization—Independent, India ABSTRACT It is well established that the forces between nucleons are transmitted by mesons. According to the meson theory, the quantitative explanation of the nuclear forces was extremely tentative and incomplete. But this theory presents a valuable point of view. It is fairly certain now that the nucleons within nuclear matter are in a state made rather different from their free condition by the proximity of other nucleons .Charge independence of nuclear forces demand the existence of neutral meson as amongst the same type of nucleons (P-P) or (N-N). This force demands the same spin and the same orbital angular momentum. The exchange interaction is produced by only a neutral meson. The involving mesons without electric charge that it gives exchange forces between protons and Neutrons. Also therefore maintains charge independence character. It is evident for the nature of the products that neutral mesons decay by both strong and weak interactions. It means that neutral mesons’ constituents are responsible for the electromagnetic interaction. Dramatically neutral mesons play an important role for both electromagnetic and nuclear forces. Keywords: Rest mass energy, Mesons, Differentiation, velocity of light INTRODUCTION It is well established that the forces between nucleons are transmitted by mesons. According to the meson theory, the quantitative explanation of nuclear forces was extremely tentative and incomplete. But this theory presents a valuable point of view. Yukawa first pointed out that the nuclear force can be explained by assuming that the particle of the mass is about 200 times of the electron mass(meson) exists. It can be emitted or absorbed by nuclear particles (neutrons and protons). With such an assumption, a force between the nuclear particles is now being obtained. Now, we have the rest mass energy = m0 c2 Differentiating with respect to r (Inner radius at which nuclear force comes into play), This force is short-ranged, attractive and along the line, joining the two particles (the central force).The wide success of this first application of quantum mechanics to nuclear phenomena gives us confidence in general use of quantum mechanics for the description of the force between heavy particles present in the nuclei. Where dm0c2 = either rest mass energy of

New formula of nuclear force

2017-06-21T03:43:54.063-04:00

New formula for nuclear force

2017-06-21T03:01:54.503-04:00

A hero is an individual who in the opinion of others, has exceptional achievements, abilities or personal qualities, and is considered as a role model

2017-02-24T01:39:11.003-05:00

Name: Institutional Affiliation: Tutor: Date: Hero A hero is an individual who in the opinion of others, has exceptional achievements, abilities or personal qualities, and is considered as a role model. A hero is a genuine person who cares for the well-being and prosperity of others without seeking for fame. Someone who goes beyond societal norms and expectations. Heroes are important because they give people something to aspire for, provide hope and meaning to people’s lives. In the movie “Truman Show” the leading actor-Truman Burbank in the film is the hero. Truman Burbank is a 29-year-old, insurance salesman, who lives in a prosperous town called Seahaven, which is located on an island, probably off the coast of Florida. Truman is a sincere and kind person who begins to suspect that there is something strange going on in his life. He gradually learns the truth that he has been his entire life has been filmed for a television show that is broadcasted 24 hours daily. All the people he knows are professional actors who are paid to be part of his life. Discussed below are reasons why Truman Burbank is the hero in the movie “Truman show. “ Truman is a courageous individual. He has a phobia of water. This fear started when Truman was young. When he was young, he witnessed his father drown in a storm. As a consequence, he developed paranoia for traveling in water. The producer of the movie wanted Truman never to leave the island. Eventually, Truman becomes determined to leave the island. He had never left the island before. He is willing to go and look for the girl she once loved. Despite the producer manipulating the weather conditions to the extreme, Truman is not frightened to continue with his mission of leaving the island. Truman is dedicated and trustworthy. At work, Truman appears dedicated and honest, although he is “secretly” trying to create a picture of his lost love, Laureen, from models in magazine ads. Even though many years had gone since he last saw the girl she loved, he was still determined to look for her. In another instance, every means of transport was blocked. Cars, buses, and boats were no allowed to leave the island. Truman, because of his determination, seek different alternative of escaping from the island. At this point, Truman’s past comes back to him, and reminds him why it’s so difficult to

Skaespeare

2016-02-08T12:16:12.887-05:00

Life William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden and was baptised on 26 April, 1564. He was the third of eight children but went on to become the oldest as his two older siblings didn’t survive childhood. He was believed to have lived in a small house on Henley Street and it was believed that he went to King’s New School, although all attendance records have been lost. Shakespeare was married to 26 year old Anne Hathaway, aged 18 on 15 November, 1582. She was already three months pregnant with their first child, Susanna. They went on to have two more children, Hamnet and Judith. Although Hamnet died at 11, the two girls lived past 65. Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 aged 52, in Stratford-upon-Avon. His wife, Anne, also died in 1616, aged 60. The Theatre - In Elizabethan England In Elizabethan England theatres were a lot different. For starters there were no female actors as it wasn’t seen as an honourable job. The roles of women were played by young males/ boys who hadn’t gone through puberty because they had high voices. Another difference is that actors back then didn’t have time to learn their lines. They were usually given to them just before the performance or even during it. Someone sat behind the curtains whispering the actor’s lines; this was called ‘cue acting’. There were three different seating options back then. The cheapest was to stand around the stage. People who stood to watch the play were called ‘Groundlings’. The next seating option was seats in the gallery. People in the gallery could pay one penny extra for a cushion. The most expensive option was to sit on a chair on the stage, right up close with the action. Plays were done during the evening. This was because it was too bright to perform during the day as the sun was out fully and it was too dark to perform during the night as they didn’t have light-bulbs back then. Plays Shakespeare wrote three different types of plays: Comedy, Tragedy and History. His history plays were about famous kings including Henry V, Henry VIII, Richard II and King John. His comedies included: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest and Twelfth Night and usually they end in something happy like a marriage. His tragedies included: Hamlet, Macbeth and Romeo and

Genetically modified foods paper

2015-06-09T09:39:31.13-04:00

To meet the increasing food needs, science has discovered how to genetically modifying plants and crops to enhance crop yield and create superior and stronger varieties of crops and fruits. Genetically Modified Organism’s are one of the most important issues from around the world. Genetically Modified Organism’s are special organisms in which the genetic material has been altered for improvement of productivity and product quality. Having food is very important in order for the human life to maintain good health and to survive. Genetically modified foods have spread out rapidly to the whole world. Genetically Modified Organism’s are harmful to our health. Transgenic crops lead to serious destruction of the environment and have contaminated organic crops. Major companies intend to monopolize market-foods. In order to prevent eating genetically modified foods without knowing it, genetically modified foods should be labeled and people should recognize how dangerous genetically Modified Organism’s are for us. Genetically Modified Organism’s are an injected gene from another species, unlike organic foods which have been eaten for human history. Despite the dangerousness, the foods have still been on our table without verification. Proving safety is beyond the capabilities of current technology. Supporters of genetic engineering argue that the application of biotechnology to improve the nutritional contents of various foods will help people who suffer many deficiency diseases. Also, they claim that genetically modified foods can yields medical benefit by injecting a particular genes or vaccine. However, Genetically Modified Organism’s are only a temporary measure, not the fundamental solution for nutritional improvement of foods and medical benefits. Their own disadvantages far outweigh their own advantages. A study by the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAME) advised precaution because genetically modified foods have not been tested for human consumption and because there is significant evidence of probable harm (AAME, 2009). The harmful effects that have risen up to now are that Genetically Modified Organism’s can cause food allergy reactions, indirect and non-traceable effects on cancer rate, unknown effects on human health and malfunction immune system. Several studies bear testimony to the dangerousness. For instance, according to the study conducted by Dr. Árpád Pusztai at the Rowett Research Institute in 1998, the result of his research showed feeding genetically modified potatoes to rat led them to malfunction of immune systems (Arpad, 1998). The other research published in New Scientist at Purdue University,

Branson Fishing Guides

2015-02-26T07:11:02.97-05:00

Branson Fishing Guides Branson Guided Fishing Trips Branson Guided Fishing Trips offers half day trips (4 hrs), ¾ day trips (6 hrs), and full day trips (8 hrs). We provide top quality trips for individuals, corporate trips, large groups, corporate groups, and families. We really enjoy taking and teaching adults and children of all ages how to fish, and providing them with the experience of a lifetime. We also provide trips and services for customers with any handicap or special needs situations. For more information click this link: Branson Guided Fishing Trips Services Another Service that Branson Guided Fishing Trips offers is deepwater fishing instruction tours on one of

Richard Dawkins Worldview

2013-09-29T21:54:36.1-04:00

Richard Dawkins Introduction I have chosen Richard Dawkins as the role model I am studying. His views are not the same as mine but he is a very well respected speaker and scientist. In this paper, I will explain the worldview that Richard Dawkins lived out in his life. I will compare and contrast the values and actions of Richard Dawkins with my own worldview and values. I will first compare my family values to the family values that Richard Dawkins lived out. I will then compare how I view sexuality to how he viewed this in areas of his life. Then I will compare how I view the nature of God and how Richard Dawkins views God. Finally, I will explain and give reasons as to why I believe that Richard Dawkins was a role model regarding certain topics, not all, but could definitely be a role model to others. Family I would say that Richard Dawkins worldview is one of an Atheist worldview. Richard Dawkins was born in Kenya. His mother and father later moved him to England. His entire life, his parents both answered an questions he has in great scientific explanations. He was raised as a Christian though. He believed in Christianity until he was a teenager. During his teenage years, he learned about the theory of evolution (Dawkins, 1995). He has always had a very complex way of thinking, so the theory of evolution seemed to help explain the complexity of humanity better than the theory of creationism (Dawkins, 1995). Richard Dawkins feels that you should always teach your children good morals. He doesn't believe that morals have to have anything to do with religion. He feels we should be able to teach our children good values without having to "fear" God (Dawkins, 1995). He also has also put an emphasis on success. He is a very successful and well-known man. My values are much like his, I try to show my children that you should try your hardest to be successful in life and have good morals. We strive to help our children be successful in life, to love God, not fear Him. We want them to care about other people, be compassionate about everything in their lives, and stand up for themselves. Sexuality Richard Dawkins is one of the founders of the "Gay Gene".

Mahatma Gandhi

2013-09-14T06:38:53.52-04:00

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (pronounced ['mo???nd?a?s 'k?r?mt??nd? 'ga?nd??i] ( listen); 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Employing non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahatma (Sanskrit: "high-souled," "venerable"[2])—applied to him first in 1914 in South Africa,[3]—is now used worldwide. He is also called Bapu (Gujarati: endearment for "father,"[4] "papa."[4][5]) in India. Born and raised in a Hindu, merchant caste, family in coastal Gujarat, western India, and trained in law at the Inner Temple, London, Gandhi first employed non-violent civil disobedience as an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, in the resident Indian community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest against excessive land-tax and discrimination. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, but above all for achieving Swaraj or self-rule. Gandhi famously led Indians in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930, and later in calling for the British to Quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned for many years, upon many occasions, in both South Africa and India. Gandhi attempted to practice non-violence and truth in all situations, and advocated that others do the same. He lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn hand spun on a charkha. He ate simple vegetarian food, and also undertook long fasts as means of both self-purification and social protest. Gandhi's vision of a free India based on religious pluralism, however, was challenged in the early 1940s by a new Muslim nationalism which was demanding a separate Muslim homeland carved out of India.[6] Eventually, in August 1947, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian Empire[6] was partitioned into two dominions, a smaller Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan.[6] As many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious violence broke out, especially in the Punjab and Bengal. Eschewing the official celebration of independence in Delhi, Gandhi visited the affected areas, attempting to provide solace. In the months following, he undertook several fasts unto death to promote religious harmony. The last of these, undertaken on 12

King Romulus Augustus

2013-07-01T14:09:54.477-04:00

Romulus, in Roman legend, founder of Rome. When Amulius usurped the throne of his brother Numitor, king of Alba Longa, he forced Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, to become a vestal virgin so that she would have no children. However, she became the mother of twin sons, Romulus and Remus, by the god Mars. Amulius then imprisoned Rhea Silvia and set the infants adrift in a basket on the Tiber River. They floated safely ashore, where a she-wolf suckled and tended them until the royal shepherd Faustulus and his wife, Acca Larentia, found and reared them. When they were grown, the brothers learned their true identity, killed Amulius, and restored Numitor to the throne. They then decided to establish a city of their own where they had been first rescued from the Tiber River. When Romulus was chosen by an omen as the true founder of the new city, strife arose between the brothers, and Romulus killed Remus. He then populated his city with fugitives from other countries; to get wives he and his fellow Romans abducted the women of the neighboring Sabine tribe. After a long reign, Romulus disappeared in a thunderstorm and was thereafter worshiped as the god Quirinus. Romulus was about fifty-three when he disappeared. He lived from 771-717 B.C. Roman historians traditionally set the date of Rome's founding at 753 B.C. The mother of the twins Romulus and Remus was a Vestal Virgin named Rhea Silvia, the daughter of Numitor and niece of King Amulius of Alba Longa. Numitor was the rightful king. The usurper, his brother Amulius, feared a future challenge from Numitor's descendants. To prevent their being born, Amulius forced the daughter of his brother Numitor to become a Vestal Virgin. The penalty for violating the vow of chastity was a cruel death, but Rhea Silvia survived long enough to give birth to twins, Romulus and Remus. Like later Vestal Virgins who violated their vows, Rhea may have been buried alive. The reason that Romulus killed Remus is also unclear. One story about Romulus killing Remus begins with the brothers using augury to determine which brother should be king. Romulus looked for his signs on the Palatine Hill and Remus on the Aventine. The sign came to Remus first, six vultures (*). Another story of the killing of Remus has each brother building

water

2013-06-04T12:27:02.637-04:00

The Beatles: Life and Career

2013-04-15T18:37:40.78-04:00

The Beatles: Life and Career Many names come to mind when you think of rock music in the 60’s, but there’s always one group in that list that have made as big of an impact as The Beatles. They’re one of the most known and controversial groups in the history of rock music. The Beatles were risk takers bringing a new sound to an already changing era of music. Their risks paid off making them one of, if not, the biggest rock group to ever take the stage. The popularity of their music exceeds their music generation as they have millions of fans still buying their music. They went from small band gigs to packed concerts with thousands of screaming fans. Through the struggles they faced, the Beatles stood the tests of time. The early 1940’s in Liverpool, England mark the date and place where the destiny of the Beatles would begin. This is the time when Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr or “The Fab Four” were born. Growing up each of them had an undying interest in music. For eighteens years these four men continued to learn more and more about music and gained the skills to make their own. Then the day came when all of their unintentional “training” for the biggest step in their lives came. In July of 1957, in Liverpool, Paul McCartney met John Lennon. Both were teenagers. Paul impressed John with his mastered skill on the acoustic guitar, and was invited to join Lennon's group, The Quarrymen. George Harrison joined them in February of 1958. By 1959 they were playing regular gigs at a club called The Casbah. They went through various other band members including the son of the owner of the Casbah, drummer Peter Best, but not all would stick around. John Lennon dreamed up the band's final name, The Beatles, a mix of beat with beetle. A year later, in !960, the Beatles began touring in Germany where they were joined by Ringo Starr. The Beatles made their first studio work for singer Tony Sheridan's recordings for the German Polydor label, however, in the credits the band's name was changed to, The Beat Brothers. They were paid five pounds for their first show, which later advanced to three hundred pounds per show in 1963. By mid 1965 The Beatles gave 262 shows at the Cavern in Liverpool. In November

Biography of Napoleon Bonaparte

2013-04-03T14:30:25.077-04:00

Napoleon Demographical Napoleon was born on August 15 1769 in the town of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. Corsica is a small island on the south-east of France near Italy. His parents names were Carlo (Charles) and Maria Buonaparte. He had one older brother and six younger siblings. His family was part of the lower nobility. He died on May 5 1821 at the age of 51 in Saint Helena Britain; he died of stomach cancer. Corsica on a map Education Napoleon moved to France at the age of 9. He was first enrolled in a religious school in the city of Autun to learn French in January of 1779. In May his father enrolled him and his brother in the aristocrats military school. He was bullied a lot because of his Corsican accent because of his social status. When he finished at that school he started at the Ecole Militaire in Paris. He was not an exceptional student but he had a passion for reading, and after he finished school he read to re-educate himself. Napoleon never learned how to spell but his teachers thought he had potential. Italian Campaign Napoleons Italian campaign took place from 1796-1797 between the French and the Austrians who ruled Italy. At the time Napoleons army was of only 38,000 men ,and the Austrians also had 38,000 men but they convinced their allies to fight against the French as well. The Piedmontese had 25,000 men which added up to a total of 63,000 men against the French. Napoleons decided he would isolate the Piedmontese and attack them first. The Piedmontese were quick to surrender on April 26 1796 after only two battles Montenotte and Mondovi Napoleon demanded silver and gold from his opponents. He used the silver and gold to pay his soldiers, and they were grateful for it had been a long time since they had been paid. When the French attacked Austria they fled and built a long narrow bridge, and dared Napoleon and his troops to cross it. The bridge was armed with 14 cannons and many soldiers ready to fight.His troops had a good reputation of being courageous so they charged across but halfway they retreated because of heavy fire. Napoleon urged his troops to go forward so they attempt to cross the bridge a second

Jane Adams

2013-03-07T19:01:51.993-05:00

Jane Adams Jane Adams was one of the most important people of the progressive era. She was born September 6 1860 in Cedarville, Illinois, U.S. She was the youngest of 9 nine children born into a wealthy upper class family. Her father was a wealthy senator who was a personnel friend of Abraham Lincoln. When she was young she had spine problems but these were remedied later in life. In 1881 Jane Addams graduated from the Rockford Female Seminary. In 1912 she joined the progressive party. And in 1931 she received the noble peace prize. She spent her whole life trying to make the world a better place One of her biggest accomplishments was to build the Hull House. Her and her close friend Ellen Gates Starr opened the hull house in 1889. The purpose of the home was to provide a place for immigrants and the lower class. It was very open for women and especially mothers who were down on there luck. By 1911 the hull house had been expanded to 13 buildings. The home had night schools for the resident’s, daycare and arts programs and clubs and activities.by 1920 there were over 500 homes modeled just like hers. The hull house is currently listed in the national register of historic places. Jane Adams believed very strongly in women’s right and was very much a feminist. She was one of the first people who would fight for women’s rights to vote. She was a public speaker who often spoke for the rights of women. She said how can we expect mothers to take care of their neighborhoods and children if they have no say in how it’s done. She said the men that were voting didn’t think about what women or children needed. And in 1920 she got to see her dream come true when the 19th amendment was passed and women now had the right to vote. She also was a very strong believer in the thought that children should have better living conditions. She thought children should be in school and not working in sweatshops. She was a believer in the idea that children are our future. She spoke to make laws preventing child labor and harsh conditions. She organized groups that pressured officials to put an end to cruel punishment on child laborers. This was a very new idea to most people considering most people at the time

Apollonius of Perga

2013-02-18T15:07:30.853-05:00

Apollonius was a great mathematician, known by his contempories as " The Great Geometer, " whose treatise Conics is one of the greatest scientific works from the ancient world. Most of his other treatise were lost, although their titles and a general indication of their contents were passed on by later writers, especially Pappus of Alexandria. As a youth Apollonius studied in Alexandria ( under the pupils of Euclid, according to Pappus ) and subsequently taught at the university there. He visited Pergamum, capital of a Hellenistic kingdom in western Anatolia, where a university and library similar to those in Alexandria had recently been built. While at Pergamum he met Eudemus and Attaluus, and he wrote the first edition of Conics. He addressed the prefaces of the first three books of the final edition to Eudemus and the remaining volumes to Attalus, whom some scholars identify as King Attalus I of Pergamum. It is clear from Apollonius' allusion to Euclid, Conon of Samos, and Nicoteles of Cyrene that he made the fullest use of his predecessors' works. Book 1-4 contain a systematic account of the essential principles of conics, which for the most part had been previously set forth by Euclid, Aristaeus and Menaechmus. A number of theorems in Book 3 and the greater part of Book 4 are new, however, and he introduced the terms parabola, eelipse, and hyperbola. Books 5-7 are clearly original. His genius takes its highest flight in Book 5, in which he considers normals as minimum and maximum straight lines drawn from given points to the curve ( independently of tangent properties ), discusses how many normals can be drawn from particular points, finds their feet by construction, and gives propositions determining the center of curvature at any points and leading at once to the Cartesian equation of the evolute of any conic. The first four books of the Conics survive in the original Grrek and the next three in Arabic translation. Book 8 is lost. The only other extant work of Apollonius is Cutting Off of a Ratio ( or On Proportional Section ), in an Arabic translation. Pappus mentions five additional works, Cutting off an Area ( or On Spatial Section ) , On Determinate Section, Tangencies, and Plane Loci. Tangencies embraced the following general problem : given three

Ayn Rand

2013-02-12T05:34:20.7-05:00

Ayn Rand This essay will discuss the life and works of Ayn Rand. The woman who would become Ayn Rand was born Alice Rosenbaum on February 2, 1905. (Branden, Barbara pg.3 1986). She was born during the eleventh year of Nicholas II's reign in Russia.(Baker pg.1 1987). Rand's birth was just before a revolution in Russia, however this revolution was put down by her first year.(Branden, Barbara pg.3 1986). The Rosenbaum's lived quite comfortably under the czar.(Baker pg.1 1987). Beneath their large apartment was Fronz Rosenbaum's chemist shop.(Branden, Barbara pg. 4 1986). Rand's father was a serious man whom she never knew very well.(Branden, Barbara pg.4 1986). Ayn's mother, Anna Rosenbaum, was the opposite of her father and was very sociable. (Branden, Barbara pg. 4-5 1986). As a child, Rand did not have a true sense of affection with her father. (Branden, Barbara pg.5 1986). However, she did develop a strong bond of love with him as she grew older. (Branden, Barbara pg. 4 1986). Ayn did not get along well with her mother. (Branden, Barbara pg.5 1986). Although the Rosenbaum family was traditionally Jewish, it is said that Rand really did not have a religious upbringing. (Baker pg.2 1987). As a result, she became atheist as a child after coming to the conclusion that believing in God is degrading to humans in the sense that man should live for no one else but himself. (Baker pg.3 1987). Rand discovered a passion for upbeat, lively music which she began collecting on records. (Branden, Barbara pg.8 1986). By the time she was five years of age, she had two little sisters, Natasha and Elena. (Branden, Barbara pg.7 1986). As a whole, Ayn's childhood was not a pleasant experience for her; in later years it proved to be an unhappy memory as well. (Branden, Barbara pg.34 1986). Ayn Rand received a good education and learned to read and write at age six. (Baker pg.2 1987). She found her classes boring and too easy. (Baker pg.2 1987). This led her to begin writing simple short stories and novels. (Baker pg.2 1987). Rand's inability to fit in socially at school and her boredom with the education she was receiving led her to become somewhat of a recluse with one exception: her passion for literature. (Branden, Barbara pg.11 1986). Literature seemed to absorb Ayn more than any other thing; it intrigued her and gave her much pleasure to read and soon, to write. (Branden, Barbara pg.11 1986). "She would sit in school, barricaded behind a book, scribbling furiously at her latest adventure, wanting only to be alone, to write, to devise dangerous exploits for her characters." (Branden, Barbara pg.11 1986). Rand's decision

Abraham Lincoln

2013-02-12T05:26:08.943-05:00

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was very important to the past history of our country. He helped to abolish slavery in this country and kept the American Union from splitting apart during the Civil War. At 22, he moved to New Salem, Illinois. With his gift for swapping stories and making friends, he became quite popular and was elected to the Illinois legislature in 1834. In his spare time, he taught himself law and became a lawyer. In 1847, he was elected to the U.S. Congress, but returned to his law practice until 1858, when his concern about the spread of slavery prompted him to return to national politics and run for the U.S. Senate. Lincoln rose to greatness from a humble beginning. Born in 1809 in a log cabin in Kentucky, Lincoln spent most of his childhood working on the family farm. He had less than a year of school but managed to educate himself by studying and reading books on his own. He believed that slavery and democracy were fundamentally incompatible. In an 1858 speech, he said: What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independance? It is not our frowning battlements, our bristling sea coats, our army and our navy . . . Our defense is in the spirit which prized liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism at your own doors. Familiarize yourself with the chains of bondage and you prepare your own limbs to wear them (World Book Encyclopedia). He lost his campaign for the Senate, but during the debates with his opponent Stephen Douglas, he became well known for his opposotion to slavery. The southern states, which believed they depended upon slavery to remain prosperous in the cotton, tobacco, and rice industries, threatened to secede from the nation if Lincoln won the election. Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861, and by April 12, the southern states had formed the Confedrate States of America and the Civil War began. It was during the Civil War that Lincoln proclaimed the slaves free in the Confederate states. This was his famous Emancipation Proclamation, issued in 1863. But Lincoln knew that something else had to be done to insure liberty for the slaves after the war. So he worked

A Biography of Henry Ford

2013-02-11T07:12:09.25-05:00

Henry Ford was an American industrialist, best known for his pioneering achievements in the automobile industry. From humble beginnings he was able to create a company that would rank as one of the giants of American and World industry long after his death. There is no doubt that Henry Ford was a successful business man. The Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford's legacy, has left its mark on every continent in the world. However, Ford didn't gain his success solely on his innovation in the automobile industry. He was a friend to the middle class public as well as the workers in his factories. For this he was rewarded with financial success by the same people he looked out for. Moreover, he repeatedly gave back to society through donations, philanthropic foundations, and the creation of organizations that would help to educate and benefit the people. Henry Ford was a man who gained world-wide business success through his innovative ideas, brilliant management skills, and down-to-earth tactics. Henry Ford was born on a farm near Dearborn, Michigan, on July 30, 1863, and educated in district schools. He became a machinist's apprentice in Detroit at the age of 16. From 1888 to 1899 he was a mechanical engineer, and later chief engineer, with the Edison Illuminating Company. In 1893, after experimenting for several years in his leisure hours, he completed the construction of his first gasoline engine. His first automobile was completed in 1896. The body was a small crude wooden box, it had a single seat, a steering tiller, bicycle wheels, and an electric bell on the front. In 1903 he founded the Ford Motor Company. At first, like his competitors, he made cars that only the wealthy could afford. But later he came to believe that every man, no matter what his income, should own a car. This resulted in the inexpensive "Model T" in 1908. It brought great financial success to his company. The Model T was in production until 1927 when it was discontinued in favor of a more up-to-date model. While in production the company sold over 15 million cars. In 1913 Ford began using standardized interchangeable parts and assembly-line techniques in his plant. Although Ford neither originated nor was the first to employ such practices, he was chiefly responsible for their general adoption and for the consequent great expansion of American industry and the raising of the American standard of living. By early 1914 this innovation, although greatly increasing productivity, had resulted in a monthly labor

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

2012-11-12T03:20:55.713-05:00

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, commonly known by its abbreviation PSLV, is an expendable launch system developed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites into sun synchronous orbits, a service that was, until the advent of the PSLV, commercially viable only from Russia. PSLV can also launch small size satellites into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). The PSLV has launched 41 satellites (19 Indian and 22 from other countries) into a variety of orbits to date. PSLV costs 17 million USD flyaway costs for each launch. Development PSLV has been designed and developed at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The inertial systems are developed by ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) at Thiruvananthapuram. The liquid propulsion stages for the second and fourth stages of PSLV as well as the reaction control systems are developed by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), also at Thiruvananthapuram. The solid propellant motors are processed at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, which also carries out launch operations. After some delays, the PSLV had its first launch on 20 September 1993. Although all main engines performed as expected, an altitude control problem was reported in the second and third stages. After this initial setback, ISRO met complete success with the third developmental launch in 1996. Further successful launches followed in 1997, 1999, and 2001. PSLV continues to be the work horse of Indian satellite launches, especially for LEO satellites. It has undergone several improvements with each subsequent version, especially those involving thrust, efficiency as well as weight. Vehicle description The PSLV has four stages using solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately. The first stage is one of the largest solid-fuel rocket boosters in the world and carries 138 tonnes of Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) bound propellant with a diameter of 2.8 m. The motor case is made of maraging steel. The booster develops a maximum thrust of about 4,430 kN. Six strap-on motors, four of which are ignited on the ground, augment the first stage thrust. Each of these solid propellant strap-on motors carries nine tonnes of HTPB propellant and produces 677 kN thrust. Pitch and yaw control of the PSLV during the thrust phase of the solid motor is achieved by injection of an aqueous solution of strontium perchlorate in the nozzle to constitute Secondary Injection Thrust Vector Control System (SITVC). The injection is stored in two

A Free Essay about Tornadoes

2012-10-25T11:43:52.92-04:00

Tornadoes There are at least 1000 tornadoes reported each year in the United States. In this paper I will discuss how tornadoes develop, when and where tornadoes are most likely to occur, the different levels of tornadoes and how they are measured, and some tornado safety tips. Usually tornadoes will form from thunderstorms. For a thunderstorm to spawn a tornado the storm must contain rotation. For this rotation to develop within a thunderstorm there must be warm, moist air and cool, dry air that meet which form the rotation. From this rotation a cone-shaped column of air coming from the thunderstorm is formed, which is known as a funnel cloud. But, when the funnel cloud touches the ground it becomes a tornado. Tornadoes are very unpredictable and could happen at any time of the day or anytime of year. For southern states, like us, tornado season is not only at its peak from March to May, but also in the fall. For the nothern states tornadoes usually occur during the summer. However, in the north and south of the United States the most likely time for a tornado to happen is between three o'clock and nine o'clock p.m. More than half of the nation's tornadoes occur in the central part of the United States, this area is known as the Great Plains. The Great Plains is made up of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and South and North Dakota. This area of the United States is also known as Tornado Alley. This area of flat land combines all of the elements needed to form tornadoes. The Fujita Tornado Intesity Scale was developed to measure the strength of a tornado by the damage it made. The Fujita Scale, also known as the F-Scale, was invented in 1971 by Ted Fujita. The National Weather Service uses the Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale to measure tornado intensity. The only problem with this scale is that the tornado can't be measured until after it has occurred. The F-Scale starts out with an EF0 being the weakest and goes all the way up to an EF6. The EF0 has winds between 65 and 85 mph, and would only leave minor damage such as leaving trees with broken branches. The most damaging tornado on the F-Scale is the EF6. This strength tornado has winds

Rani Lakshmibai

2012-10-15T07:23:08.857-04:00

If we have to name one freedom fighter

Free Essay on Jawaharlal Nehru

2012-10-14T08:09:25.893-04:00

India freedom struggle is enriched with numerous heroes and great leaders. Most of the freedom fighters sacrificed their family, comfort, jobs and ultimately lives to make India an independent nation. We can only salute to such heroes who made it possible for us to breathe in a free air. One such legendary freedom fighter and an imminently knowledgeable person was the first prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. Also known as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, he was one of the foremost leaders of Indian freedom struggle. The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi had realised the infinite potential of his favourite disciple at an early age. Jawaharlal Nehru literally shaped the destiny of free India. No wonder, he is also called as the architect of modern India. Let’s have a look at Jawaharlal Nehru biography. Jawaharlal Nehru was born on November 14, 1889. Pandit Ji was the son of famous barrister and freedom fighter Motilal Nehru. His mother’s name was Swaroop Rani. He had three sisters. His family background helped him in receiving best possible education. Jawaharlal Nehru did his schooling from Harrow and further on, completed his law degree from Trinity College, Cambridge. Because of his upbringing and solid education, he managed to acquire a rational outlook and rich understanding of political concepts. His patriotic dedication received further boost with his incomparable understanding of socialism and nationalism. He returned to India in 1912 and got married to kamala Kaul from whom he had a daughter named Indira Gandhi. Nehruji was an intellectual in true sense of the word. He believed in the concepts of patriotism, unity and liberty. He was hugely influenced by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and decided to join Indian freedom struggle. A strong mass leader, Pandit Nehru was imprisoned several times in his life. He spent no less than 14 years in prisons. Once the country got independence, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was unanimously elected as the first Prime Minister of the country. The country felt safe in the able leadership of Pandit Nehru. He successfully guided India during the times of partition, turbulence and poverty. He was instrumental in making effective and efficient social, agricultural and economic policies that we are still reaping rewards of. He was also one of the chief architects of nonaligned movement. The Chinese invasion in 1962 caused him severe pain and disappointment. He breathed his last on May 27, 1964. Thank you

Free essay on Indira Gandhi

2012-10-14T07:37:23.927-04:00

Indira Gandhi played a major role in defining

Free Essay on Sarojini Naidu a Rank Leader

2012-10-14T07:30:56.79-04:00

Sarojini Naidu was one of the front rank leaders of the freedom struggle. She knew no fear as a person and as a patriot. Presiding over the 41st session of the Indian National Congress, she had said that, “in

Thora Stowel

2012-10-14T00:23:15.537-04:00

Thora Stowell was born on 31December 1969.Thora Stowell's The Anglo-Egyptian Cookery Book (Alexandria, Cairo & London: Whitehead Morris Limited; 1923) is a very rare book. The obvious: Thora Stowell lived in Egypt and wrote this cookbook. Quite likely, this cookbook was written by the same Thora Stowell who was a popular poet and children's author of the 1920s and 1930s. She may have been the wife of a British military or government official who worked in Egypt. "Thora Stowell" appears to be a pseudonym. Most of the recipes in The Anglo-Egyptian Cookery Book are for standard early 20th century European cuisine, somewhat adapted to "the Orient", and for local ingredients prepared "to suit European taste". Most of the more "Egyptian" recipes are gathered into a chapter of their own, and the same is done for Indian recipes. (This is a fine example of how the British empire popularized Indian cuisine.) The book also contains useful hints for the European managing a household in Egypt, and Arabic vocabulary. Arabic (and French) titles are given for most of the recipes; their accuracy is questionable. Connie Chesterman said that he likes one of the poem of Thora Stowell : we kept a media clip One of is poem is I passed your garden yesterday, The roses are all dead, And the little desert sparrows play In the dry iris bed, And all your other pretty flowers Are faded in these burning hours, I lingered by your garden wall - You will not come again, So there's no meaning left at all, The beauty is sheer pain - The wind that whispers to the leaves, The sunshine on the lily-sheaves, Beside the little garden door Low in the dust I found The print of your gay dancing feet In the dry, thirsty ground - Do you come back at night to play Where now your'll never come by day? Out in the dusty road they'd thrown Dead leaves and flowers, and there A little blue glass bangle showed Broken and dulled in the dusty road. Only the ghost of the child I knew And the wandering desert wind Know where I hid a half for you And nobody else to find- Only the wind that flutes to the sky When shadow feet go dancing by. The other half goes soon and late Wherever my feet must go, Till they reach at last a Postern Gate And a face I used

Bhagat Singh

2012-10-13T23:37:33.79-04:00

There were so many leading lights in India’s freedom struggle. India’s fight for independence was a united cause in which thousands of people participated and sacrificed their lives. Indian history is rich with such heroes who made incomparable contributions to the country’s freedom. Some of them are still remembered by us even after 60 plus years of achieving freedom. One such legendary fighter was Shaheed Bhagat Singh. He is credited to shape the grand nationalist movement of the country. He was a prominent revolutionary whose role in the freedom struggle of India cannot be measured with words. Born on September 27, 1907 at Banga in Lyallpur district to Kishan Singh and Vidya Vati, Bhagat Singh had patriotism in his blood. His father and uncle, both were great Indian freedom fighters who also sent several times in prison for their active participation. During his school days, Bhagat Singh had actively followed the Non-Cooperation Movement called by Mahatma Gandhi. He was ardent follower of Gandhiji’s philosophy until Bapu withdrew the movement in protest to Chauri Chaura incidents. Bhagat Singh was not convinced with this decision and aligned himself with Young Revolutionary Movement. Bhagat Singh flatly refused to marry to the girl of his family choice citing his passion for India’s freedom struggle. He joined various radical and revolutionary groups like Hindustan Republican Association, Kirti Kisan Party and Naujawan Bharat Sabha. To avenge the death of leading freedom fighter Lala lajpat rai, he planned assassination of Scott, the Superintendent of Police who had ordered lathi charge that led to Lalaji’s death. He mistook J.P.Saunders as Scott and killed him instead. He fled to Lahore and to hide his identity, he shaved his beard and cut his hair, against the tenets of Sikhism. After the formulation of Defence of India Act, he and his party members conspired to explode bombs inside the assembly premises. He along with Batukeshwar Dutt threw a bomb in the corridors of the assembly and shouted ‘Inquilab Zindabad’. Bhagat Singh along with Rajguru and Sukhdev was charged with the murder. Singh was asked to tender apology but he refused and made strong statements against the British rule. Bhagat Singh was finally sentenced to death and was hanged in Lahore on March 23, 1931. He was regarded as a Shaheed (Martyr) by his supporters and followers. Indian film industry has made several wonderful films based on the eventful life of Bhagat

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

2012-10-13T23:28:03.2-04:00

Patriot and scholar, Bal Gangadhar Tilak knew no religion but believed in the unity of the country. His life was a saga of suffering and sacrifice for the sake of his country. He knew no respite from the lifelong battle he waged against the foreign ruler. He had famously declared, “Swaraj is my birth-right and I will have it”. This one statement had a ripple effect on the collective subconscious of Indian people. Lokmanya Tilak was born on July 23, 1856 in Ratnagiri. He was the son of Gangadhar Pant and Parvatibai. ‘Bal’ was the loving name given to him by his mother that remained with him. He had his early education at Poona (Pune) city school and then, Deccan College. He also received the L.L.B. degree in 1879. In the meantime, he got married to Tapibaiin in 1871. Tilak’s public life began as a teacher at New English School, Pune. The school was started by himself along with Vishnu Shastri. Lokmanya Tilak soon turned to Journalism and in 1881 started the English weekly Mahratta and Marathi weekly Kesari which he edited jointly with Agarkar. He was extremely proficient in subjects like religion, law and politics. His open and direct writing did not go down well with British authorities who sentenced him to a jail term on charge of defamation. Bal Gangadhar Tilak started an arts college following the formation of Deccan Education society in 1885. Tilak attended the Bombay session of the Congress in 1889 as a representative of Pune. It was at this session that the trio, Lokmanya Tilak, Lajpat Rai, and B.C.Pal, popularly known as trio of Lal-Bal-Pal met. He attended the subsequent sessions of the Congress until the split between the moderates and extremists at the Surat session took place in 1907. Meanwhile he was also elected to the Bombay legislative Council in 1885 and 1887. Tilak was arrested for sedition again, the main charge being that he attempted to excite feelings of disaffection to the government established by law in British India. He was sent to Mandalay jail in Burma, where he wrote his immortal commentary ‘Gita Rahasya’ on the Bhagvad Gita. In 1916, he started Home Rule League, which sought self rule. He also wrote ‘Arctic Home in the Vedas’ in 1903. Lokmanya Tilak is credited to popularize Ganesha worship and Shivaji Jayanti as a social festival to unite

Tantia Tope

2012-10-13T23:16:04.593-04:00

The original name of Tanti Tope was Ram Chandra Pandurang Tope. One of the great Indian freedom fighters, the name of Tanti Tope literally made English generals tremble with fear. He had such aura, such

Free Essay on the Biography of John Steinbeck

2012-10-10T08:55:12.043-04:00

John Steinbeck Biography John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California, in 1902. He was the third of four children and the only son of John Steinbeck, Sr. and Olive Hamilton Steinbeck. Growing up in a rural valley near the Pacific coast, Steinbeck was an intense reader, and both his father, a local government official, and his mother, a former schoolteacher, encouraged his literary pursuits. In 1919 he graduated from Salinas High School and matriculated at Stanford University, where he studied literature and writing. In 1925, without a degree, Steinbeck left Stanford to pursue work as a reporter in New York City. He returned to California the following year, supporting his endeavors at writing with a steady income from manual labor. Over the next several years his literary career gained momentum with the publication of his first novels. Although his first three—Cup of Gold, The Pastures of Heaven, and To a God Unknown—were critical and commercial failures, he achieved major success in 1935 with the publication of Tortilla Flat, a collection of stories about the ethnic working poor in California. During this time, Steinbeck began to gain recognition from critics for his short stories. Steinbeck’s extensive travels in the 1930s partly inspired two of his finest works, Of Mice and Men, in 1937, and The Grapes of Wrath, in 1939. Both novels, fictional portraits of the western United States during the Great Depression, are still read widely. Steinbeck received the Pulitzer Prize for The Grapes of Wrath in 1940. Steinbeck’s simple, touching novella The Pearl originally appeared in the magazine Woman’s Home Companion in 1945 under the title “The Pearl of the World.” The story explores the destructive effect of colonial capitalism on the simple piety of a traditional native culture. Set in a Mexican Indian village on the Baja Peninsula around the turn of the century, the novella tells the story of Kino, an Indian pearl diver who discovers a massive, beautiful, and extremely valuable pearl. The pearl fills Kino with a new desire to abandon his simple, idyllic life in favor of dreams of material and social advancement, dreams that run headlong into the oppressive resistance of the Spanish colonial powers that top the social hierarchy of Kino’s world. While less complex than Steinbeck’s other works, The Pearl ranks among his most popular, and it is certainly one of his most accessible. The novella was originally conceived as a film project

Nirmal Baba Biography

2012-07-25T07:25:21.233-04:00

Nirmal Baba was born in Samana, Mandi in the year 1952. His father was a Sikh and his grandfather was a Hindu. Babaji’s grandfather was childless, they took an oath that they would convert their children to Sikhs, after which they were blessed with four sons (who were made Sikhs). His grandfather’s name was Lala Thakur Das, he was a renowned zamindar from a well-to-…do family. Babaji’s famly migrated to India from Pakistan after partition. S.S. Narula, Nirmal Babas father expired when babaji was just six months old. He was brought up by his mother with a lot of love and affection. After coming from Pakistan the family was given a lot of land and orchards in Samana and Delhi, as claim. Nirmal Babas schooling was from Samana, Delhi and Ludhiana respectively. He went on to dohis graduation from Government college of Ludhiana. After graduation, he joined M.A. in English, but couldn’t pursue, as he got typhoid after two months of joining. He then set out to try his hand at business. After he decided to do business at the age of 22 years, he got a sum of Rs. 90,000 from his mother. He went to Daltonganj, to do brick kiln business in the year 1974. In the year 1976, he got married to Sushma Narula, daughter of Dalip Singh Bagga, who was also a resident of Daltonganj. During Emergency, His brother-in-law (a politician and relative) was arrested under MISA. He then requested Nirmal Baba to take care of his shop Namdhari Cloth House in Gadwa, on a temporary basis, till he was out of jail. After his brother-in-law was released from jail, Babaji returned his shop and went to Ranchi to do a new business. There, he did Limestone and Coal business and attained huge success. He bought a bungalow of his own money at a very young age. But fate had something else in store for him. He met with a very serious accident. On his way to Ludhiana, the jeep in which Babaji was travelling overturned after colliding with a tree. Babaji suffered from multiple fractures in his leg and was hospitalized in CMC hospital in Ludhiana. Hewas on bed for next one and a half year. His business that he had set up in Ranchi came to a standstill, since there was no one to look after it. He along with his wife, then decided

Jeremy Shu-How Lin American NBA basketballer

2012-07-11T07:09:35.977-04:00

Lin was born in Los Angeles, and raised in a Christian family in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Palo Alto.His parents, Lin Gie-Ming and Shirley Lin, emigrated from Taiwan to the United States in the mid-1970s, first settling in Virginia, and later residing in Indiana, where they both attended universities.They are dual nationals of both Taiwan and the U.S.Lin's paternal family comes from Beidou, Changhua, in Taiwan (his father's distant ancestors immigrated to Taiwan from Zhangpu County, Fujian, in mainland China, in 1707),while his maternal grandmother immigrated to Southern Taiwan in the late 1940s from Pinghu, Zhejiang in mainland China. Lin's parents are both 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall.His maternal grandmother's family was tall, and her father was over 6 feet (1.8 m).Lin has an older brother, Josh, and a younger brother, Joseph.Gie-Ming taught his sons to play basketball at the local YMCA.Shirley helped form a National Junior Basketball program in Palo Alto where Lin played. She worked with coaches to ensure his playing did not affect academics. She was criticized by her friends for letting Lin play so much basketball, but she allowed him to play the game he enjoyed. In his senior year in 2005–2006, Lin captained Palo Alto High School to a 32–1 record and upset nationally ranked Mater Dei, 51–47, for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division II state title. He was named first-team All-State and Northern California Division II Player of the Year, ending his senior year averaging 15.1 points, 7.1 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 steals. Lin sent his résumé and a DVD of highlights of his high school basketball career to all the Ivy League schools, University of California, Berkeley, and his dream schools Stanford and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The Pac-10 schools wanted him to walk-on, rather than be actively recruited or offered a sports scholarship. Harvard and Brown were the only teams that guaranteed him a spot on their basketball teams, but Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships. Rex Walters, University of San Francisco men's basketball coach and a retired NBA player, said NCAA limits on coaches' recruiting visits had an impact on Lin's chances. "Most colleges start recruiting a guy in the first five minutes they see him because he runs really fast, jumps really high, does the quick, easy thing to evaluate," Walters said. Lin added, "I just think in order for someone to

biography of psquare. Nigeria most popular superstars

2012-07-11T06:30:50.993-04:00

The story of P-Square began in St. Murumba secondary school, a small Catholic school in Jos, Nigeria. Identical twins Peter and Paul joined their school music and drama club where they began singing, dancing, and miming songs by MC Hammer, Bobby Brown and Michael Jackson. They later formed an a cappella quartet called "MMMPP" (M Clef a.k.a. Itemoh, Michael, Melvin, Peter and Paul). Drawing inspiration from their music idol Michael Jackson, they began break dancing, formed the group called "Smooth Criminals" in 1997. They droped M Clef from the group "MMMPP" which later was changed to "MMPP". Their artistic talent and precise dance routine soon made them household names in the city of Jos, where they performed at school functions and other occasions. Later in 1999, Peter and Paul returned to music school to develop their skills on keyboard, drums, bass and rhythm guitar. Their work includes the soundtracks for a number of films like Tobi, Mama Sunday, Moment of Bitterness and Evas River. Later in 1999, they applied to the University of Abuja to study Business Administration. The Smooth Criminals disbanded when its members left to various other universities. Subsequently Peter and Paul formed their own group, variously called "Double P", "P&P", and "Da Pees", until they eventually settled on "P Square". They are managed by Bayo Odusami aka Howie T, a seasoned concert promoter and the CEO of Adrot Nigeria Limited. In 2001, "P-Square" won the "Grab Da Mic" competition, and hence Benson & Hedges sponsored their debut album, titled Last Nite, which was released under Timbuk2 music label. P-Square was also nominated as "Most Promising African Group" in the Kora Awards three months after the release of their debut album. They eventually won the 2003 Amen Award for "Best R&B Group". In 2005, P Square released their second album, Get Squared under their own label, Square Records. This album was marketed nationwide by TJoe Enterprises, although they were still managed by Howie T of Adrot Nigeria Limited. The video for the second album held the #1 position on the MTV Base chart for four straight weeks. They have an ever growing fan base across South Africa with a particular stronghold of die-hard fans in Cape Town. The group has performed alongside the following international artists like Ginuwine, Sean Paul, Akon and Busola Keshiro. The members of P Square are now located in Lagos. Late in 2007, they released their best selling album so far, Game

biography

2012-06-15T06:39:24.03-04:00

Alexis Sanchez Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez (born on December 19, 1988 in Tocopilla, Chile) is a Chilean football player, who plays as a winger or forward. He is known as "El Niño Maravilla" (the Wonder Boy). Alexis was named by World Soccer Magazine as one of the '50 most exciting teenagers in the world game'. He began his professional career with the Chilean club Cobreloa. He played one season there before being signed by the Serie A team, Udinese. Udinese had

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

2012-05-09T10:09:56.687-04:00

Gabriel García Márquez (Aracataca Columbia, 1928) is the figure of more representation of what has been going to be called magical realism.-Hispanic America. Journalist, storyteller, and novelist, he caught up with fame with the publication in 1967 in “the hundred years of Soledad,”( Novel already published in the world in the Millennium collection number 1) where he recreates the image of geography of Macondo , a place isolated from the world in the reality and myth which get confused. Other memorable works are: El coronel no tiene quien le escriba, El otoño del patriarca, crónica, de una muerte anunciada, el amor en los tiempos del Cólera y varias colecciones de cuentos magistrales. In 1982 he recieved the first nobel prize of Literature. Crónica de una muerte anunciada, short story published in 1981, is one of the most recognized and appreciated novels of García Márquez. Relates to a form of reconstruction almost of the journalist the assassinator of Santiago Nasar in the hands of the Vicario twins. From the beginning of the narrative they say that Santiago Nasar is going to die: He is the young son of a migrated Arabic and seems to be caused of Angela’s dishonor, the sister’s twins, who has contrasted the matrimony the day before and was rejected from her husband. There has never been a death so announced, declared who recalls the actions twenty-seven years ago: the avengers, in effect, don’t get tired from proclaiming their purposes for the entire town, like as if they wanted to avoid the commands of the destination, but the heap of the casualties is who can avoid the crime doesn’t achieve intervene or decides too late. The own Santiago Nasar gets up that morning unworried, not knowing completely about the death that awaits him. The fatality dominates everything that’s related: The crime is so public that it is inevitable. Garcia Marquez is trying to demonstrate that life, in occasions, works for many casualties that is impossible to convert the literature. His brief prose, precisely and stuck to the back and achieves to wrap the credibility of exaggerating incredibly, inventing a narrative tension where there is no argument, returning from reves in time for what reveals the truth, leaving a doubt in the air that will end by destroying the protagonists from the drama, it was adapted to the big screen in 1987, derived from Francesco Rosi, and

The Making of a Recon Marine

2012-03-26T22:47:53.23-04:00

The making of a recon marine is a process that entails years of training and experience. The selection, Academics and physical training are some of the most rigorous in the military today. The basic reconnaissance course teaches not only to be an amphibious warrior but also an unrivaled leader and critical thinker. These men at the end of their training will be highly skilled and motivated shadow warriors. The selection process of these candidates begin promptly at 4a.m., First with extended calisthenics and a physical fitness test. Then a 1500 meter open ocean swim and concludes with an unknown distance forced march. After completion of the physical portion comes the oral board and record review. The oral board's consist of various questions on general knowledge from senior enlisted marines and team leadership. Record examination is when marines are scored on awards, marksmanship, general aptitude score and proficiency / conduct marks. The marines will not know if they are selected until all of the evolutions are complete. The initial portion of training begins with the "ropers" going into the training platoon. The term "ropers" is borrowed from the Reconnaissance Indoctrination Platoon (indoc platoon) which dissolved in 2004. The candidates will be called this until graduation from the basic reconnaissance course. The second phase of training for the candidates is the basic recon course. This 65 day course is mentally and physically demanding. The days are long and hard, usually starting at 4 a.m. and ending at 10 p.m. A typical day at the course, is 3 hours of physical training, 6 hours of class and 3 more hours of physical exercise or patrolling. The failure rate for this course is close to 85%! The follow on courses after completion of the basic recon course are Basic parachutists course, combat diver course and joint terminal air controller course.. Upon successful completion of all of the courses, the marines will be assigned to a platoon and further to their respective teams. Joining the team is a pivotal moment in the process. It is where the marines use the basic skills they have learned and hone them into a craft. The marines are taught to train as they fight. All that is done in a training evolution is done as if they were in an actual combat situation. The marines eat, sleep, shoot and suffer together. This builds camaraderie and esprit de corp two

The Man With The Plan Frederick Douglass

2011-11-16T15:16:28.14-05:00

Born February 1818?, Tuckahoe, Maryland, U.S.—died February 20, 1895, Washington, D.C. African American who was one of the most eminent human-rights leaders of the 19th century. His oratorical and literary brilliance thrust him into the forefront of the U.S. abolition movement, and he became the first black citizen to hold high rank in the U.S. government. Separated as an infant from his slave mother (he never knew his white father), Frederick lived with his grandmother on a Maryland plantation until, at age eight, his owner sent him to Baltimore to live as a house servant with the family of Hugh Auld, whose wife defied state law by teaching the boy to read. Auld, however, declared that learning would make him unfit for slavery, and Frederick was forced to continue his education surreptitiously with the aid of schoolboys in the street. Upon the death of his master, he was returned to the plantation as a field hand at 16. Later, he was hired out in Baltimore as a ship caulker. Frederick tried to escape with three others in 1833, but the plot was discovered before they could get away. Five years later, however, he fled to New York City and then to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he worked as a labourer for three years, eluding slave hunters by changing his surname to Douglass. At a Nantucket, Massachusetts, antislavery convention in 1841, Douglass was invited to describe his feelings and experiences under slavery. These extemporaneous remarks were so poignant and naturally eloquent that he was unexpectedly catapulted into a new career as agent for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. From then on, despite heckling and mockery, insult, and violent personal attack, Douglass never flagged in his devotion to the abolitionist cause. To counter skeptics who doubted that such an articulate spokesman could ever have been a slave, Douglass felt impelled to write his autobiography in 1845, revised and completed in 1882 as Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. Douglass's account became a classic in American literature as well as a primary source about slavery from the bondsman's viewpoint. To avoid recapture by his former owner, whose name and location he had given in the narrative, Douglass left on a two-year speaking tour of Great Britain and Ireland. Abroad, Douglass helped to win many new friends for the abolition movement and to cement the bonds of humanitarian reform between the continents. Douglass returned with funds to purchase

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2011-11-09T06:13:23.24-05:00

Walter Benjamin

2011-10-31T00:40:20.537-04:00

I Introduction The Arcades Project is one of the most unusual works I’ve ever seen. It’s less a book than it is a feeling; an evocative recreation of a time and place, specifically Paris in the first part of the 20th Century. In order to create his portrait of Paris, Benjamin has collected thousands of newspaper and magazine articles, reviews, programs, notes—anything written that gave the flavor of the city or the particular part of it that he was exploring at the time. Using contemporary sources the way he did enabled Benjamin to bring the city to life in a unique way. The Arcades Project is over 1,000 pages long and unfortunately still unfinished; it would be fascinating to see Benjamin’s reaction to recent architectural developments. II Chapter: “Dream House, Museum, Spa” I chose this chapter because it’s short enough to explore thoroughly. The book is so densely packed with information that it’s difficult to really absorb it except in small “doses.” Reading the chapter is an extraordinary experience: as I read the words, I seem to hear the voices of the various writers, the hum of the Parisian streets, laughter, and all the sounds of life in the city. Perhaps the idea to explore here is whether or not such an approach is effective. I would have to argue that it is extremely effective. Rather than simply describing what he sees, Benjamin allows others to speak through him, and this collection of disparate viewpoints comes together to make a coherent whole. Each fragment builds on the others, so that the reader is gradually drawn deeper into an appreciation of what life must have been like in Paris. Here’s an example that illustrates his technique; he makes a statement and invites us to contemplate what it means. He says, “Dream houses of the collective: arcades, winter gardens, panoramas, factories, wax museums, casinos, railroad stations.” (Benjamin, p. 405). While we might consider arcades, winter gardens, wax museums and possibly casinos as “dream houses,” it takes some contemplation of what they are and how we usually think of them before we can decide whether factories and railroad stations also fit into this category. And the word “panorama” suggests a view of the city itself from an outside vantage point, another unusual usage. As an aside, it’s interesting to note that the arcades

The Arcades Project by Walter Benjamin

2011-10-31T00:37:35.64-04:00

This essay examines a chapter from Brodersen’s biography of Walter Benjamin. I Introduction Since I’ve just examined Benjamin’s work The Arcades Project, it’s interesting to know something about its author. I’m examining the first chapter of the biography of Benjamin by Momme Brodersen, because I think it’s interesting to see what influenced the young man to do the things he did. His style of writing, which is actually a compilation, is so unusual that I hope to find clues in his early life that might explain why he made the choices he did. II Discussion Walter Benjamin was born in Berlin on July 15, 1892. At the time of his birth, the German capital was undergoing extensive reconstruction, so much so that it was virtually a new city. As it rose, “its history and its past were almost completely obliterated.” (P. 1). Brodersen’s description of the city at the time reminds me strongly of Benjamin’s description of Paris in his book The Arcades Project; it has the same feeling of fragmentation, of patterns shifting, breaking apart, and reforming. I think that his early childhood memories of the construction in Berlin must have influenced Benjamin’s later writing. Much of his writing did in fact center around Berlin, as well as Paris. “As an eyewitness to the almost eruptive development and reshaping of Berlin, Benjamin was truly destined to analyse [sic] his relationship to his home city.” (Brodersen, p. 3). One of his books is a book about his childhood, entitled Berliner Kindheit um Neunzehnhundert (Berlin Childhood around 1900). But, as Brodersen points out, Benjamin’s writing is not connected to particular dates or events, such as the outbreak of the First World War; instead, he connects to places and things (railway stations, streets, everyday objects) and this connection makes his writing extremely vivid. He seems to have been a keen observer, and this served him well when he began writing. His father was wealthy, and Walter Benjamin enjoyed a privileged upbringing. One of the results of this was that the family was able to move away from the ever-changing, noisy city and buy a villa near the Grunewald, the vast forest outside the city. Benjamin complained that he was isolated by his wealth from any children his own age; his nanny was there to supervise him and make sure he didn’t play with “unsuitable”

Richard Feynman

2011-10-26T13:58:49.93-04:00

This paper gives a biography of physicist Richard Feynman, and explains what his life and accomplishments tell us about the structure of scientific inquire in the United States. (8 pages; 2 sources; end notes) I Introduction Richard Feynman (1918-1988) was one of those scientists who achieved not only a great deal of respect from his peers, but also “crossed over” into mainstream American culture to the extent that many non-scientists at least knew his name. Feynman worked to develop the first atomic bomb, won the Nobel Prize in physics, and was the person who solved the mystery of the Challenger explosion. He seems to have what I can only describe as “fans”: there are tons of websites devoted to him, his work, his life, and his somewhat unorthodox non-scientific pursuits (he was an artist, storyteller, Mayan hieroglyphics translator and safe-cracker!) This paper will look at Feynman’s life, which will help us see him in his various roles as “scientist, administrator, strategist, pioneer” and suggest how his experiences can help us understand the “historical structure and organization of American science.” II Brief Biography Richard Feynman was born in New York City in 1918. His family was comfortable but not wealthy, and they gave their son a great gift: the confidence to be himself. “As a young man he had the opportunity to learn to work industriously, but without undo pressure to perform. That in itself would be a theme that he'd rediscover periodically over his lifetime. The rewards for his labors were his own. He would be the judge of his own merit. He was a free man. But what to do with his freedom?” His father, Melville, wanted the boy to be a scientist, but apparently didn’t “push” him hard in that direction. Rather, instead of teaching the boy facts, he encouraged Richard to ask questions. This “intuitive and subtle” approach let the boy become involved in science because he was interested in it, not because he was forced to work in the field. He also learned that it is quite possible to live one’s entire life and never find the answers to the most important questions; what’s important is asking the questions themselves. Richard’s mother Lucille gave him a gift just as important as his sense of inquiry: a sense of humor and an ability to laugh at himself. Because science requires a great deal of

Su www.fantabid.com si punta con l'asta al ribasso.

2009-03-06T00:13:22-05:00

È www.fantabid.com , qui si gioca con le <a href=http://www.fantabid.com>aste al ribasso </a> , il nuovo portale delle vendite all’incanto sulla rete Su eBay si gioca al rialzo, su www.fantabid.com si punta con l'<a href=http://www.fantabid.com>asta al ribasso </a> . <IMG>http://www.fantabid.com/img/logo.jpg</IMG> Funziona così: vince chi fa l'offerta più bassa, a patto che sia l'unico ad aver proposto tale cifra.L’<a href=http://www.fantabid.com>asta al ribasso </a> è a tempo. Dalla pagina “Aste Aperte”, s’individua l’oggetto preferito e si punta una somma di

Darwin Biography

2008-06-11T22:31:29-04:00

In late October, 1831 the HMS Beagle set sail for a five year voyage around the world. On board was renowned geologist Charles Darwin who sought to document native species around the world and study ancient fossils. During this journey, he traveled to five of the continents, but the most revolutionary findings of this trip were found in South America on the Galapagos Islands. Darwin first traveled to South America where he developed new theories on plate tectonics and the geological history of some of the islands he had landed on. Darwin discovered raised beaches, landforms, and layers of volcanic rock. He would even experience and earthquake while in Chile and witness first hand how the ground rose. Darwin would later theorize about this fascinating geological history by writing a book several months later. In South America, Darwin would also discover fossils of extinct mammals in the newest level of strata, signifying that they had recently been extinct. These creatures were extremely similar to armadillos found on other continents. These findings gave Darwin the first idea of species distribution and would greatly assist him in his further findings of natural selection among species. Soon after, Darwin traveled to the Galapagos Islands where he would make his most profound findings. Landing among several of the more secluded islands, Darwin discovered that the native species were greatly different from the fossil records he had studied. Furthermore, he also discovered that despite these differences, there were many strong similarities between the ancient and new species. This was the first hint at the concept of evolution. Darwin studied many of the main species of the Galapagos Islands; most important were the finches and tortoises. Among the finches, Darwin discovered that those who lived on one island had several important differences than those that lived on another. These distinctions included longer beaks on finches who needed to reach the nectar from their food source, while short hard beaks on finches who had to crack nuts for their food source. These differences were vital for the finches’ survival as it gave them access to their food source. Those who lacked these new characteristics were not adapt to survive in their environment. Survival of the fittest is an incorrect term commonly associated with Darwin for this reason. Darwin believed

Diego Rivera

2008-06-04T04:56:39-04:00

Diego Rivera has to be one of the greatest artists of all of the early 1900s. I choose Diego Rivera because he is an old folk hero, and because his work has so much meaning behind it that normally you wouldn’t know unless you understood the current events during that time. His wife who also is a painter, Frida Kahlo, also is remarkable as well. Rivera uses conventional painting methods with medium-oil based paints, and is most well known for his murals. Diego lived from 1886-1957; he led an amazing life dedicated to art and his political side of the communist party. After spending the 1910s in Europe, where he surrounded himself with other artists and was strong in the cubist movement, he returned to Mexico and began to paint the big murals for which he is most famous. In his murals, he blends hard issues relating to the working men and women, making his status among the poor and middle class very good. He was invited to create works everywhere, most well-known in the United States, where he stirred up controversy by drawing ‘Lennon’ in one of his murals. Rivera’s most remarkable work sited is his 1932 Detroit Industry, a group of 27 frescos at the Detroit Institute of Art in Michigan. His expression that he uses is the most beautiful I’ve ever seen with his imagery and sense of true reality amongst the different shades and brush strokes. I can actually see the pain and anger in some of the more politcal and social paintings. Diego is noted with some of the greatest artists including Cezanne, Gauguin, Renoir, and Matisse. All who undoubtedly earned there title of true masters of the trade as well. Most of Diego’s paintings are of slaves and the fight for change in Mexican society. The struggle that is viewed is very bold and how detailed Diego can turn something seemingly not as flashy to a prominent foothold in the movement towards revolution. In 1930 Rivera made a few trips that would change the course of American painting. In November of that year, Rivera began working on his first two major American pieces; for the American Stock Exchange Luncheon Club and for the California School of Fine Arts. These two pieces firmly but slowly incorporated Rivera’s crazy politics, while still have a sense of simple history to them as well. One of

Jackson Pollock

2007-11-14T14:03:45-05:00

Jackson Pollock was born to LeRoy McCoy Pollock and Stella McClure Pollock on January 28, 1912 in Cody, Wyoming. His stay there was short as the family moved before he was one and continued traveling around the southwest United States. Pollock’s father would take his young son with him to work as a surveyor for road crews. This exposure to vast picturesque landscapes would give Pollock an artistic vision that would help develop a new form of artwork. The Pollock family finally settled in California and Pollock attended Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, California. It was there that he discovered a love for artistic expression. Through this pursuit he followed his brother across the United States to New York City. There he attended the Art Students League and studied under Thomas Hart Benton. Benton was from the Regionalist school of art and guided the impressionable Pollock. Exposing him to the Masters of art and teaching him the rudimentary elements of drawing and composition. Benton also showed Pollock the majesty of art in mural form. Benton produced large murals on a grand scale with cartoonist like figures and distorted the musculature and bone structure of his subjects. His most controversial work would be the Indiana Murals which depicted everyday people in an unflattering light. His depictions of Ku Klux Klan members in full regalia thrust him into the national spotlight. His work on broad canvas’ and desire to mold people in his own image challenged Pollock to observe his world through an alternative view. Through this tutelage Pollock began to incorporate Benton’s “American Scene”, but added his own dark undertones to his work. Pollock once reflected upon Benton’s early teaching as giving him a standard to rebel against in his later work. As a young artist trying to make his way in the world he was aided by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal which included work relief projects for young artists. The Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project would provide economic freedom for the developing artist to hone his craft. Many pieces created by Pollock during this time have gone missing, but the surviving works show progression and use of alternative painting techniques combined with a strong desire to convey deeply personal matters though a canvas. With the shadow of World War II

Max Planck Biography

2007-11-01T22:17:38-04:00

Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (April 23, 1858 in Kiel, Germany – October 4, 1947 in Göttingen, Germany) was a German physicist. He is considered to be the founder of quantum theory, and therefore one of the most important physicists of the twentieth century. Contents [hide] 1 Life and work 1.1 Education 1.2 Academic career 1.3 Family 1.4 Professor at Berlin University 1.5 Black-body radiation 1.6 Einstein and the theory of relativity 1.7 World War and Weimar Republic 1.8 Quantum mechanics 1.9 Nazi dictatorship and Second World War 2 Religious view 3 Honours and medals 4 See also 5 Notes 6 Publications 7 Bibliography 8 External links 8.1 Biographies 8.2 Articles [edit] Life and work Planck came from a traditional, intellectual family. His paternal great-grandfather and grandfather were both theology professors in Göttingen, his father was a law professor in Kiel and Munich, and his paternal uncle was a judge. Planck was born in Kiel to Johann Julius Wilhelm Planck and his second wife, Emma Patzig. He was the sixth child in the family, though two of his siblings were from his father's first marriage. Among his earliest memories was the marching of Prussian and Austrian troops into Kiel during the Danish-Prussian war 1864. In 1867 the family moved to Munich, and Planck enrolled in the Maximilians gymnasium, where he came under the tutelage of Hermann Müller, a mathematician who took an interest in the youth, and taught him astronomy and mechanics as well as mathematics. It was from Müller that Planck first learned the principle of conservation of energy. Planck graduated early, at age 16. This is how Planck first came in contact with the field of physics. [edit] Education Planck was extremely gifted when it came to music: he took singing lessons and played the piano, organ and cello, and composed songs and operas. However, instead of music he chose to study physics. Munich physics professor Philipp von Jolly advised him against going into physics, saying, "in this field, almost everything is already discovered, and all that remains is to fill a few holes." Planck replied that he did not wish to discover new things, only to understand the known fundamentals of the field, and began his studies in 1874 at the University of Munich. Under Jolly's supervision, Planck performed the only experiments of his scientific career, studying the diffusion of hydrogen through heated platinum, but soon transferred to theoretical physics. In 1877 he went

Lorenzo Valla

2007-08-17T18:29:43-04:00

Lorenzo Valla was born into an affluent Roman family in 1407, and died there in 1457. Valla was a humanist as well as a philosopher, philologist, priest and author. Valla single-handedly disproved the dubious, yet sacred document enabling the Papacy to own territory in Constantinople in his book, Falsely-Believed and Forged Donation of Constantine, or under its abridged original title, Declamatio. His discovery of the forgery led to a questioning of the Church and its integrity. But his motive for the book was not to hurt the Church in any way, but rather to sanction the truth. Valla published several books disproving other questioned Church documents, including Christ to Abgarus. Valla was an archetypal Italian humanist. During his time, Valla wrote and published approximately ten books (not including his contentious Declamatio). Valla was a fervent spokesperson for reform in language and in education (as many humanists were at the time). Valla was very interested in the Church from a young age. His father worked as a lawyer for the Papal court. Valla longed for a job in the Pope dominion, and so applied for a job as papal secretary in 1430. After being denied the position, Valla traveled about northern Italy. He trekked throughout Milan and Genoa for 5 years, until setting down in the kingdom of Naples in 1435. There he was able to work for the Royal court under King Alfonso of Aragon. Valla continued his work there until 1448. During this time, an astringent discrepancy between Pope Eugenius IV or Rome and Alfonso of Aragon over the Kingdom of Naples ensued. Valla, though a religious man, was still employed by, and in favor of the king, and so published his discovery of the False Donation of Constantine to discredit the Pope eligibility to take over the kingdom. The manuscript donating the land was allegedly sign by both Constantine and Pope Sylvester I. But this forged document was about to be disproved¦. Valla Falsely-Believed and Forged Donation of Constantine, was written in 1439, and published one year after. Valla yearned to assist his employer in his battle against the Church. As a philologist, Valla was very intrigued by the unconvincing document reifying the donation. He began his research by attempting to excavate the oldest document stating the contribution.

What Thoughts I Have of You Tonight, Allen Ginsberg

2007-05-23T03:11:19-04:00

Thomas Paine. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Martin Luther King, Jr. When one thinks of people who began a new generation, inspiring people, motivating people, and leading them, these names may come to mind. However, one that many neglect is the genius of Allen Ginsberg. Ginsberg’s actions and opinions, built by his background, caused the eternal and cultural birth known as the 1960s. Allen Ginsberg’s colorful childhood led him to a deviant youth, causing an eruption of unique and intellectual poetry, which not only incited a new genre of literature and life, but inspired countless others to take a stand—no matter how differently they thought. Truly, Ginsberg proved to be a real individual, especially seen in his stylistic, liberal poetry. Unfortunately, his life began awkwardly, and he struggled to cope with his family’s dysfunction. Many of the things which occurred while he was still a youth molded him into the poetic giant the world now knows today. While he may be very famous, his poetry outweighs his name. One of his most renowned works, “A Supermarket in California” still remains unclear to many, but it stands as an innovating and thought-provoking piece of literature, expressing his views of the world and its future, while praising the poetic idols of the past. While Ginsberg drew inspiration from artists of the past, he inspired an entire generation and is indeed considered a forerunner of ‘60s culture and life. Precisely one month after Napoleon Bonaparte died at age sixty-three, Allen Ginsberg was born. June 3, 1926, created the boy, born of a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, two days after the World’s Fair hit Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Wikipedia). The son of a high school teacher and part time poet, Ginsberg developed a love of great literature and often wrote to the New York Times as a teen, expressing his views on World War Two and worker’s rights (Wikipedia). Sadly, he never got along well with his father. His mother, Naomi Levi Ginsberg, aside from being a nudist and member of Communist Party USA, suffered from epilepsy and paranoia. When Ginsberg became a teenager, his mother asked him to accompany her by bus to a mental home, where she could receive electroshock therapy and a lobotomy. His mother and that trip gave Ginsberg “enormous empathy and tolerance for madness, neurosis, and psychosis” (Poet.org, Wikipedia, Charters). After graduating from Eastside High School in 1943, Ginsberg briefly studied

Gestrude Stein Biography

2007-04-25T20:48:26-04:00

Gestrude Stein Biography The fifth and youngest child of the Daniel and Amelia Stein family, Gertrude Stein was born on February 3, 1874 into upper middle class surroundings in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. When she was 3 years old the family moved to Vienna and then on to Paris before returning to American in late 1878 Her father moved the family to Oakland, California soon after their return. Her brother Leo, 2 years her senior, and Gertrude found like interest and became close allies through much of their early lives. Gertrude was 8 years old when she made her first attempt at writing. Reading became an obsession for her beginning with Shakespeare and books on natural history. Gertrude’s love affair with words would later reveal itself in her own works. In school she was fascinated with the structuring of sentences “I suppose other things may be more exciting to others…I like the feeling the everlasting feeling of sentences as they diagram themselves.” In 1891 her father died suddenly, and the oldest brother Michael assumed the position of earning a living for the family. The Stein family moved to San Francisco where Gertrude became intrigued by the theater and opera. In 1892, she moved to Baltimore to live with a wealthy aunt. Gertrude entered Radcliffe College in 1893. As a student she developed a special philosophical relationship with her teacher, William James. On a particularly nice spring day during final exams in James’ course she wrote at the top of her paper… “Dear Professor James, I am sorry but I really do not feel a bit like an examination paper in philosophy today.” The next day she received a postcard from James saying, “I understand perfectly how you feel I often feel like that myself.” And then gave her the highest mark in his course. She became more interested in philosophy and psychology courses and then she decided on a career in medicine and enrolled at Johns Hopkins University. She later studied medicine in Europe and eventually dismissed the whole area. She returned to America to live with friends in New York. It was here that she wrote her first novel “Q.E.D”. It would, for some reason, be lost for 30 years and not be published until 4 years

Biographical Information on Bill Gates

2007-04-25T19:43:58-04:00

Biographical Information on Bill Gates Bill Gates was born on October 28 1955 in Seattle, Washington. He grew up as a poor kid. He went to a public elementary school then at 12 he went to a private lakeside school. At 13 he wrote his first computer program. He and his friend Paul Allen wrote a scheduling program for the school. Still in high school, Gates and Allen founded a company called Traf-O-Data, which analyzed city traffic data. Then he later went to Harvard University to become a lawyer like his father and dropped out junior year to pursue his computer programming career. One day in December 1974, Allen, who was working at Honeywell outside of Boston, showed Gates a Popular Mechanics cover featuring the Altair 8800, a $397 computer from M.I.T.S. computing that any hobbyist could build. The only thing the computer lacked, besides a keyboard and monitor, was software. Gates and Allen contacted the head of M.I.T.S. and said they could provide a version of BASIC for the Altair. That is when he created Microsoft. He made the first version of windows in 1987. By 1993 he was selling a million copies a week. Then in 1995 he created windows 95 and in 1998 he made windows 98 and so on. Bill Gates was never very popular when he was young. In school he was usually picked on. The few friends he had were nice to him but he was always a geek in school. He was always one of the smartest people in his grade and he was proud of it. He didn’t have a wife or kids. He was always trying to make a good operating system. When they made personal computers he had to make an operating system for it and that is where MS-DOS came from and windows After he became famous, he all of a sudden had a wife and kids. He became very rich. He has billions of dollars and has had billions of dollars for years and he keeps making more money. He keeps finding ways to make a better operating system. He doesn’t do much work anymore but instead he has people to do it for him and he still makes more a year than anyone I know. He is now working on how to make Windows XP better or he is working on making a new operating

Biogrpahy of Female Author Maya Angelou

2007-04-19T21:20:10-04:00

Biogrpahy of Female Author Maya Angelou Maya Angelou is one of the most moving, talented writers of our time. She has so many sides to her as a person that play into her writing and teachings. I have for a long time revered the lady for her passion and ability to portray feeling in words to her reader. I was turned on to her as a writer after I read some of her poems, and then I grasped an understanding of her personal story when I read her best selling autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in Saint Louis, Missouri. She was named Marguerite Johnson and changed her name in her early twenties after her first performance as a dancer. She was born into a two parent home until her parents divorced when she was three. Her brother, Bailey, and she were sent to live with her grandmother in Arkansas. Stamps, Arkansas and her grandmother taught her a lot of life’s lessons. There she learned what a black girl’s world was held by. Maya experienced many hardships while growing up. One of her biggest dreams during her childhood was to have long blonde hair. This was only because she felt white girls’ lives were more enjoyable than that of hers. Even though her conditions could not be changed, pride was given to her by her grandmother, who raised the great writer to place God in the center of her life and realize that she could change the world around her. The children were sent back to their mothers after five years of being with their grandmother. At first this moved seemed to be great but soon turned to into hell. Here Maya at the age of eight was raped by her mother’s live in boyfriend. After the rape, Maya went mute for five years. During this time she was sent back to be with her grandmother because she was considered to be unable to be handled. At this time another strong woman walked into her life that changed and shaped her into the person she is today. Mrs. Flowers slowly helped Maya find herself again. In 1940, her brother and herself were sent back to live with their Mom in San

Biography of Aldous Huxley

2007-04-19T21:10:46-04:00

Biography of Aldous Huxley Aldous Huxley, English novelist, established himself as one of the premiere fiction writers of the twentieth century. Such works as Brave New World and Doors of Perception sparked positive reviews from critics and readers across the globe. He was born on July 26, 1894, in Godalming, Surrey, England. Ever since he was very young, Huxley’s peers and family considered him to be “different”. This was not necessarily a bad thing to anyone. Aldous’ brother considered this to be a form of “superiority”. It was a good life for Aldous, as he was a part of a family that was considered to be some of the most distinguished members of that part of the ruling class in England that made of the intellectual elite. His first real family tragedy was at the age of fourteen when his mother died of cancer. All of his success took place even though he was stricken with keratitis and became nearly blind at the age of sixteen. Not long after his vision became impaired, Huxley entered the literary world by attending Oxford. He met with writers such as Lytton Strachey and Bertrand Russell, who got him off to a good start with his writing career. He retained enough eyesight to read with difficulty, and in 1916 got through college, graduating from Ballial College, Oxford. Here, he learned to write with elegance and wit, which earned him even more respect and an exceptional fan base for the remainder of his writing career. In 1916 Huxley published his first book, a collection of poems, which was called The Burning Wheel. Over the next twenty years, he released four more very popular novels before releasing Brave New World in 1932. This was definitely Aldous Huxley’s most popular book ever. It was about a futuristic utopian society. In this “utopia”, human beings are scientifically created in labs from cells, and they are brainwashed from a very young age to conform to the standards of the world. A drug, soma, is taken to ease people’s pain and unhappiness. If someone is considered to be “unhappy”, they are sent away from the larger society to live on a desolate island with other people of the same kind. The Utopians go to great lengths to deny the unpleasantness of

Anne Boleyn Biography

2007-04-18T23:35:37-04:00

Anne Boleyn Biography Although Anne Boleyn’s birth was so insignificant that there is no documentation on it; she pressed her way into the royal courts. There she gained reputation with the renowned. She entranced King Henry VIII and they were soon married. She was thought to be the one that would bring King Henry his long-awaited heir. A scandal materialized against her, though, and she was soon executed on prevaricated charges. Anne Boleyn is known to be the most memorable and controversial of Henry VIII’s wives. Anne Boleyn’s place of birth was extremely controversial because she was so unimportant when she was born. She might have been born in Blicking Hall in Norfolk, or maybe it was at Hever Castle in Kent (“Queen” 1). Her date of birth is also vague. Historians have stated that she was born somewhere between 1501 and 1507. She was born to Sir Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard (Kendell n.pg.). As a daughter to a somewhat noble family, she would have to take her place as a lady in waiting. When Anne Boleyn was around twelve years of age, she became a maid of honor to Margaret of Austria, the regent of The Netherlands. She was then moved to the French Court a year and a half-later (“Tudor” 2) in the autumn of 1514 (Fraser 120) to be a lady-in-waiting for Henry VIII’s sister Mary. Mary was just married to King Louise as a type of peace offering between France and England (“Tudor” 2). Shortly after the marriage, King Louise died and Anne was sent back to England. As a lady in waiting in Queen Catherine’s court, a scandal occurred between Anne Boleyn and Henry Percy sometime around 1522 and 1523. Percy and Boleyn were secretly in love and vowed to marry one another. Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, learned of their affair and told the king. King Henry VIII immediately informed Percy’s father whom ended the relationship and forced Percy to marry the woman of equal class he had selected for Percy. Anne Boleyn never forgave Wolsey for that, and it would show in the future. She returned disgraced to her home (“Tudor” 2). Around 1524 or 1525, she rejoined King Henry’s court. In 1526, Anne

The Life and Works of Author C.S. Lewis

2007-04-18T23:30:13-04:00

The Life and Works of Author C.S. Lewis Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on November 29, 1898, Clive Staples ("Jack") Lewis was raised in a very educated home, one in which the reality he found on the pages of the books within his parents' extensive library seemed as tangible and meaningful to him as anything that transpired outside their doors. As adolescents, Lewis and his older brother, Warren, were more at home in the world of ideas and books of the past, than with the material, technological world of the 20th Century. When the tranquility and sanctity of the Lewis home was shattered beyond repair by the death of his mother when he was ten, Lewis sought refuge in composing stories and excelling in scholastics. Soon thereafter he became precociously oriented toward the metaphysical and ultimate questions. The rest of his saga and the particulars of his writing career might be seen as the melancholy search for the security he had took granted during the peace and grace of his childhood. By Lewis's testimony, this recovery was to be had only in the "joy" he discovered in an adult conversion to Christianity. Long-time friend and literary executor of the Lewis estate, Owen Barfield has suggested that there were, in fact, three "C. S. Lewises." That is to say, during his lifetime Lewis fulfilled three very different vocations-- and fulfilled them successfully. There was, first, Lewis the distinguished Oxbridge literary scholar and critic; second, Lewis, the highly acclaimed author of science fiction and children's literature; and thirdly, Lewis, the popular writer and broadcaster of Christian apologetics. The amazing thing, Barfield notes, is that those who may have known of Lewis in any single role may not have known that he performed in the other two. In a varied and comprehensive writing career, Lewis carved out a sterling reputation as a scholar, a novelist, and a theologian for three very different audiences. No brief summary can thus do justice to the many and varied works Lewis produced in his lifetime between 1919-1961. Indeed, more Lewis volumes--collection of essays, chiefly--have appeared after his death than during his lifetime. A sampling of the range and depth of his achievements in criticism, fiction, and apologetics might begin, however, with the first books Lewis published, two volumes of poetry: Spirits in Bondage, published in 1919 when Lewis was but 23, and his long narrative poem,

The Diary of Nancy McDougall Robinson

2007-04-18T20:00:14-04:00

The Diary of Nancy McDougall Robinson In this article, it is very interesting to have learned that much of what we know about nineteenth century Southern women comes from their personal diaries. Due to the likeliness of education, most of the information comes from white women living on the plantations. Many of these diaries are available to us in archives in state universities. Some diaries have been recently published to further the knowledge of the American public on this subject. Of the many topics these women wrote about in their diaries, it is obvious that their families were very important to them. Nancy McDougall Robinson wrote many times of her husband, Alfred Bassett Robinson, whom she married on new Years Eve 1832. Nancy began her diary the summer before her marriage, but her relationship with Alfred consumed the majority of her journal entries. After their wedding, Nancy and Alfred left for Alfred's home, Checopo Plantation in Holmes County. This was fairly far from Nancy's home in Port Gibson, Mississippi. Alfred was often gone for long periods of time tending to his business, and leaving Nancy home alone. Unfortunately for Nancy, She spent many sad nights alone, and many of these nights are revealed in her diary. She often wrote to her family members during her lonely times. In July 1833, Alfred took Nancy back to Port Gibson, where she remained until the birth of their first son, Alfred Bassett Robinson II. Evidence of a second, and a third son is recorded in later entries. In 1837, at the age of four, her oldest son Alfred died. Nancy refers to this as "the greatest affliction of her life." Nancy truly loved her friends, family, and most of all the enjoyment of her husband and sons. During the 1850's, Nancy's sons were still a main concern for her, but her diary entries consisted of various interests. She mentioned interests that she had not previously mentioned in earlier entries. She spoke especially of her niece, Lizzie Williams, who was one her favorite family members. Lizzie passed away in 1956. This brought great pain to Nancy, and she wrote often of Lizzie in following entries. Nancy continued to stay busy, caring for people in such situations as sickness and death. Diseases such as small pox and yellow fever were a significant cause of death during this period of time.

James Mercer Langston Hughes

2007-04-18T05:19:12-04:00

Langston Hughes was a very gentle man who spent much of his life at the center of controversy. He was very faithful to his art--the true expression of the lives, hopes, fears, and angers of ordinary black people--without sugar coating it. Arnold Rampersad shows Hughes dedication to writing his thoughts and views has been repaid with extraordinary and continuing popularity, as well as critical acceptance. James Mercer Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, on February 1, 1902, to James Nathaniel Hughes, a lawyer and businessman, and his mother Carrie Mercer Hughes, a teacher. The couple separated shortly after his birth. James Hughes was, by his son's account, a cold man who hated blacks and hated himself for being one. He felt that most of them deserve their ill fortune because of what he considers their ignorance and laziness. Langston Hughes' youthful visits to his father were tense and painful. When James Nathaniel Hughes died, he left everything to three elderly women who cared for him in his last days, and Langston was not even in his will. Hughes mother went through many separations and reconciliation’s in her second marriage. Langston Hughes was brought up by Carrie, his maternal grandmother, and family friends. Langston Hughes was a very busy young man. At the age of fourteen, he had already lived in Joplin, Buffalo, Cleveland, Lawrence, Mexico City, Topeka, Colorado Springs, Kansas City, and Illinois. In 1915, he was the class poet in grammar school. From 1916 to 1920, he attends Central High School in Cleveland; where he was a star athlete, a writer of poetry, and short stories. On his own, he also read such modern poets as Paul Laurence Dunbar, Edgar Lee Masters, Vachel Lindsay, and Carl Sandburg. His classmates were the children of European immigrants, who treated him largely without discrimination and introduced him to the leftist political ideas (Rampersad). After his high school graduation in 1920, he went to Mexico to teach English for a year. While on the train to Mexico, he wrote the poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", which was available in the June 1921 issue of The Crisis, a leading black publication. Hughes went to Columbia University from 1921 to 1922. After his academic year at Columbia he lived for a year in Harlem, and embarks on a six-month voyage as a cabin boy on a merchant freighter heading for West Africa. After its

Biography of Marilyn Monroe: A Hollywood Beauty

2007-04-18T02:14:53-04:00

Biography of Marilyn Monroe: A Hollywood Beauty Marilyn Monroe made a definite impact on today’s society. For some it was good, for others, bad. She set high standards for herself and was an inspiration to many young people. Many are expected to be like her, some are forced unwillingly and others force themselves. Marilyn Monroe changed Hollywood’s outlook on women forever. Her image, body, smile, and personality are what is looked for in a young actress or any new models today. Now, because of Marilyn’s high standards, it is much more complicated for women to make it big as an actress or model. She was more than just a superstar or glamour queen, Marilyn Monroe was a global sensation in her lifetime. On June 1st, 1926 a star was born. Norma Jeane Mortenson, later known as Marilyn Monroe, was born in Los Angelas, California on that beautiful summer day. After she was born, her mother changed Norma Jeane’s last name to her own Baker. Norma Jeane did not know much of her family. She had her mother, Gladys Baker, for a little while in her life, until she was committed to a mental institution early in 1932. Until 1937, when Norma Jeane moved in with her mother’s friend, Grace McKee Goddard and her husband, she was in many foster homes and orphanages. Most of her elementary school education came from the orphanage and foster homes, but her high school education was received while staying with Grace. She had a wonderful life living with Grace. Grace would buy her things and teach her how to put on make-up. Until in 1942, when Grace’s husband, who was enlisted in the army, was transferred to the East Coast. Grace could not afford to take Norma Jeane with them. So Grace planned on an arranged marriage for Norma Jeane to their young neighbor boy, Jimmy Dougherty. On June 19, 1942, right after Norma Jeane’s sixteenth birthday, Norma Jeane was married, and became Norma Jeane Dougherty. (http://www.geocities.com 1-2) Norma Jeane and Jimmy had a very happy and healthy marriage. Norma Jeane was working for Radio Plane Munitions, on the assembly line in Burbank, California. After Jimmy also got transferred to the East Coast Norma Jeane got lonely. She started to become more interested in the other men. Eventually she had slept with a few men, other than her husband, in the factory. (http:www.marilynmonroe.com 1)

George Berkeley

2007-04-03T21:32:01-04:00

George Berkeley was a strong believer in the idea that individuals can only directly know sensations and ideas of objects, not abstractions such as "matter." He was an Irish Philosopher whose was recognized most for his idea or immaterialism or subject idealism. The University Of Berkeley and the city surrounding it are named after him and his great works and Yale University also bears his name. Berkeley grew up in Dysart Castle. He was William Berkeley’s eldest son. He was educated at Kilkenny College. He then went on to Trinity College and remained there after completion of his degree as a tutor and Greek lecturer. In 1713 George Berkley’s third book Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, made known his system of philosophy, the leading principle of which is that the world as represented to our senses depends for its existence, as such, on being perceived. One of his main objects was to combat the prevailing materialism of the time which was largely recognized as wrong and was ridiculed. Between 1714 and 1720, he began to travel around Europe to take a break from his academic problems. In 1721, he took Holy Orders, earning his doctorate in divinity, and once again chose to remain at Trinity College. In 1724 he was made Dean of Derry (a city in Northern Ireland). During the year 1725 he founded a college in Bermuda. He then went to Newport, Rhode Island where Berkeley then proceeded to buy a plantation know as “whitehall”. Then George Berkeley bought multiple slaves to help him on the plantation. On June 11, 1731 Berkeley Baptized three of his black slaves. In Berkeley's sermons explained to colonists why Christianity supported slavery, and hence slaves should become baptized Christians. Berkeley said, "It would be of advantage to their slave masters' to have slaves who should 'obey in all things their masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, as fearing God; ‘that gospel liberty consist that gospel liberty consists with temporal servitude; and that their slaves would only become better slaves by being Christian" (Berkeley, Proposal, 347. See his sermon in Newport, preached October, 1729). He continues to lived at the plantation while waiting for funds for his Bermuda college to arrive. The funds, however, didn’t come so in 1732 he returned to London. In 1734, he was appointed Bishop of Cloyne. While living

Corretta Scott King Biography

2007-03-23T02:32:12-04:00

I am about to present to you an auto biography in short of a woman who's life's work has contributed greatly and changed our nation into what it is today, not only for African Americans but Americans as a whole. Born Corretta Scott, in Heilberger Alabama, this woman would become an international icon for black American's justice and civil rights, spreading her message of nonviolence and the dream of the 'beloved community'. She was born in April of 1927, the third of four children to parents Obadiah and Bernice Scott. Her parents contributed greatly to her wonderful disposition and untamed ambition, since they had a strong sense of family, character, music, leadership and entrepreneurship. Her father 'Obi' had an outstanding sense of work ethic and was a great businessman, which put him in competition with the white man. Chicken farming and hauling lumber were his businesses, and he was the first black man in the U.S. to own a truck and sawmill. In 1946 he opened his own grocery store. These accomplishments made Corretta's family a major part of the foundation for black and white equality. These accomplishments did not come easy though; Obi was often threatened by white men. Corretta's mother set the precedence for a good upbringing by teaching her children the values of honesty, compassion, perseverance and the importance of keeping focus both mentally and spiritually. While Corretta was attending school, even as a young child, she noticed the inequalities between blacks and whites. The black children would four miles to school everyday, while the white children rode to their much nicer school. It may have been at this point in time when Corretta decided to dedicate herself a good education so she could successfully contribute to the change of these unfair conditions. Even as she entered high school whites were still being bussed to school and blacks weren't. In her Junior year the county finally allotted some funds for the black students. Corretta's parents converted an old truck into a bus which they drove the students back in forth to school a total of forty miles each day. Even though her parents didn't receive an adequate education they made it a point to see that their children received the best education possible. And so Corretta moved on to College. After graduating college Corretta moved to Boston

W.E.B. Du Bois: Biographical Summary

2007-03-19T14:00:46-04:00

W.E.B. Du Bois: Biographical Summary William Edward Burghardt Du Bois or shall I say, W. E. B. Du Bois was a freedom fighter. Du Bois was raised in a small-established black community in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Where he grew up, they stressed hard work and achievement. Born on February 23, 1868 to Mary Silivina and Alfred Du Bois, Du Bois was an excellent student. He was published in the community’s newspaper by the age fourteen. Being that he was such an excellent student, he graduated from high school early and enrolled at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn. After receiving his baccalaureate degree, Du Bois accepted a scholarship at the University of Berlin, where he studied for two years. After this he went to Harvard, where he was the first African American to receive his doctoral degree. By the turn of the century, Dr. Du Bois was on his way to becoming a career academician. From 1894 to 1896, Du Bois served as a professor of Greek and Latin at Wilberforce University in Ohio. After his term was completed, he accepted a position at the University of Pennsylvania as an assistant instructor teaching sociology. Here is where he conducted the research for his landmark work, Philadelphia Negro. In between getting all of his education, Du Bois did have a social life. In 1896, Du Bois married Nina Gomer. Later they had two children, Yolande and Burghardt who died at the age of three. While his children were growing up, he served as professor of economics and history at Atlanta University; He also served as chairman of the sociology department there from 1934 to 1944. As you can see, Du Bois is a very educated man however Du Bois did not invest all of his energy in academics. He began create a role for himself as a scholar activist. In 1900, he attended and helped organize the First Annual Pan-African Congress. In 1905, Du Bois and a group of African American scholars and leaders met to discuss the issue of civil rights. This group, known as the Niagara Movement, eventually led to the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1910. As a founding father of the NAACP, Du Bois also edited the organization’s journal, The Crisis. He also served as Director of Publicity and Research for the NAACP. Du Bois left the NAACP and

Lifetime Accomplishments of Malcom X

2007-03-19T13:57:25-04:00

Lifetime Accomplishments of Malcom X Malcolm X is a really interesting person when you get to know him. I was not really interested in Malcolm X when I started off, but as I slowly learned more and more about him he became a really great person. In this paper I will explain his life and try to show you the interesting things I learned. For this research paper I chose to research Malcolm X. I don’t know a lot about Malcolm, that’s why I picked him. I knew that he was black and a man who helped a lot to free slaves, but I really don’t know any details. I would like to learn about his life and all of his troubles he had when he tried to free his race. I had really good luck when I was looking for information on Malcolm X. I did not run into any problems when I was looking. I was successful in finding info when I went on the Internet. I found plenty of information that helped me write my paper. When we went to the library I found a lot of good books too. I learned so much about Malcolm X so far. I hope in my speech for this project that I can teach the class as much as I learned about him. I couldn’t find that many relations between Malcolm X and To Kill a Mockingbird. The best one I found was that Malcolm was treated a lot like Tom in the book. Malcolm was always made fun of and had an unfair trail that sentenced him to double the time in prison since he was black. In the story Tom was sentenced to death for raping a white woman but he really didn’t do it. It was his word against two other white people’s word. He lost just because he was black. Sort of the same thing happened to Malcolm. I learned so many neat things about Malcolm X’s life I will just start from the beginning. Malcolm was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925. Malcolm’s given name when he was born was Malcolm Little. Malcolm’s father was a Baptist minister. He highly supported the Universal Negro Improvement Association. The Ku Klux Klan often

Rosalind Franklin

2007-03-15T23:45:46-04:00

Rosalind Franklin always liked facts. She was logical and precise, and impatient with things that were otherwise. She decided to become a scientist when she was 15. She passed the examination for admission to Cambridge University in 1938, and it sparked a family crisis. Although her family was well-to-do and had a tradition of public service and philanthropy, her father disapproved of university education for women. He refused to pay. An aunt stepped in and said Franklin should go to school, and she would pay for it. Franklin's mother also took her side until her father finally gave in. War broke out in Europe in 1939 and Franklin stayed at Cambridge. She graduated in 1941 and started work on her doctorate. Her work focused on a wartime problem: the nature of coal and charcoal and how to use them most efficiently. She published five papers on the subject before she was 26 years old. Her work is still quoted today, and helped launch the field of high-strength carbon fibers. At 26, Franklin had her PhD and the war was just over. She began working in x-ray diffraction -- using x-rays to create images of crystalized solids. She pioneered the use of this method in analyzing complex, unorganized matter such as large biological molecules, and not just single crystals. She spent three years in France, enjoying the work atmosphere, the freedoms of peacetime, the French food and culture. But in 1950, she realized that if she wanted to make a scientific career in England, she had to go back. She was invited to King's College in London to join a team of scientists studying living cells. The leader of the team assigned her to work on DNA with a graduate student. Franklin's assumption was that it was her own project. The laboratory's second-in-command, Maurice Wilkins, was on vacation at the time, and when he returned, their relationship was muddled. He assumed she was to assist his work; she assumed she'd be the only one working on DNA. They had powerful personality differences as well: Franklin direct, quick, decisive, and Wilkins shy, speculative, and passive. This would play a role in the coming years as the race unfolded to find the structure of DNA. Franklin made marked advances in x-ray diffraction techniques with DNA. She adjusted her equipment to produce an extremely fine beam of x-rays. She extracted finer DNA fibers than ever

Tacitus

2007-03-15T23:42:54-04:00

Although a great deal about Tacitus’ personal and early life is unknown, there are, however, several assumptions that can be nearly proven true. It is

Frederick Douglas Biography

2007-03-08T01:11:10-05:00

Frederick Douglas Biography African Americans have played an important role in the history and culture of the United States since it’s founding. These individuals were doctors, writers, inventors, as well as many other notable professions. There have been hundreds of unacknowledged African Americans that have done great things over the years, and it is about time that these great men and women were recognized. One of these remarkable people is Mr. Frederick Douglass, known for his courage and intelligence during the Civil War. Although Mr. Douglass never invented anything, he brought to our country many other great achievements. Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey (Baly), after his mother Harriet Bailey, was born into slavery in Maryland in February of 1817. He was separated from his mother when he was very young, and he never met his father. Douglass's childhood, though he thought of it, as expressed in his autobiography, as being no more cruel or unusual than that of many of others trapped in similar conditions. The lack of domestic attachments, hard work, and inhumane treatment and conditions make up the text of his early remembrances of the main plantation of Colonel Edward Lloyd. In 1852, Frederick was sold to a somewhat kinder master who lived in the North. While he was still young, the wife of one of his masters, Mrs. Auld, taught Frederick the rudiments of reading and writing. Although the tutoring was limited, this provided Frederick with a basic background to help him begin his self-education. After numerous arguments with various masters, Frederick finally escaped to the North in 1838 by borrowing an African American sailor’s protection papers and impersonating the sailor. He married a free African American woman, and they settled in Bedford, Massachusetts, where they had all of their children. Douglass quickly became involved with the anti-slavery movement. In 1841 he delivered a speech at an abolitionist meeting, and the listeners were so moved by his eloquent speaking techniques, they hired him as a lecturer and persuaded him to write his autobiography about his accounts as a slave. The book raised many eyebrows, and meant exile for Douglass, so he fled to England for safety. When he returned, he resettled in Rochester, New York and started publishing his newspaper, The North Star. In 1858, as a consequence of his fame and as unofficial spokesman for African Americans, Douglass was sought out by John Brown as a recruit

Maya Angelou Biography

2007-03-06T22:27:48-05:00

Maya Angelou Biography Maya Angelou is an amazing American author, poet, entertainer, actress, playwright, producer and director, historian and civil rights activist. She is best known for her portrayals of strong African American women. Born April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Maya Angelou's given name was Marguerite Johnson, Maya and her brother Bailey spent most of their childhood living with their grandmother in rural Arkansas. Maya grew up in Stamps and learned what it was like to be a black girl in a world whose boundaries were set by whites. After five years of living with her grandmother she moved back to her mother's home in Missouri. This was a bad turn for her, when her mothers' boyfriend raped her. This violent act sent Maya to become mute for nearly five years. She was sent back to live with her grandmother because no one could stand the state she was in. Angelou's whole childhood was moving back and forth from her mother's house to her grandmother's house. This caused her to struggle with maturity. She became determined to prove she was a woman and began to rush toward maturity. She soon found herself pregnant, and at the age of sixteen she delivered her son, Guy and began a series of jobs, including cooking and waiting tables. In the 1950s she became a nightclub performer and began careers as a singer, dancer, actor, playwright, magazine editor, civil rights activist, poet, and novelist. Much of Angelou's writing stresses the themes of courage, perseverance, self-acceptance, and realization of one's full potential. In her works she frequently presents strong female role models. Her most writings includes her autobiographical books, which starts with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970), which she describes African American life in, humorous, intelligent language rich in rhythm and texture. Her second book Gather Together in My Name (1974) focuses on Maya and her brother moving away from their grandmother. This takes place from her late teens through her mid twenties, focusing on her experiences as a mother, a Creole cook, dancer, a Chauffeurette and prostitute. Also she writes about an affair with a customer at a restaurant and her brief experience with drugs. Other Books include Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976), The Heart of a Woman (1981), and All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986). Some of her other works include poetry

John F. Kennedy: An American Icon

2007-03-05T14:20:03-05:00

John F. Kennedy: An American Icon Some men go through life and live it quietly and don’t change the world, however they make a difference. However then there are other men who change the way of life for an entire nation. John Kennedy was the second type of man. John Kennedy was an icon to the American culture and this is shown through the momentous changes in civil rights he made, the stands for equal rights that he made, the civil rights leaders that he was affiliated with, and the reasons behind his support. John F. Kennedy was the first president to make major adjustments in civil rights which would affect the way that some Americans lived their daily lives and would correct history by allowing all Americans to share in the ideals of equality of all in the American culture. While he didn’t make very many changes he opened the eyes of the American public to the injustices being done to some African Americans and other minorities. While Kennedy was campaigning he promised to address some civil rights issues. His speech is given in a book edited by Doris Saunders. Saunders recalls Kennedy’s speech, “I assure you in a new Democratic administration there will be far better representation, on the basis of merit, of persons of all our racial groups, including particularly those who in the past have been excluded on the basis of prejudice. For no American should be disqualified for any office because of his race, color, religion, or family origin. It is time for us to practice what our constitution preaches (22). With these simple words President Kennedy started the ball of civil rights moving. He pushed it at the top of the mountain and not even he could keep up with the pace that it would start to roll down the mountain. He also showed the American culture that all men were not given a chance to share in the life that they were freely given. He showed that although the constitution stated that all men were created equally, they were not considered equal in the eyes of the men that one should be free of oppression, their equals, not their superiors. Kennedy did make changes to the civil rights, and his most aggressive changes were in the Civil Rights Acts of 1964. Kennedy made changes to the way that Americans were living their

Biography of John Fitzgerald Kennedy

2007-03-05T14:08:40-05:00

Biography of John Fitzgerald Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy has changed the lives of many Americans and their future generations. He fought communism, seen as an evil presence in our wold, in the Soviet Union, Cuba and China. In doing so, he prevented many people of the world from being harmed. Kennedy ensured equality for all Americans, rich or poor, black or white. He led an advance in civil and human rights, and was well liked by many of the American people. He is seen as one of the most influential Presidents ever to have been elected. Many people regard JFK as legacy. He changed the views of American citizens and helped boost the economy, not only in the United States, but globally. Beginning of political career Faced with the problem of choosing, a career, Kennedy worked for a few months in 1945 as a reporter for the Hearst newspapers, and during this time, he covered the conference at San Francisco which established the United Nations. While there he noted the ‘belligerent Russian attitude' ( Lawson, 1998, p. 1) and decided to pursue a career in politics. Early in 1946, he began an aggressive campaign against nine other candidates for a seat in the House of Representatives from the Democratic 11th Massachusetts Congressional District. His election in November of 1946 was an overwhelming success. From there, Kennedy was re-elected in 1948 and 1950. He had a pattern of mixed voting, often disagreeing with many of the policies of President Truman. Kennedy agreed with the administrations Fair Deal policies, fighting for issues such as slum clearance and low-cost public housing. His views on foreign affairs were also strong, and was critical of the President for not restraining the advance of communism in China. Most of Kennedy's views on politics were first generated and tempered here in the House of Representatives. U.S. Senate In 1952, Kennedy announced his candidacy for the senate. His opposition was Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., who was a Republican. He once again campaigned vigorously with his new slogan being " Kennedy will do more for Massachusetts". (Palmer, 1994, p.86) He won the election by an overwhelming margin. As a senator, Kennedy concentrated first on making good on his campaign slogan. At the end of two years he

The Leadership of Michael Jordan

2007-03-04T17:32:59-05:00

The Leadership of Michael Jordan The leader I am going to write about is Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan is a great leader. He played for the Chicago Bulls for several years and had lead the team to five championships. He then retired for a couple of years and now is playing with the Washington Wizards. Three characteristics that would describe how Michael Jordan became a leader would be respect, communication, and he is a role model. Respect- Michael Jordan has respect for the game and for his coach. He also gets respect from the other players on the team. If the other players that were on the team with Michael Jordan did not respect him, and if he did not respect the other players then they would not play like a team. When he plays, he plays his best. He always listens to what the coach and other team players have to say. If you are not respected you will never become a leader. If you don’t respect someone you are more likely not to ignore what they are saying and do the opposite in some cases. He also gets respect off the court. He does lots of community work and also helps out when the times are bad. For example, his income from this year is going to the September 11th fund. Communication- Communication is a big factor in becoming a leader. If you can not communicate with others then you are going to have a hard time becoming a leader. Michael Jordan communicates on and off the court. He has to communicate well with the other players on the team so that they can win. With out communication they would have a hard time playing as a team. Since he has become a player for the Washington Wizards, you can see that he has been communicating with the younger players. When they are playing he will help them out with new plays and show them what they did wrong during a play if something did not work out right. I have seen this happen in several of the games that I have watched on television. This shows that he can also be a leader in a situation where he is playing with younger

Impact of Corruption on India's Policy

2007-03-04T14:43:08-05:00

The Impact of Corruption on India's Policy and Administrative Service over the last 25 years I Abstract Assessing the impact of corruption on India's polity and administrative service over the last quarter century has enabled me to gauge the progress made by India's politicians in tackling one of the country's biggest problems. In analyzing the impact of corruption on India's polity over the last 25 years, I highlight corrupt practices by Indian governments during the time-frame in question. I conjecture that the problem of corruption in India's polity is a ubiquitous one, and that corruption has carved out a niche in India's polity. Additionally, I elicit the criminalization of India's politicians by discussing the impact that money has on the functioning of contemporary Indian democracy. I also link corruption in India's polity with increasing levels of corruption in the country's private sector. I use this to conjecture that the usurpation of the country's economic wealth by a privileged minority is part of a corrupt businessman-politician nexus, which is detrimental to Indian society. I gauge the impact of corruption on India's administrative service by incorporating the views of several Indian and international experts. These opinions collate to describe the ineptitude of India's bloated administrative service, providing explanations for the service's inefficiency. My research highlights the impact that corruption has brought to bear "nepotism among administrative officials, a "license-permit-quota Raj's system and professional ineptitude" on India's administrative service. Finally, I linked corruption in India's bureaucracy with the country's underachieving economy. While much of the essay is critical of India's politicians, I juxtapose criticisms of India's politicians with corrective measures being undertaken in my conclusion. In doing so, the reader is left to decide whether or not India is any closer to dealing with the issue of corruption within its polity and administrative service, and

The Accomplishments of Guitarist Trey Anastasio

2007-02-19T22:22:47-05:00

The Accomplishments of Guitarist Trey Anastasio The Muse Award should be given to one who goes about something in different and original ways. This award is for one who expresses them self individually, as creativity is the way an individual solves a problem or creates something. It isn’t an innate ability, but the truly creative are those drawn to their field by a drive that naturally pushes them deeper and beyond. Creativeness plays a very big role in the arts. Creativity must be unique and original, while to society, art has to be relevant to the time and culture. The usual and predictable cannot be considered art in a given culture and the outrageous will not be accepted either. Furthermore, the arts themselves involve the act of creation, which itself takes a creative mind. A truly creative mind can find a fine line between these and create a new way to approach and create. In music there is a big distinction between the rules of composing and the art of breaking the rules of theory to make something great. In jazz, the great ones succeed by bending and breaking these rules to bring their sound to a different level, whereas rock and roll is judged on sound and simplicity. Phish’s Trey Anastasio deserves the Muse Award for the way he has developed and changed music with creativity unlike few musicians before him. He presents jazz guitar in a very friendly fashion, that isn’t jazz or rock. He has incorporated several other genres of music into his guitar playing as well, and in a manner that exemplifies true creativity. Also, one of the most creative song writers ever, writing deeply mythical lyrics, Anastasio has captured a cult across America since the late 80s. Anastasio grew up in New Jersey, where he began to teach himself how to play the guitar while listening to his favorite records. His mom was a children’s writer and he occasionally would help her. This had much influence on his music. He went to the University of Vermont where he started Phish and then transferred to Goddard College, also in Vermont. Here, he studied music composition under Vermont composer Ernie Stires, while still playing with Phish (Mocking Bird Foundation, The). For his senior project, Anastasio wrote a musical production called “The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday.” It is more commonly known as Gamehendge. He wrote it as a

Audrey Hepburn

2007-02-18T08:17:14-05:00

Graceful former dancer and model, a much-loved star in films from 1951. After small parts in European productions, Hepburn scored a key break when she was chosen by no less than Colette herself to star onstage in the author's "Gigi" (1951). Shortly thereafter, the radiant young actress gained immediate prominence in Hollywood with the leading role in the feature romantic comedy, "Roman Holiday" (1953), which was followed by similarly enchanting performances in films such as the inspired fashion musical "Funny Face" (1957) and, as Holly Golightly, the warmly romantic "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961). A spirited, incredibly chic gamine type famous for her waifish yet slightly tomboyish manner, thick eyebrows, bouncy bangs and Givenchy fashion flair, Hepburn proved a beautiful, elegant foil to fatherly older men Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Henry Fonda and Fred Astaire, as well as young leads George Peppard and Albert Finney. One of the most lovely and photographed of stars, the wistful, gentle-mannered Hepburn helped define one type of feminine beauty in her era (as opposed to the full-figured Marilyn Monroe-Jane Russell look at the opposite end of the spectrum). Her incredibly influential look also helped set the style for the slender, reed-like fashion model whose offshoots are still popular today. Though not a prolific film actor, Hepburn had an extremely impressive string of fine movies and roles through the late 1950s, including Billy Wilder's romantic comedy "Love in the Afternoon" (1957) and the absorbing drama "The Nun's Story" (1959). The 1960s proved a thinner period, but besides "Tiffany's", Hepburn enjoyed notable success opposite Cary Grant in the light romantic mystery, "Charade" (1963). She had less success, however, in the title role of the ugly duckling turned beautiful swan in "My Fair Lady." Her radiance was evident in the latter half of the film but Hepburn, the daughter of a Dutch baroness and an English banker, was unable to pull off the raffish guttersnipe of the film's early sequences. She did rebound, however, as the blind heroine of the suspenseful thriller "Wait Until Dark" (1967), which netted Hepburn her fifth and final Oscar nomination. After a nine-year absence from the screen Hepburn turned in a luminous "middle-aged" performance in "Robin and Marian" (1976), and continued to make occasional feature film appearances, such as her last, in Steven Spielberg's "Always" (1989). From 1988 Hepburn served as a special ambassador for the UN Children's Fund. Her untiring charitable work in this capacity,

Katharine Hepburn

2007-02-18T08:11:59-05:00

Katharine Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907, in Hartford, CT, at 22 Hudson Street, which was then opposite the Hartford Hospital. Her mother, Katharine Martha Houghton, was a strong willed and intelligent feminist and suffragist. Her father, Thomas Norval Hepburn, was a doctor who fought for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Both of Hepburn's parents were strong advocates of birth control. Katharine credited her parents for her sense of adventure and independence. Hepburn had five siblings, Tom (b. 1905), Dick (b. 1911), Bob (b. 1913), Marion (b. 1918) and Peg (b. 1920). In 1921, Katharine found her beloved brother Tom hanging by the neck in their aunt's attic while on a visit. It was never determined whether his death was a suicide or a stunt gone wrong, but his death was terribly traumatic for young Katharine, and would haunt her for years. Hepburn attended Bryn Mawr College, graduating in 1928. While in college, she met Ludlow Ogden Smith, who she married in 1928 (and later divorced in 1934). Also at Bryn Mawr, she became active in theatrical productions, and after her senior year she appeared in two productions in Baltimore. That same year, she moved to New York to begin training as an actor, and appeared in her first New York production, The Big Pond. Although she was fired from that show after only one night, she soon found regular work on Broadway. In 1932, Hepburn appeared on Broadway in The Warrior's Husband. Her performance was well received, and led to several screen tests, and eventually to a role in the 1932 film A Bill of Divorcement. Hepburn received excellent notices for her performance in this film. A string of films followed in the 1930s, including Morning Glory, her third film, for which Hepburn received her first Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1933 Hepburn returned to New York to star in the Broadway production of The Lake, which turned out to be a critical and commercial failure. Upon her return to Hollywood, she starred in a string of films of varying quality and success, and by 1938 she was labeled "box office poison" by exhibitors who claimed that people weren't paying to see her films. In 1939 Hepburn again returned to New York to star on Broadway, this time in The Philadelphia Story as Tracy Lord, a role playwright Philip Barry had written for her. The play was a tremendous success, and

Biography on Mao Zedong

2007-02-16T05:35:54-05:00

Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) known by some as a murderer, known by others as a great leader. How did such a man get two very different opinions about him? During his life, Mao changed the look of China. Making freedom oppressed, by over throwing the current government, and making numerous changes to China, shaping China into what it is now, a complete communist country where the phrase “freedom of speech” is not heard. I believe that what makes a man is how he was raised, which brings us to the beginning of Mao. “Mao was born on December 26, 1893 in the village of Shaoshan located on the Hunan Province.” He was the first of what was to become a family of 6 including his 2 brothers and 1 adopted sister. “When Mao was born China was being ruled by the Qing dynasty.” “China at the time was in a huge decline.” Western industrial revolutions caused China to weaken. From 1894 to 1895 China took another huge economic blow by losing the war with Japan. (Mao 1.) Mao was still very young during these times. He was a very prominent student, studying much about Confucius and even President Lincoln. During the age of 13 the relationship between father and son became tense. Mao’s father Mao Rensheng, forced little Mao to leave school and spend his time on the family farm. A few years later, at 14, Mao’s father decided he was to be married and arranged his wedding to a girl known as Miss Lou. This marriage was very brief and a complete failure. Mao refusing to recognize his father’s decision to have him married, left his home and took control of his life. Around 1911, now out of his father’s control, Mao decided to start school again and went to many schools in and around ShaoShan and Changsa. Unfortunately for Mao his schooling was yet again cut off. Late 1911 was a time for revolution against the long ruling Qing empire. Mao joined the Chinese Nationalist revolutionaries and quickly became involved in the revolutionary war. After the win of the revolutionaries, Mao left the army in 1912 and enrolled in school again! This time he was studying to become a teacher in the Changsha’s fourth provincial Normal School. At

Tribute to John F. Kennedy

2007-02-15T01:21:18-05:00

A wise man once said, “Ask not what your country can do you for; ask what you can do for you country.” The man was the main m contributor in creating the Kennedy Space Program, which expanded NASA. This man was the 35th president and the first Roman Catholic in office. Though not able to finish the process, this man started the civil rights movement, leading to the end of racial discrimination. This man was the fourth president to be assassinated president in US history. This man passed many laws applying to the civil rights movement. This man believed in America. This man I speak of is worthy of not only honor in his personal life, as being a loving husband to his wife Jacqueline and father to his children, Caroline, John Jr. and Patrick, but being a fair competitor in the race for president in 1960. He was born into a rich, politically connected Boston family of Irish-Catholics on May 29, 1917. He and his eight siblings enjoyed a privileged childhood of elite private schools, sailboats, servants, and summer homes. During his childhood and youth, “Jack,” as he had otherwise been come to known as, suffered frequent serious illnesses. Nevertheless, he strove to make his own way, writing a best-selling book while still in college at Harvard and volunteering for hazardous combat duty in the Pacific during World War II. Jack graduated from Choate and entered Harvard in 1936. Kennedy's war service made him a hero. After a short period as a journalist, Kennedy entered politics, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 and the U.S. Senate from 1953 to 1961. Kennedy was the youngest person elected as U.S. President and the first Roman Catholic to serve in that office. For many observers, his presidency came to represent the spring of youthful idealism in the outcome of World War II. The promise of this leader was not to be fulfilled, as he was assassinated near the end of his third year in office. His shocking death stood at the forefront of a period of political and social instability in the country and the world. He ended certain discriminations; on buses, in housing, voting, education, and racial discrimination leading to the Civil Rights Act of 1964; passed after his death. This man no other than the late John F. Kennedy He believed in childhood education. Believing

John F. Kennedy

2007-02-12T18:30:23-05:00

John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy was born on May 29th, 1917 in Brooklyn, Massachusetts. He was married to Jacqueline Bouvier. They had three children, Caroline, John Jr. and Patrick. JFK was elected to replace Dwight Eisenhower in 1960, barely beating Richard Nixon. John F. Kennedy had many good ideas and services to the United States, Such as his economic programs that launched the country on its longest sustained expansion since WWI. In Kennedy’s first year in office he passed a bill allowing an increase of minimum wage and a bill granting federal aid to economically depressed areas of the United States. John F. Kennedy is really famous for solving a way through privation and poverty by creating the Peace Corps, which brought aid to developing countries. In doing all of this I think John F. Kennedy was one of our best Chief Guardians of the Economy. During Kennedy’s term on office, he wanted an end to racism, and segregation. Kennedy appointed black people to many high positions in government and about forty blacks to administrative posts. He also elected five black judges, hoping to give blacks a fair chance in an economically developing America. In 1960 it was ruled by the Supreme Court that desegregation on interstate busses was illegal. And in 1961 that there were no seat regulations on color. With Pressure rising between the United States and Russia, and the building of the Berlin wall in Germany. Kennedy had to reinforce the Berlin garrison. Kennedy did so by increased numbers in the armed forces and troops to Germany. He also pushed for the outer space race. Because instead of focusing on Europe Kennedy had to turn his attention on Cuba. John F. Kennedy gave orders on April 17th, 1961 allowing a planned invasion of Cuba. This way known as the Bay Of Pigs. The invasion did not turn out very well. 20 months after Fidel Castro released the captured exiles in exchange for 53 million dollars worth of food and medicine. On October 14th, 1962 American U-2 spy planes stumbled upon Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missile sites in construction in Cuba. This meant possible nuclear war. As Commander and Chief, Kennedy ordered naval blockades, in which all ships were inspected without exception. Kennedy ordered the soviets to remove all defensive weapons from Cuba. Finally weapons were removed after 13 days of intense actions. With all the nuclear weapons produced, to keep up with

Gangster Biography of Arthur Flegenheimer

2007-02-02T18:09:29-05:00

Gangster Biography of Arthur Flegenheimer Arthur Flegenheimer 1902-1935 Born: August 6, 1902 in New York, United States Died: October 24, 1935 Occupation: Gangster Flegenheimer, Arthur (Aug. 6, 1902 - Oct. 24, 1935), gangster, better known as Dutch Schultz, was born in the Borough of the Bronx, New York City, and was the only son and elder of two children of Herman and Emma (Neu) Flegenheimer. His parents were German-Jewish immigrants. He grew up in a slum section of the Bronx, and went no further than the sixth grade in school, though he had a keen mind and was an omnivorous reader. In Arthur's early boyhood, his father deserted the family, and his mother did laundering while the boy sold papers on the streets. Later he was for a time an office-boy, and worked in a desultory way as a printer's apprentice and as a roofer. He always thereafter carried his roofer's union card as "proof" that he was an honest laboringman. At seventeen he was convicted of the burglary of an apartment in the Bronx and served fifteen months in a reformatory. He had become a member of a youthful neighborhood gang before this incident, and his prison term enhanced his reputation among its members. He was now given the nickname of a former bully of the neighborhood, Dutch Schultz, by which he was known ever afterward. Working at his roofer's trade, as a moving-van helper, and at odd jobs for a few years--during which time his record showed arrests for grand larceny, felonious assault, homicide, and carrying weapons, but no convictions--he finally became a partner in an illicit saloon in the Bronx in 1928. This was during the prohibition era, and he now began trading in "bootleg" beer which he brought from New Jersey. Having excellent business ability, he rapidly built up a gang of gunmen, bought political protection, and furnished political backing, and within three years owned seventeen garages and "drops;" or secret storage places, for beer. He controlled the business in upper Manhattan and the Bronx. He continued to be arrested at times on one charge and another, but was always discharged, though upon one occasion, in 1931, the police killed his bodyguard. Oddly enough, he was in terror of the law, and an arrest gave him such a nervous shock that at least once a physician was called to administer a bromide to him. Jack ("Legs") Diamond, Edward ("Fats") McCarthy,

Biographical Essay on Maya Angelou

2007-02-02T16:56:04-05:00

Biographical Essay on Maya Angelou Maya Angelou is a poet, author, actress, director, historian, educator, playwright, civil rights activist, producer, and a lecturer. She was born on April 4h 1928 in St. Louis Missouri. She has two brothers and is the oldest of three children. Her parents were Bailey and Vivian Johnson but they did not raise her. Her parents were divorced when she was at the tender age of three. She was raised by her grandmother in segregated Stamps, Arkansas. Her grandmother was called Big Momma. Her father was a naval dietician and her mother was a nurse. Angelou felt that her Grandmother had a “ deep broad loving on everything that she touched” (Spence, 1999). While living with her grandmother, she instilled pride and religion as an important element in their home (Angelou, 1992). Angelou was sent back to live with her mother after five years of not seeing her. Maya’s childhood was difficult and very much different than the ones today. Her mother’s boyfriend raped her. The rapist told her that if she told anyone what happened, he would hurt her brother Bailey (Angelou, 1992). The rape caused Maya to become mute for five years of her life. She was sent back to Stamps Arkansas because no one could handle her in the state that she was in. The muteness caused her to take an interest in literature. A woman named Mrs. Flowers constantly worked with her during the rough time and eventually it paid off because Maya began to speak again. In Maya’s Teen and Early adulthood she worked as a waitress, a prostitute, a madam, and a dancer. She was the first black streetcar conductor in San Francisco. While living with her mother, she realized that she did not like it there and did not like the way she was living. She moved away with her dad and his girlfriend and they did not treat her right. She ran away from there and lived in a graveyard of wrecked cars where homeless kids lived ( Angelou, 1992 ). She moved back home and got pregnant after which she had a son named Guy at the tender age of sixteen. She realized that she had no way to support him so that is when she discovered that she could dance and got hired at a dance theatre. Later on she met Tosh Angelou and married him. She

Biography of Billy the Kid

2007-02-02T16:53:58-05:00

Biography of Billy the Kid Billy lived a life of an outlaw because of the loss of his parents, he gained friends and lost enemies, which led to his death. The legends of Billy the kid are many, like so many legends are. This legend is a mix of three to fore legends out there they all contain most of the same content. There might be one or more things the writer might put in there that he found in a trip to Lincoln. This is the story he found to shear with all. The Wild West out law famous for many things Billy the Kid. Reportedly Billy the kid was in New York City on November 23,1859. He was born under the name William Henry McCarty (Bonny) to William H. and Kathleen (Catherine) McCarty (Bonny). William had an older brother named Joseph (Josie) how was born in 1855 only fore years older then William .the family moves to Coffeyville, Kansas in 1862 but soon after in 1864 they moved to Colorado. Some time between 1862-1864 the father dies but there is no sure date since no death certificate or obituary has been located. (“Billy” Online) On 1866, Catherine McCarthy and her two sons moved to Marion County, Indiana. Here she met William Antrim from Huntsville, Indiana. The reverent D.F. McFarland of the First Presbyterian Church from Santa Fe married Catherine and William Antrim. Shortly after the wedding they moved to Silver City, New Mexico, were Antrim became a miner because he had heard of rich silver strikes there. Mrs. Antrim opened a small boarding house while in silver city. (“Billy” online) About mid-way through the year of 1874 Williams mother developed acute tuberculosis caseous pneumonia, more commonly known as “galloping consumption”. Catherine died on September 16, 1874 when William was only fourteen years old. William and his stepfather did not get along after Catherine died. William and another youth named Gorge Shaffer “Sombrero Jack” stole some cloths from a Chinese laundry, mostly as prank but they were arrested. William Rather then face the wrath of his stepfather left town drifting around Arizona, performing odd jobs on a ranch and in small towns. He was known as “kid Antrim” but eventually became known as “Billy the kid”. (Green & Sanford 10) Billy was about eighteen when he shot and killed his first man on August 17, 1877. Billy and Frank P. “Windy” Cahill had been

Martin Luther King Jr. as the Greatest American in History

2007-02-02T16:35:38-05:00

[b]Martin Luther King Jr. as the Greatest American in History[/b] Throughout history, there have been many great leaders that helped our nation become what it is today. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was by far a significant leader with outstanding accomplishments. He understood that the ideals of equality in which our nation was founded must not only be ideals but realities as well. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. devoted his life for the struggle of the discrimination of blacks and by doing so, he accomplished much more than that in his lifetime. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15th, 1929 in Atlanta Georgia.. His ancestors were all followers of civil rights which made him join civil rights naturally. His grandfather was in the National Association Advancement of Colored People and his father was a pastor of a Baptist Church and a civil rights leader. In 1953, Martin Luther King Jr. attended Morehouse College where he became Valedictorian and married Caretta Scott King. In 1955, he attended Boston University where he obtained his doctrine. At this time in American History our nation was far from meeting the promises in the Declaration of Independence. Many states denied voting rights for African Americans. Segregation and discrimination was openly practiced in schools, buses, lunch counters and hotels and in some states, the law sanctioned discrimination. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person in Montgomery Alabama and was arrested for it. Martin Luther King Jr. began a boycott against the bus system. In response to this boycott, his house was bombed. Dr. King did not give up, he fought for life, liberty and pursuit of happiness that was promised to all people in the Declaration of Independence. In 1956, the bus system ended segregation and segregation was unconstitutional in Montgomery Alabama. King believed in nonviolent protest to express his ideas to people about reforms. This anti-violence technique is called civil disobedience. King based this technique on the teaching of the Indian political leader known as Gandhi. Gandhi had fought for independence in India from Britain. King believed this protest technique can be used as a weapon against oppression and can cause great tension in America

Biography of the First President George Washington

2007-01-12T03:48:33-05:00

Biography of the First President, George Washington George Washington was born on Feb. 22, 1732 (Feb. 11, 1731/2, old style) in Westmoreland County, Va. While in his teens, he trained as a surveyor, and at the age of 20 he was appointed adjutant in the Virginia militia. For the next three years, he fought in the wars against the French and Indians, serving as Gen. Edward Braddock's aide in the disastrous campaign against Fort Duquesne. In 1759, he resigned from the militia, married Martha Dandridge Custis, a widow, and settled down as a gentleman farmer at Mount Vernon, Va. As a militiaman, Washington had been exposed to the arrogance of the British officers, and his experience as a planter with British commercial restrictions increased his anti-British sentiment. He opposed the Stamp Act of 1765 and after 1770 became increasingly prominent in organizing resistance. A delegate to the Continental Congress, Washington was selected as commander in chief of the Continental Army and took command at Cambridge, Mass., on July 3, 1775. Inadequately supported and sometimes covertly sabotaged by the Congress, in charge of troops who were inexperienced, badly equipped, and impatient of discipline, Washington conducted the war on the policy of avoiding major engagements with the British and wearing them down by harassing tactics. His able generalship, along with the French alliance and the growing weariness within Britain, brought the war to a conclusion. The chaotic years under the Articles of Confederation led surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va., on Oct. 19, 1781. Washington to return to public life in the hope of promoting the formation of a strong central government. He presided over the Constitutional Convention and yielded to the universal demand that he serve as first president. He was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, in New York, the first national capital. In office, he sought to unite the nation and establish the authority of the new government at home and abroad. Greatly distressed by the emergence of the Hamilton-Jefferson rivalry, Washington worked to maintain neutrality but actually sympathized more with Hamilton. Following his unanimous re-election in 1792, the Federalists dominated his second term. His Farewell Address on Sept. 17, 1796(published but never delivered) rebuked party spirit and warned against "permanent alliances" with foreign powers. He died at Mount Vernon on Dec. 14, 1799. Early Career George Washington was born in Westmoreland county, Va., on a farm, later known as Wakefield,

Life Story and Biography of Ethel Rosenberg

2007-01-04T23:23:55-05:00

Life Story and Biography of Ethel Rosenberg Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg was born on September 28, 1915. Along with her parents and 3 brothers, David, Sam and Bernard, she lived on Sheriff Street in the Lower East Side of New York City (“Ethel Rosenberg,” par. 1). Mr. and Mrs. Greenglass raised their children in a strict Jewish home. They attended both Hebrew and public schools growing up (“Ethel Rosenberg,” par. 1). Ethel Greenglass attended Seward Park High School where she graduated 1 year early in hopes that she would go on to college (Green 601). Like many young girls, Miss Greenglass also had dreams of singing and acting, but her parents quickly dismissed these dreams with reality. She was forced to give up her dream temporarily and enlist in a typing class. Ethel Greenglass kept her singing dream alive by performing at nightclubs in talent competitions. She was offered a job as a professional singer, but at her parents requests she refused (“Ethel Rosenberg,” pars. 3-4). In mid 1931, Greenglass got a job at the National New York Shipping and Packing Company as a stenographer (Green 601). She became involved in citywide strikes during the peak of the depression to improve working conditions and salaries for women. Ethel Greenglass, along with her female co-workers formed a group, which was later known as the Ladies Apparel Shipping Clerks Union. In 1935, they went on strike in hopes of improving their working hours and raise their salaries. The women’s success did not long. Although the women successfully shut down the Company for one day, Miss Greenglass was fired (“Ethel Rosenberg,” par. 9). In 1937, Ethel Greenglass was involved in a group called the International Seamen’s Union. She was asked to sing at their New Year’s Eve dance, where she finally met Julius Rosenberg. They were introduced by a mutual friend and from then on they knew they were meant to be together (“Ethel Rosenberg,” par. 10). Ethel Greenglass and Julius Rosenberg were married on June 18, 1939. The young couple moved into an “East Side flat” (“Ethel Rosenberg,” par. 11). Julius Rosenberg was a junior engineer at the Army Signal Corps. He made only two-thousand dollars a year (“Ethel Rosenberg,” pars. 10-11). But in 1945 he got fired from his job after

Al Gore Biography

2007-01-04T23:22:11-05:00

Al Gore Biography Al gore is the democratic nomination for the president of USA in this November’s election. He is currently the VP under president Clinton Al gore was born on March 31 1948. He grew up on a farm in Carthage Tennessee. In 1965, Al meets his future bride Tipper at a high school dance when he was 17. In the late months of 1969 Al joins the army and reports to Fort Rucker, Alabama for assignment as information officer for the U.S. Army Aviation School. On May 19th 1970 Al marries Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Aitcheson. They have four children: Karenna (born August 6, 1973), Kristin (born June 5, 1977), Sarah (born January 7, 1979), and finally a boy, Albert III (very original name) (born October 19, 1982). Tipper and Al own a small farm near Carthage, and the family attends New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Carthage. In January of 1971, Al goes to Vietnam as a military journalist. Gore is assigned to the 20th Engineer Brigade located at Bien Hoa, northeast of Saigon. After the base was closed in April 1971, he was reassigned to the engineer command, in Long Binh, a large army base near Saigon. During May of 1971 Al returns home from Vietnam after being honorably discharged from the Army. He and Tipper settled in Nashville where he began working as a reporter for the Nashville Tennessean newspaper and attends the Vanderbilt University Graduate School of Religion. He later attends Vanderbilt University law school. In 1976 Al begins his political career. He announced his candidacy for Tennessee's Fourth Congressional district. Al wins a competitive primary campaign with 32 percent of the vote. During his candidacy his popularity grew and during the 1976 he won the general election race with more than 90% of the vote. Gore has always supported social issues. He has fought drug manufactures against price fixing. He also worked on pollution control, which led to the Super Fund Act of 1980. Al, as part of a new generation of legislators, becomes the first Member to deliver a live television speech on the floor of the House of Representatives. During his speech, Gore said that having live TV will "revitalize representative democracy" and "change this institution”. Al’s political popularity grew and in 1984 he was elected to the Senate.

The Professional Career of Igor Stravinsky

2007-01-03T21:52:51-05:00

The Professional Career of Igor Stravinsky Stravinsky’s relations with his various publishers would make a fitting subject for a long-running TV soap opera, complete with courtroom dramas, emotional farewells, some embarrassing contractual wrangles, and of course background music based on the ‘Ronde des princesses’ in The Firebird. The association with Chester Music would certainly provide some of the best episodes. Stravinsky landed in Chester’s lap after the First World War, a conflict which, among other things, played havoc with international publishing. And he remained with them until he signed an agreement with Editions Russes de Musique (ERM) in September 1923. Before the war he had first been taken up by the Moscow house of Jurgenson, who published The Firebird, and then by Koussevitsky’s recently founded ERM, who brought out Petrushka and the piano-duet score of The Rite of Spring, and had its full score in proof when war broke out and put paid to their Russian operation for good. After the Revolution in 1917 Jurgeson’s firm was nationalized. However, his German office continued to function, and Jurgeson later (apparently without telling the composer) sold the rights in The Firebird to the Leipzig house of Robert Forberg a conjunction which recalls Stravinsky’s American train as Mr Fireberg). This transaction subsequently gave rise to a lawsuit between Forberg and Chester. Meanwhile Stravinsky had been stranded in Switzerland by the outbreak of hostilities. “It seems,” he had written to Andrei Rimsky-Korsakov in 1912 whilst working on The Rite of Spring, “as if not two but twenty years have passed since The Firebird was composed.” What must he have felt in August 1914? A mere five years earlier he had been an all but unknown Russian composer, living and working in his native St. Petersberg, a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov, certainly, but with no major successes to his name. Though his music had been played – thanks to the good offices of his teacher – he had had no independent recognition until Serge Diaghilev heard two of his orchestral works in February 1909 and decided to commission some arrangements from him for the 1909 Paris season of the Ballets Russes. Not until the autumn did the crucial Firebird commission materialise. Stravinsky certainly seems to have felt no qualms or anxieties about this turn in his fortunes. Yet even he must have been surprised by the scale of his success when The Firebird had its first performance in Paris

Biography of Famous Composer Johann Sebastian Bach

2007-01-03T16:14:59-05:00

Biography of Famous Composer Johann Sebastian Bach Many great composers, theorists, and instrumentalists have left indelible marks and influences that people today look back on to admire and aspire to. No exception to this is Johann Sebastian Bach, whose impact on music is unforgettable to say the least. People today look back to his writings and works to both learn and admire. He truly can be considered one of the few musical geniuses. Johann Sebastian Bach was born in 1685 in the town of Thuringia, Germany where he was raised and spent most of his life. Due to a shortage of expenses, he was confined to a very limited geographical space, as was his career. This greatly affected him, in that his music was not as widely known as other composers of the time. On traveling he never went farther north than Hamburg or farther south than Carlsbad. Many have referred to him as “one of the greatest and most productive geniuses in the history of Western music,” particularly of the Baroque Era. Born to a family that produced at least 53 prominent musicians within seven generations, Bach received his first musical instrument from his father. Johann studied music with his father until his father’s death in 1695. At this time Bach moved to Ohrdruf to study with his brother, Johann Christoph. In the early 1700’s Bach began working as a chorister at a church in Luneburg. In 1703, he became a violinist in the chamber orchestra of Prince Johann Ernst of Weimar, however later that year he moved to Arnstadt where he became church organist. Bach took a one-month leave in 1705 to study with the renowned Danish-born German organist and composer Dietrich Buxtehude, who was then staying in Lubeck. Later, Buxtehude’s organ music would be one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s greatest influences. Bach’s stay was so rewarding that he overstayed his leave by two months and was greatly criticized for his breach of contract by the church authorities. Fortunately, Bach was too highly respected to be dismissed from his position. In 1707, Bach married his second cousin, Maria Barbara Bach. He and his new wife then moved to Mulhausen so he could be the organist for a church there, but 1708 brought him back to Weimer. Bach returned as an

Al Capone's Biogrpahy

2006-12-29T15:15:07-05:00

Al Capone's Biogrpahy Alphonse Capone was born on January 17, 1899 in Brooklyn, New York to Gabriel and Teresa Capone. His parents immigrated to the United States in 1893 from Naples, Italy. Capone came from a family of eleven and was the fourth oldest of nine children. He grew up in a rough neighborhood of Brooklyn and was a member of two “Kid Gangs” the Brooklyn Rippers or ”Bin Booms” and the Forty Thieves. Capone had a good head when it came to street smarts, but school was totally existent. He was illiterate. He was kicked out of school in the sixth grade at age fourteen. He was kicked out of school for beating a female teacher and knocking her to the ground. After school he took jobs as a pinsetter at a bowling alley, working behind a counter at a candy store, and as a cutter in a bookbinder. Capone was an excellent pool player winning every eight ball tournament held in Brooklyn. While on the streets he became an expert knife fighter. With his notorious reputation Capone was quickly picked up by the “Five Pointers” the most powerful gang in New York City. The “Five Pointers” was headed by Johnny Torrio, and was made up of over 1,500 thugs who. These thugs specialized in burglary, extortion , robbery, assault, and murder. While with the “Five Pointers” he worked in gangsters Frankie Yale’s Brooklyn restaurant the Harvard Inn as a bartender and a bouncer. While at the Harvard Inn he received many facial scars, including one four inches long across his right cheek resulting with the infamous nickname “Scarface”. As a “strong arm” for Torrio he learned all the deadly tricks that help him rise to his power and fame. Capone soon became Torrio’s goto man sending Capone first to do all his “dirt work”. Capone was sent to beat up loan shark victims behind on their payments, then working as a pimp beating up girls who were holding out on their nightly makings. Capone soon became recognized by his gang as a vicious fighter with fists, knifes, and gun’s. He became an excellent marksman with revolver’s and automatic weapons. This was due to many mouths of practice shooting empty bottles in the basement of the

Emily Dickinson Biography

2006-12-20T01:50:59-05:00

Emily Dickinson Biography Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst Massachusetts. She had a younger sister named Lavina and an older brother named Austin. Her mother Emily Norcross Dickinson, was largely dependent on her family and was seen by Emily as a poor mother. Her father was lawyer, Congressman, and the Treasurer for Amherst College. Unlike her mother, Emily loved and admired her father. Since the family was not emotional, they lived a quiet secure life. They rarely shared their problems with one another so Emily had plenty of privacy for writing. During her childhood, Emily and her family attended The First Congregational Church on a regular basis. Emily did not like going to church because she didn’t think of herself as being very religious. She refused to believe that Heaven was a better place than Earth and eventually rebelled from the church. Emily saw herself as a woman who had her own way of thinking, a way of thinking shaped neither by the church or society. By the time she was twelve, her family moved to a house on Pleasant Street where they lived from 1840 to 1855. Emily was already writing letters, but composed most of her poetry in this home. Emily only left home to attend Mount Holyoke Female Seminary for two semesters. Even though her stay there was brief, she impressed her teachers with her courage and directness. They felt her writing was sensational. At the age of twenty-one, Emily and her family moved to the Dickinson Homestead on Main Street. This move proved to be very difficult for Emily. This was difficult for Emily because she became very attached to her old house, which shaped her writing and personality for fifteen years. They now lived next door to her brother Austin and his wife Susan and their daughter Martha. Emily and Susan became so close that many people believe they may have been lovers. A rumor perpetuated by the fact that Emily was known to have written many love letters and poems to Susan. Martha attempted to protect both of their images and suppress the rumors. It became common knowledge that Emily had some type of very strong feelings for Susan. At the age of thirty-one Emily sent some of her poems to a publisher, Thomas Higginson, from whom she got a very good response and a strong friendship developed. He acted as

Bob Dylan Biography

2006-12-19T16:04:10-05:00

Bob Dylan Biography Bob Dylan is the pre-eminent poet, lyricist, and songwriter of his time. He re-energized the folk music genre; brought new lyrical depth to rock and roll and when he went electric he combined the worlds of rock and roll and country. His lyrics captured and defined the mood of a generation. Bob Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman on May 24th, 1941, in Minnesota. He learned to play the harmonica and piano by the age of ten and taught himself to play the guitar. Influenced by rock and roll Dylan form bands with other youths. When only 19 Dylan moved to New York City and started off in village coffeehouses. After playing harmonica on a session for folk singer Carolyn Hester, Dylan impresses the producer at Columbia records he is signed to a 5-year contract. His first album, which featured only two originals and an assortment of blues and traditional songs, sold very poorly. At the beginning of his career Dylan was heavily booed. Fortunately his second album, which was almost entirely self-composed, sold quite well. Over all Bob Dylan has wrote hundreds of songs, more than 500 and counting, forty three albums, and more than 57 million copies sold. Bob Dylan has also made it through hardships as a devastating motorcycle accident, which made him drop out of sight for a year and a half. However during that time he continued to make music at his home studio. Also in 1997 Dylan is diagnosed with Histoplasmosis, a potentially fatal fungal infection. Only one month out of the hospital he continued to tour North America. Two months out of the hospital Dylan performed at the World Eucharist Congress and meets Pope John Paul II face to face. He has contributed his talent and music to many causes including anti-war songs, civil rights rallies, memorial for Woody Guthrie, who was a folk singer that Dylan considered his mentor, a benefit for Bangla Desh, a benefit for the Friends of Chile, he visited Hurricane Carter who inspired Dylan to write the song Hurricane and to perform 2 benefits for Carter’s defense fund, an AIDs benefit, a Martin Luther king birthday celebration, a benefit for handicapped children, Bill Clinton’s first inauguration, Frank Sinatra’s birthday tribute, a tribute to Frank Sinatra, a crossroads benefit, and recorded

Biography of T.S. Eliot

2006-12-19T03:50:57-05:00

Biography of T.S. Eliot Through the centuries, decades, and years the world has come by many amazing authors and poets but there are always that select renowned few that will stick out in your memory, one of which being Thomas Stearns Eliot. As you read on you will be taken through the journey of T.S. Eliot’s amazing and intriguing life, and his works of poetry. His authoritative prose style he developed in his 20’s helped him re-establish the premises upon which poetry was read, evaluated, and written. In writing strange and impersonal seeming poems written out of his own personal torments, he helped redirect the course of twentieth-century poetry in English. Proving to be such a pivotal part in literary history T.S. Eliot has without a doubt gained his spot in literature, being a poet, playwright, literary critic, a winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, and a leader of the modernist movement in literature. T.S. Eliot was born on September 26, 1888 in St. Louis, Missouri. He was the seventh and last child of Henry Ware Eliot, a brick manufacturer, and Charlotte Stearns Eliot, who herself was a poet. Both parents’ families had emigrated from England to Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. The poet’s paternal grandfather, William Greenleaf Eliot had moved to St. Louis in the 1830’s where he became a Unitarian Minister but he still kept a very close New England connection. As a young boy T.S. Eliot attended Miss Locke’s Primary School and Smith Academy Record, graduating high school in 1905. He spent the year following his graduation at Milton academy, a private prep school in Massachusetts. In late September 1906 he began to study at Harvard University. There he took classes from professors such as Paul Elmer More and Irving Abbott, who both would later become Eliot’s main influence in his writing career. They will both influence Eliot through his classicism and emphasis on tradition. Also Eliot studied the poetry of Dante, who would soon be Eliot’s prime source of inspiration and enthusiasm. In 1909, Eliot earned a B.A. at Harvard, and stayed to earn a master’s degree in English literature. Leaving in the beginning of the fall in the following year, Eliot went off to Paris to spend a year taking courses at the Sorbonne, writing, reading, and mostly soaking up the atmosphere.

Andrew Jackcon Biography

2006-12-19T03:34:23-05:00

During Andrew Jackson presidency (1829-1837), Jackson put in his own ideas that were drastically diverse. These ideas were called Jacksonian Democracy. Jackson dealt with the nullification in Southern states because of tariffs, removal of Native Americans, dealing with Federalist vs. State regarding removal, spoil system, and attacking the National Bank. Some of these events had a positive outcome and some outcomes were not as good. To protect America from British manufacturers trying to destroy American competitors, Congress passed tariffs to protect American industry. These were increased in 1824 and 1828. The high tariff of manufactured goods reduced British exports to the U.S., and because of this Britain bought less cotton. With this decline of British goods, the south was forced to buy more expensive northern manufactured goods. The south felt that the north was getting richer at their expense. Calhoun, the vice-president and native of South Carolina created a nullification theory. This theory questioned the legality of applying some federal laws in sovereign states. If the constitution had been established by thirteen sovereign states, he reasoned, and then they must be sovereign, and each has the right to determine whether an act of congress was constitutional. If not, the states had the right to declare that law abolished. If not, the majority in the Federal government would crush the rights of the minority. In 1832, the issue of states rights was tested when a tariff law was passed that South Carolina legislators saw as unacceptable, they declared the tariffs nullified and they threatened to secede from the Union if anyone came to collect taxes. Jackson became furious when hearing these threats. He felt that the actions in declaring a federal law void, ignored the will of the people as written in the Constitution. He declared these actions as treasonous and threatened to hang Calhoun and send troops into South Carolina to impose the tariff. In 1883, with Jackson?s approval, a Force Bill was passed. This allowed the federal government to use the army against South Carolina if state authorities refused to accept paying dues. There would possibly been a Civil War, until Henry Clay stepped in and created a compromise. He proposed a tariff that would gradually lower taxes over a ten-year period. There was a compromise for now but this topic would come again in the Civil War. Andrew Jackson acted too hastily and forcefully and if not for

Biography Michael Norman Manley

2006-12-19T02:36:07-05:00

Biography Michael Norman Manley Michael Norman Manley, Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1972-1980 and 1989-1992, was the first political figure to provide support for the large population of Rastafarians residing in Jamaica. It was under the rule of this man that reform for the people began to take place. Born to a prominent political figure, Manley attended Jamaica College in Kingston from 1935-1962. He was also in the Royal Canadian Air Force during 1939-1945. After earning a bachelor’s degree and leaving the air force, he attended the London School of Economics from 1945-1949. Hoping to explore the world, he remained in London and took a job as a journalist with the BBC. In 1952, Manley decided that he wanted to return to his homeland. Being a strong-minded individual striving for change, Manley took on the responsibility of becoming a trade union negotiator, and the president of the National Workers Union of Jamaica. He strove to provide a better life for all those who lived on Jamaica. In 1969 when his father, Norman Washington Manley passed away, Michael took over his position as leader of the PNP. Norman Manley was the original founder of the PNP, chief minister of Jamaica from 1955-1959, and prime minister from 1959-1962. With the 1972 election quickly approaching, the PNP began campaigning for Manley In 1972 alone Manley passed over 12 reform programs including: -From 1973 to 1975 Manley instituted over 30 additional programs and policies -Perhaps one of Manley’s most important initial reforms was the lowering of the voting age. This act alone allowed Rastafarians to take on a much larger role in the democratic aspects of the government. -Manley was also one of the first Prime Ministers to advocate for social equality. Michael Manley’s reforms reached a wide array of Jamaican citizens. In 1973 Manley announced his plan to make secondary and university education free of charge. He received much opposition from the middle and upper class citizens, and also from members of his own staff. The finance minister David Coore had vetoed the plan, and Manley was ridiculed for not consulting him, prior to announcing it’s implementation during his 1973 budget speech. Manley and his administration began what is known as one of their greatest accomplishments, the National Bauxite reform. In the 1972 PNP election manifesto, the party had promised to establish a National Bauxite Commission. This commission

Andrew Carnegie Biography

2006-12-18T17:40:27-05:00

Andrew Carnegie Biography Andrew Carnegie always thought reading was one of the best ways to learn. He was also a very generous person in the industrial revolution. To be very generous in donations you do need money, and he definitely had a lot of money to be generous. This generosity completed the industrial revolution. He made most of his money with his steel company called the Carnegie Steel Company. The Carnegie steel company then changed to the United States Steel Corporation. In one year,1900, his company made forty million dollars, in which twenty-five million went to him alone. He capped off all of his money making by selling his huge Steel Corporation to J. P. Morgan. For selling this company Carnegie made over two hundred fifty million dollars. He was very generous with all of his money, mostly by funding free libraries. One of the first things he gave was free public baths in Dunfermline, Scotland, where he was born. He funded free public baths as early as 1869. The first library he funded was built in Scotland in 1881. He funded libraries mostly because he was a big reader himself. He self-taught himself by reading books, and he knew that books brought him all the way to the top. He wanted other people to have the same opportunity as he had by reading books themselves. One of Carnegie’s legendary saying was "Free to the People," which is carved in stone over the doors of The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Andrew Carnegie would not live forever to keep funding the libraries, though. He had to come up with an idea that would make it so the libraries would have workers and buy new books. A library without workers would just run out of time, and the same thing would happen if the library never bought any new books. To avoid this, Carnegie thought of "The Carnegie Formula." This meant that the town in which a library was donated would have to pay at least ten-percent of the cost of the library’s building cost per year. Andrew Carnegie had given away more than any other person up to that point in America. Before he died he had given away a total of three hundred fifty million, six hundred ninety-five

Biography of Washington Irving

2006-12-07T19:43:18-05:00

Biography of Washington Irving “Washington’s work is ended,” said Mrs. Irving, “and the child shall be named after him.” And so, Washington Irving, the last of eleven children, was born on William Street in New York City on April 3, 1783, to a prosperous merchant family headed by William and Sarah Irving. He lived in a town of about 25,000, from which he drew much of the material for his stories and sketches. He spent his childhood days wandering the town and listening to the Dutch descendents as well as reading a great deal in his father’s large library. He was always cheerful, kind and sweet natured though a great part of his life was a struggle against ill health, grief, and work that he did not like. (Compton’s) Washington Irving’s on-and-off schooling ended at the age of sixteen mainly due to his state of health. In 1798, he thoroughly explored the pleasant region of Sleepy Hollow, to be forever remembered in his later work, Sketch Book. In 1800, he took an extended trip up the Hudson and into the Mohawk Valley. In 1802, he began publishing a series of letters signed under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle, in the Morning Chronicle, a paper just established by his elder brother. After leaving school, he began the study of law, but in 1804, he was sent abroad by his brothers, who were anxious over the condition of his health. On his first year and a half visit, he touched the Mediterranean ports and enjoyed the experience of a real capture by pirates. He remained four months in each of Paris and London. This experience was in every way broadening and educational and in 1806, with his health well regained, Irving returned to America. (http://r1.dogpile.com/texis/redir/main/bin?q=washington+irving&u=www.bibliomania.com/reference/simonds/SHAL/p2-chap3.html&e=26) A year later, Irving, his friend James K. Paulding, and his brother William Irving, joined together in the publication of a small journal entitled Salmagundi. This publication appeared anonymously, ran from January 1807 to January 1808, and included twenty entries. In this paper, Washington critiqued the theater. He would often go as far as to critique the theater company (actors included), the building, the audience, and the orchestra in the pettiest and most ill-natured way. These would not prove to be Irving’s best works, but were the starting point in his career

Biography on Stephen King

2006-12-05T15:54:40-05:00

Biography on Stephen King Stephen King an American author has truly made a significant impact on today’s readers. King can turn marital stress, peer pressure, or adultery into a terrifying epic that would make your skin crawl. Stephen Edwin King was born September 21,1947 in Portland, Maine. Stephen’s birth was a tremendous surprise to his parents as they had been told they could not have children. When Stephen was 2 years old his parents began experiencing problems in their marriage. One-day Stephen’s father went out to buy a pack of cigarettes and never returned. Stephen hasn’t seen his father since. After Stephen’s father left the rest of the family relocated to Massachusetts. After living in Massachusetts for several years he returned to Maine and began his schooling. Stephen Kings passion for writing quickly began in 1959 when he wrote articles for his brothers local newspaper entitled “Dave’s Rag. At the age of 13 Stephen began writing articles and even his opinions on upcoming television shows. Stephen copied some of his short stories and sold them to the town’s local people for a 30 cents. King tried selling his stories at school but his teachers stopped him. During these years King published many short stories. These early stories had science fiction themes however due to his lack of scientific knowledge they were said to be “a bit thin on detail”. Stephen’s interest in writing fiction began in 1959 when he was at his Aunts home and found a box of horror comics. The authors of these comics, Howard Phillips, Lovecraft, and Jack Finney inspired King. Shortly after this encounter he began to think about writing fiction stories. His first published comic was titled “I Was a Teenage Grave Robber”. Despite this first publication Kings first professional sale occurred in 1967 when Startling Mystery Stories accepted his story “The Glass Floor”. After King graduated high school he attended the University of Maine. He earned his bachelors degree in English. While a student at the university Stephen met Tabitha Spruce. After a short courtship they married. The Kings currently

Biography of Lyndon B. Johnson

2006-12-05T15:41:13-05:00

Biography of Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) was born on August 27, 1908 in Johnson City Texas. . Lyndon was the thirty-sixth president of the United States. He graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1930. Throughout his political career he was a democrat. He became one of the greatest men in Washington. His Life LBJ began his life in 1908. He graduated from Johnson City High School in Texas in the year 1924. Then he attended Southwest State Teachers College and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from 1927-1930. After he graduated he got a job that same year, teaching speaking and debate in Sam Houston High School in Houston, Texas. He taught for only one year, 1930-1931. On November 17 1934, he married his wife Claudia “Lady Bird” Taylor. From 1935-1937, he was the National Youth Administration in Texas. He then became an U.S. representative from Texas. During this time, he served active duty in World War II in the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander from 1941-1942. In 1944 his life took a big turn, he had his first child, Lynda. In 1947 he had his second child, Luci. For his next 11 years of his life he was an U.S. Senate member, and a leader of the Senate for his last 5 years, 1949-1960. In the election of the vice president in 1961, LBJ served for only two years, leaving for presidency after Kennedy’s assassination. In the election of 1963 for president Lyndon became the thirty-sixth president of the United States. In 1971 he wrote a novel about his time as the president, “The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency”. On January 22, 1973, LBJ died on his ranch just outside his hometown of Johnson City, and was later buried on his ranch. Childhood and Education Lyndon had a few hints of his future in his child hood. His family, longtime residents of Texas, was not a wealthy family. His parents worked all day on a farm, a bad section of land to farm, and had a hard time giving him advantages. He attended public schools throughout his education and graduated from Johnson City

The Life of Jack London

2006-12-05T15:36:53-05:00

The Life of Jack London The short lived life of Jack London is a direct reflection of his literary works major theme, the struggle for survival of strong men driven by primitive emotions. “To Build A Fire” and White Fang are two of his works that coincide his life experiences and illustrate his literary theme. London was born the illegitimate son of W.H. Chaney and Flora Wellmen in 1876. He never saw his biological father and his mother had little to do with him. Eight months after his birth, his mother married a man named John London. This is where Jack received his name. Even with his new family, that included two step-sisters, Jack still received little time or love from them. “He claimed to have felt that he was a boy without a boyhood” (Marshall 749). In “To Build A Fire,” a man is on a journey through the Yukon. He takes this journey alone, and therefore must face all challenges alone. This is much like the childhood of Jack London. London had to accept all challenges and obstacles in his childhood alone, because his family was not there to support him. Both Jack London and the man in “To Build A Fire” are in control of their own destiny. As it turns out for the man in “To Build A Fire,” he faces his death because of his solitude. ! London may be implying that if he had someone to guide him through the early stages of life, he might have turned out to be a more fulfilled and successful person. By the age of twenty-three, London had held a numerous variety of jobs. He had been everything from a newsboy to an oyster bed pirate. He even bummed his way through the United States. In 1897, he traveled to Canada to try his luck in the Yukon Territory gold rush. This is the motivation behind his 1906 novel, White Fang. White Fang Centers around the ability of a man, through love and kindness, to tame a savage wolf, and turn it into a loyal domestic animal.

The Biography of John Steinbeck

2006-12-04T21:17:15-05:00

The Biography of John Steinbeck Born February 27, 1902 to a County Treasurer and a schoolteacher, John Steinbeck was raised in the small town of Salinas, California. With no more than a population of 2500, this rural farming community influenced and formed many of John Steinbeck’s stories. Being the third of four children and the only boy, John Steinbeck discovered writing and even though he was very shy nature, he sent in numerous articles to various publishings. Olive Hamilton Steinbeck, John Steinbeck’s mother, was an Irish immigrant. As described in a small portion of John Steinbeck’s book, East of Eden, his mother left her parents at fifteen to become a schoolteacher. Unlike his mother, John Steinbeck Senor, was considered very stern and “a man intensely disappointed in himself” (Reef 12). His father was a government official in Salinas County. The reason his father was disappointed with himself was partly due because he had chosen a safe practical course of life. He would later support and admire his son for “laying down his line and following it undeflected to the end.” (Reef 12). John Steinbeck first began his academic career at West End School, the local public school, where he earned good grades. He then moved on to the small town’s high school where he excelled in writing, but began to become shy, socially secluding himself. John Steinbeck’s ninth-grade English teacher, Miss Cupp was the one he credited, with inspiring him to become a writer. She said, “like Malory and Stevenson, he could create magic words” (Reef 19). John Steinbeck entered Stanford University in the fall of 1919. Unlike the other freshmen attending their first year of collage, John Steinbeck was there to learn not for a degree. He decided to study topics that interested him, taking classes that would aid his writing career. He took everything from literature, classical Greek and history, to human anatomy. When he did not like a professor or their assignments he either dropped the class or simply did not do them. In 1925 John Steinbeck graduated Stanford University, but without a degree. On November 5, 1925 John Steinbeck moved to New York and worked as both a manual laborer (working on the construction of Madison Square Garden) and journalist while writing his first two novels, which were not successful (Reef 25). In 1930, John Steinbeck moved back to California and

Bill Haley Biography

2006-11-17T18:18:12-05:00

Bill Haley: Mr. Rockin’ Rollin’ When a person brings up the term rock and roll, many things could pass through one’s mind. Someone’s immediate thought could swing to Elvis Presley, ACDC, or even Britney Spear’s version of “I Love Rock and Roll.” It all depends on how much one knows about the subject and what era of time one grew up in. According to Dictionary.com, rock and roll is “a genre of popular music originating in the 1950s; a blend of Black rhythm-and-blues with White country-and-western; rock is a generic term for the range of styles that evolved out of rock' n 'roll.” It is essentially a combination of different music that was put together and tested by many artists in the early to mid 1900’s. Billy Haley was one of the artists that introduced that new sound of music into the world. Billy Haley, whose full name is William John Clifton Haley, was born on July 6th 1925 into a family that was musically inclined. His musical abilities were not a surprise to his mother Maude who was a classically trained pianist and to his father William who played the banjo. Throughout his life as a child, he was surrounded completely by music. BillHaley.com states that “his first performances date from about 1938, when as a child he sang and played guitar at variety shows put on by local children to raise money for local causes.” Though Bill Haley did perform in front of people, he was a shy child due to the fact that he was blind in his left eye since infancy. As a child, a handicap like this tends to leave a mark of self consciousness and concern about outer appearances. Music was a gift to Bill Haley that allowed him to grow through his self-consciousness and focus not on his partial blindness but his love for performing. Bill Haley’s teenage years brought more opportunities to polish his act and become known by more people. He readily performed music at amusement parks and fell in love with the idea of becoming a “real, certified, singing cowboy (Gregoire, 6).” As he persistently pursued his passion through his teenage years and onto his early twenties, in 1946 he finally got a break when he joined his first professional country group known as

Galileo Galilei Biography

2006-11-17T02:40:13-05:00

Galileo Galilei Biography This late breaking news has just come in. Galileo Galilei has been named one of the smartest men alive. Certain theories he has made has been a great success to our society. He has now invented what he has called a thermometer. This thermometer is used to check temperature. He has also invented what is also called a compass, which is used to locate directions to a certain point. He has made many other great accomplishments. Now we give his life story and how it all began. Galileo Galilei was born February 15, 1564. He was born near Pisa, Italy and died in Florence, Italy. Galileo was an Italian astronomer. He studied in the field of astronomy. He was also a mathematician. He would give private tutoring lessons from 1885-1889. Plus in 1592 he obtained the chair of mathematics at the University of Puda in the Venetian Republic where he remained until 1610. Galileo had three children by a lady named Marina Gamba. He had two daughters and one son. He sent both of his daughters to a convent because he could not provide a good education for his young daughters. He later managed to have his only son get a good education. In 1609 Galileo detected with his self made telescope four satellites and a moon around Jupiter. In that year he was appointed Chief mathematician of the university and the Philosopher to the Duke of Tuscany. Then in 1621 Galileo was elected Council of the Academe Fiorentino. Galileo invented several things. He invented a hydrostatic balance in 1608. In 1593 he invented the horse driven water pump. He also made a geometric and military compass in 1597. And in 1606 invented the thermometer. His last invention was the pengelium clocks or grandfather clocks in 1641. Galileo had five theories. The first theory was the Principal of Inertia. The next one was Law of Falling Bodies. The following Theory is the path of a projectile is a parabola. Then subsequently came the simple thermometer theory. There upon came the last law of Equilibrium. Galileo made some contributions to science. He invented the thermometer, which aids us in our everyday lives. Now we can check our temperatures to see if we are sick. Thanks to him we have information about the solar system and it’s planets. Galileo was different from the scientists at

Biography of Mike Ilitch

2006-11-17T02:32:08-05:00

Biography of Mike Ilitch Mike Ilitch is a great story of a son of an immigrant that went from rags to riches in a matter of only a few years. Mike took a food that many people thought was only for teenagers and made it into a very profitable business that made him millions of dollars in a few years. Mike was born July 20, 1929 in the city of Bitola in the Vardar region of Macedonia. That’s an area around present day Greece. Mike changed his name from Mike Iliev to Mike Ilitch when his family moved from the area. Mike was what we would call a “jock.” He would play many sports in High School but he had a passion for baseball. Being pressured by his parents he joined the Marines for a short while. The when he returned home he was signed by the Detroit Tigers and played in their Farm League for a couple years until he broke his ankle. Mike went back home for a while until his dad called him a bum and “encouraged” him to get a job. Mike was hired as a pizza maker in night club on Detroit’s west side. The business boomed and Mike got an idea. With that job behind him he decided to open up a pizza joint. Him and his wife Marian opened up their own pizza shop in Garden City Michigan. They soon had two stores in Garden City and business was booming and it wasn’t long until they had a multi-million dollar business on their hands. With Little Caesars an everyday name now Mike had his millions and was interested in acquiring the Red Wings for what he thought was a great deal of 8 million dollars in 1982. The team was struggling with the worst record in the NHL at the time and Mike thought that he could turn the franchise around. Mike was doing good things with the Red Wings when the Detroit Tigers went up for sale in 1992. Mike bought he Tigers for 85 Million dollars another “good deal” according to him. Just a few years after that the Red Wings won back to back Stanley cups and Mike was credited with turning the organization around. Mike Ilitch owns the most successful pizza chain in the state and two of the

Biography on Benedict Arnold

2006-11-17T02:18:19-05:00

Biography on Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1741 in Norwich, Connecticut and was an American Revolutionary general and America’s most infamous traitor. At the age of 14, Arnold was a druggist’s apprentice, but he ran away twice to serve in the colonial militia during the French and Indian War. When the American Revolution started,

Biography of Dwayne Johnson also know as The Rock

2006-11-17T01:50:16-05:00

Biography of Dwayne Johnson also know as The Rock I read an autobiography about Dwayne Johnson. The book states that Dwayne Johnson was born on May 2, 1972 in Hayward, California. His father’s name is Rocky Johnson, and his mother’s name is Ata Johnson. He is an only child. His grandfather’s name is Peter Maiva, and his grandmother’s name is Leah Maiva. His father being a pro wrestler caused Dwayne to attend many different elementary schools. He went to Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. While in high school he didn’t have a job, but he played football. He was named high-school all American by USA Today. After graduating from high school on February 14, 1989 Dwayne signed with the University of Miami to play football. At the University of Miami he majored in Criminology. He graduated from Miami with a GPA of 2.9. While in college he still didn’t have a job. He and some teammates went out to club called Triangle Club, there he found his future wife Dany. He and Dany got married on May 3, 1972. Dwayne and Danny have chose not to have any kids yet. Dwayne has accomplished many great things in his life. In my next few paragraphs I will focus on three of Dawn’s most important achievements. Dwayne Johnson’s first major accomplishment was how he became All-American football player in high school. First, he was the captain of his team. Next, Dwayne was named one of the top fifty gridiron warriors in the country. Secondly, with his great playing and the heart for football in him allowed Dwayne to go to a great University. Another one of Dawn’s most important achievements was being able to play for the University of Miami. First, when he got there he was able to play more then any other freshman. During his football days he was a star defensive lineman for the Hurricanes. He contributed greatly to the team’s National Championships in 1989 and 1991. After the season of 1993, he made a few All-American teams. Then finally he got to go into the draft for the NFL, but he never made it. The most significant achievement was making it into the WWF. First, Dwayne took the ring name of Rocky

Timeline of the Life of Ernesto Che Guevara

2006-11-17T01:42:36-05:00

Timeline of the Life of Ernesto Che Guevara Today I would like to tell you the Biograpie of Ernesto Guevara also called El comandante che. First of all does anybody no anything about che? Young Ernesto GuevaraErnesto Guevara de la Serna is born June 14, 1928 in Rosario, one of the most important cities in Argentina, in a well off family. A family with aristocratic roots but socialistic ideas.After attending a primary school in 1947, Ernesto Guevara meets the young Berta Gilda Infante, also known as Tita. She is a member of the Argentine Communistic Youth. They build up a profound friendship. Together they read Marxist texts and discuss the actualities.In 1948, Ernesto, who is 20 years old at that time, undergoes an examination at the faculty of medicine at the University of Buenos Aires. In March he passes for the examinations of the first year, in June for those of the second year and in December for those from the third year. A journey through Latin-AmericaIn October he decides to make his first trip through Latin-America. Together with Alberto Granado he leaves in January 1952 on an old « Norton » 500-cc motorbike.About Chili he writes: « The most important effort that needs to be done is to get rid of the uncomfortable ‘Yankee-friend’. It is especially at this moment an immense task, because of the great amount of dollars they have invested here and the convenience of using economical pressure whenever they believe their interests are being threatened. On May 1 they arrive in Lima. Che meets doctor Hugo Pesce, a Peruvian scientist, and director of the national leprosy program and an important Marxist. They discuss several nights until the morning comes. Year’s later Che puts that these conversations were very important for the change in his attitude towards life and the society.On May 17 he leaves for the leper-centre of San Pablo in the Peruvian Amazon forest. He arrives on June 7. During his visit to this place, he complaints about the miserable way that the people of that region and the sick have to live. There were no clothes, almost no food and no medication.After working there for a few weeks, he leaves for Leticia, Colombia via the Amazon River.July 17 he arrives in Caracas. There he decides to go back to Buenos Aires to finish his studies in medical science. He travels with

Biography of Isaac Newton

2006-11-17T01:32:58-05:00

Biography of Isaac Newton Isaac Newton was born on December 25, 1642 in Woolsthorpe England. He was born the same year Galileo died. Newton is clearly the most influential scientist who ever lived. His accomplishments in mathematics and physics laid the foundations for modern science and revolutionized the world. As mathematician, Newton invented calculus, and with the help of Leibnitz, differential calculus. He also calculated a formula for finding the velocity of sound in a gas which was later corrected by Laplace. Newton made a huge impact on theoretical astronomy. He defined the laws of motion and universal gravitation which he used to predict precisely the motions of stars, and the planets around the sun. Using his discoveries in optics Newton constructed the first reflecting telescope. Newton found science a hodgepodge of isolated facts

Biography of Charles Manson

2006-10-28T19:28:13-04:00

Biography of Charles Manson Charles Manson is known as one of the most sinister and evil criminals of all time. He organized the murders that shocked the world and his name still strikes fear into American hearts. Manson’s childhood, personality, and uncanny ability to control people led to the creation of a family-like cult and ultimately to the bloody murders of numerous innocent people. Charles M. Manson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 11, 1934. His mother, Kathleen Maddox, was a teenage prostitute. Manson’s father walked out on the still pregnant Maddox, never to be seen again. In order to give her bastard son a name, Ms. Maddox married William Manson. He soon abandoned the both of them. Manson’s mother often neglected Charles after her husband left her. She tried to put him into a foster home, but the arrangements fell through. As a last resort she sent Charles to school in Terre Haute, Indiana. Mrs. Manson failed to make the payments for the school and once again Charles was sent back to his mother’s abuse. At only fourteen, Manson left his mother and rented a room for himself. He supported himself with odd jobs and petty theft. His mother turned him into the juvenile authorities, who had him sent to “Boys Town,” a juvenile detention center, near Omaha, Nebraska. Charles spent a total of three days in “Boys Town” before running away. He was arrested in Peoria, Illinois for robbing a grocery store and was then sent to the Indiana Boys School in Plainfield, Indiana, where he ran away another eighteen times before he was caught and sent to the National Training School for Boys in Washington D.C. Manson never had a place to call “home” or a real family. He spent his childhood being sent from one place to another, and trouble always seemed to follow him. His mother’s negligence left Manson without a home and without much of a future. Manson turned to crime to support himself, and he soon became very good at it. When just a child, he became a criminal and spent his last years of childhood in a correctional facility. After his release from the training school in 1954, a new period of Manson’s life began. He went to West Virginia and soon married a girl named Rosalie Jean Willis. She became pregnant and Manson had a child. This was Manson’s first real

Biography on Famous Gangster, Al Capone

2006-10-03T20:37:11-04:00

Biography on Famous Gangster, Al Capone Alphonse Capone was born in Brooklyn on January 17, 1899, to Gabriel and Teresa Capone. He lived in a tough neighborhood the first ten years of his life. His schooling began not far from the Sands street "stews" at P.S. 7 on Adams St. with a 16year old teacher. There he became good friends with one of the borough's toughest delinquents Salvatore Lucanio, better known in later life as Lucky Luciano. The two of them became life long friends. Later Capone fell under the influence of an old Navy Street Neapolitan gangster who called himself John Torrio. Torrio was born in Naples in 1883 and his nickname from his followers was "Little John" due to his shortness in height. Torrio had belonged to Manhattan's historic 5-Pointers gang for a little over 7years until the gangs' desperados began to disappear into prisons or the grave. He then formed an affiliated gang and established its headquarters nearby in a saloon he ran on James Street. Capone looked up to Torrio and said " I looked on Johnny like my adviser and father and the party who made it possible for me to get my start". After Al Capone joined with Torrio, he became an influential lieutenant in the Colosimo Mob. The mobs developed legitimate business interests such as the cleaning and dyeing fields. They also cultivated influence with receptive public officials labor union and employee’s associates. In 1923, Capone became boss when Torrio, who was wounded in an assassination attempt, surrendered control and returned to Brooklyn. Soon Capone built a fearsome reputation in the ruthless gang rivalries, struggling to acquire and retain "racketing rights" to several areas of Chicago. His reputation grew as rival gangs were eliminated A good example of the culminating violence of the Chicago gang era was the St. Valentine's Day Massacre on Feb. 14, 1929. It was here that seven members of the "Bugs" Moran mob were gunned down against a garage with sub-machine guns by 5 members of Capone's gang posing as police. The massacre was generally ascribed to Capone's mob, although Al Capone himself was in Florida at the time of the shooting. On October 18, 1931, Capone was convicted for tax evasion, and on November 24, was sentenced to eleven years in Federal prison, fined

Andrew Jackson

2006-09-20T23:04:30-04:00

During Andrew Jackson’s presidency (1829-1837), Jackson put in his own ideas that were significantly different being called Jacksonian Democracy. He dealt with the nullification in Southern states because of tariffs, removal of Native Americans, dealing with Federalist vs. State regarding removal, spoil system, and attacking the National Bank. Some of these events had a positive outcome and some outcomes were brutal. To protect America from British manufacturers trying to destroy American competitors, Congress passed tariffs to protect American industry. These were increased in 1824 and 1828. The high tariff of manufactured goods reduced British exports to the U.S., and because of this Britain bought less cotton. With this decline of British goods, the south was forced to buy more expensive northern manufactured goods. The south felt that the north was getting richer at their expense. Calhoun, the vice-president and native of South Carolina created a nullification theory. This theory questioned the legality of applying some federal laws in sovereign states. If the constitution had been established by thirteen sovereign states, he reasoned, and then they must be sovereign, and each has the right to determine whether an act of congress was constitutional. If not, the states had the right to declare that law abolished. If not, the majority in the Federal government would crush the rights of the minority. In 1832, the issue of states’ rights was tested when a tariff law was passed that South Carolina legislators saw as unacceptable, they declared the tariffs nullified and they threatened to secede from the Union if anyone came to collect taxes. Jackson became furious when hearing these threats. He felt that the actions in declaring a federal law void, ignored the will of the people as written in the Constitution. He declared these actions as treasonous and threatened to hang Calhoun and send troops into South Carolina to impose the tariff. In 1883, with Jackson’s approval, a Force Bill was passed. This allowed the federal government to use the army against South Carolina if state authorities refused to accept paying dues. There would possibly been a Civil War, until Henry Clay stepped in and created a compromise. He proposed a tariff that would gradually lower taxes over a ten-year period. There was a compromise for now but this topic would

Robert Owen

2006-09-20T23:02:31-04:00

Robert Owen grew up poor but his intelligence brought him riches and made an impact on the industry of England. Owen’s strong thinking and honest behavior helped him make something in his life and gave the world many new and impressive ideas. Having such intelligence helped him make one of the few successful Utopian societies, New Lanark. Building the once neglected and filthy village into a half-decent place seemed impossible. But Owen was not overwhelmed, in just one decade he made New Lanark into the guide for a Utopian society. Owen’s major accomplishment was New Lanark. All the theories he had concocted were tested here. For example, the idea to have your workers happy so you’re work is done smoother. These ideas ties in with the idea that no one should be punished, except for the drunks and such. Also, only children over the age of ten could work and furthermore they worked only ten hour days. Other great theories pertained to children. There was a schoolhouse where they learned grammar, and played and sang. The young women who taught them were told to answer all the questions the children asked, and that no child was to be physically punished and that children would learn more from example than chastise. These ideas seem to be used in schools in this country. Many corporate ideas that were used had an impact on the working class of England. The ideas of producers’ cooperative and consumers’ cooperative seemed most effective. As a result, the Rochdale Pioneers grew to be the great sources of strength of the Labor Party in Great Britain. With great success come a few flops as well. One such flop was New Harmony in America. Many things lead to the flop. There was no planning, no precautions against fraud, and rival communities. Another project the world did not take was the Grand National Moral Union. Local unions could not control their members and local strikes weakened the total union. Robert Owen has made an impact that is visible to anyone. In the nations in which young children are not in factories, where there are public schools for all, in which poverty and vice are lessened, in which the average work day is eight hours. His ideas have had the most impact on working class and Unions more than any other person. There is hardly a labor reform Owen’s original theories are not

Autobiography: Reunion after Separation

2006-08-31T17:50:59-04:00

Autobiography: Reunion after Separation My name is Duong Pham. I was born in Saigon, Vietnam, in November 11, 1981. I have been here in The United States for almost seven years. I am living with my parents and my two sisters. For less than seven years in United States, I have learned great things both in education and life. Separation in my family shaped my life differently from others, significantly, in family value and education. It gave me a sense of urgency, to strive for better opportunities and joy in life. This is how my new life began; however, the most painful memory in my life, which I will never forget, is my family separation. In 1989, the business in Vietnam was so slow, bankruptcies and debts were all over the country. In September 3, 1989, my father and my oldest sister decided to leave Vietnam in order to seek for a better life, where we can find freedom, better education, and better future. They had to escape, which was hard to get to United States of America by boat, and there were a lot of pains. They didn’t want the rest of us to go with them because they were afraid that we were all going to get caught by the police, or if something bad happened the whole family would die. In addition, I was only 6 years old, my father was afraid that I could not suffer that much of pains. There was no way to contact them after they had left. We cried a lot, every single day, because we thought that either they were dead or the police had caught them. The only thing we could do was pray to God, and hope they were still alive. About two months later, we received their letter. A Holland ship rescued and secured them when they were almost dead because of Tornado. They were taken to Hong Kong. They had to live in Hong Kong for six months and Philippine for six months to wait for the paper work and learn English before they could come to the U.S. They came to the United States in 1990. My father tried to take us over for a family reunion. The U.S immigration called my mom, my older sister and me in 1993 for an interview. Unfortunately, there was a problem; they didn’t believe that my parent’s marriage was real.

Biography of Arthur Miller Literary Works

2006-08-29T15:06:03-04:00

Biography of Arthur Miller Literary Works Arthur Miller was born in New York City on October 17, 1915. He was the second of three children. In growing up, Miller was more interested in his athletics than his curriculum. He was then rejected from the University of Michigan in 1932. Since his scholarship was out of reach he started to progress into a private course in which he read many books and developed his unique writing style. After many tries, Miller was accepted in the University of Michigan in 1934. Miller was a fabulous screenwriter of many plays along with a few novels. Many of his plays have won awards and even have been displayed as motion pictures in the box-office. His works aren’t as famous as William Shakespeare’s, but they are world famous and are always being read. Miller’s Works consist of very dramatic plays and books that have meaningful morals, and tell of great dramas and conflicts. Some of Miller’s works are: -“All My Sons”, Written in 1947. -“Death of a Salesman”, Written in 1949. -“The Crucible”, Written in 1953. -“A View From The Bridge”, Written in 1955. -“After the fall”, Written in 1964. -“Incident at Vicky”, Written in 1964. -“The Price”, Written in 1968. -“The Creation of the World and other business”, Written in 1972. -“The ride down Mount Morgan”, Written in 1981. Miller’s writing outside the theater was prolific and varied. His novel, Focus (1945), is an ironic tale of anti-Semitism. Also the screenplay of the “Misfits”, (1961), is on of seven he has written. “In Russia”, (1969), was a travel peace with illustrations by his wife. “Chinese Encounters”, (1979), is another travelers tale, with “Salesman of Beijing” (1984), is an account of the production of his play in Chinese. “The theater essay of Arthur Miller”, were collected in 1978. In 1987, Miller published Timebends: A life, his biography. Arthur was deeply involved with Merilyn Monroe. They were married and Monroe helped Arthur through many life struggles and through his writing career. Miller didn’t have many artistic and cultural influences, as well as social and economic influences. The only influence that was strong within him was the fact that he has had many struggles in his life and also that he was rejected from college. This made him fight and over come many obstacles, which have formed him into

The Life of Florence Nightingale

2006-08-27T22:06:29-04:00

The Life of Florence Nightingale The history of nursing can be compared with that of the history of woman. When talking about women in nursing, one woman in particular seems to stand out. Florence Nightingale began the modern era of nursing by establishing the foundations for it. She is considered to be the founder of nursing. Born on May 12, 1820 in Florence, Italy, she received a classical education from her father. She later went on to study the European hospital system, and in 1850 she began training in nursing at the Institute of Saint Vincent de Paul in Alexandria, Egypt. She subsequently studied at the Institute for Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserswerth, Germany. In 1853 she became superintendent of the Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen in London. When the Crimean War broke out in 1854, Florence dispatched a letter to the British secretary of war, volunteering her services in Crimea. At the same time, unaware of her action, the minister of war proposed that she assume direction of all nursing operations at the war front. She set out for Üsküdar accompanied by 38 nurses. Under Nightingale's supervision, efficient nursing departments were established at Üsküdar and later at Balaklava in Crimea. Through her tireless efforts the mortality rate among the sick and the wounded was greatly reduced. Florence forever changed the “face” of nursing and nursing education. At the close of the war in 1860, with a fund raised in tribute to her services, Nightingale founded the Nightingale School and Home for Nurses at Saint Thomas's Hospital in London. The opening of this school marked the beginning of professional education in nursing. It is because of her that nursing evolved into what it is today. The Nightingale pledge was wrote by Lystra Gretter, and a Committee for the Farrand Training School for Nurses, Detroit, Michigan as a way to honor the founder of modern nursing. It was first used by the schools graduating class of 1893. It is an adaptation of the Hippocratic Oath taken by physicians. It states as follows: "I solemnly pledge myself before God, and in the presence of this assembly to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate

The Life Of Benjamin Franklin

2006-08-27T15:42:13-04:00

The Life Of Benjamin Franklin When one takes a look at the world in which he currently lives, he sees it as being normal since it is so slow in changing. When an historian looks at the present, he sees the effects of many events and many wise people. Benjamin Franklin is one of these people. His participation in so many different fields changed the world immensely. He was a noted politician as well as respected scholar. He was an important inventor and scientist. Particularly interesting is the impact on the scientific world. Benjamin Franklin was a modest man who had had many jobs in his lifetime. This may help explain his large array of inventions and new methods of working various jobs. He did everything from making cabbage-growing more efficient to making political decisions to being the first person to study and chart the Gulf Stream movement in the Atlantic Ocean. Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1706. He was the fifteenth child in a family of seventeen kids. His parents, Josiah and Abiah Franklin, were hard working devout Puritan/Calvinist people. Josiah Franklin made candles for a living. Since the Franklin’s were so poor, little Benjamin couldn't afford to go to school for longer than two years. In those two years, however, Franklin learned to read which opened the door to further education for him. Since he was only a fair writer and had very poor mathematical skills, he worked to tutor himself at home. Benjamin Franklin was a determined young man. As a boy, he taught himself to be a very good writer. He also learned basic algebra and geometry, navigation, grammar, logic, and natural and physical science. He partially mastered French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Latin. He was soon to be named the best educated man in the country. When he was 12-years-old, he was apprentice to his brother in printing. Benjamin's brother founded the second newspaper in America. Many people told him that one newspaper was enough for America and that the paper would soon collapse. On the contrary, it became very popular. Occasionally, young Benjamin would write an article to be printed

Rupert Chawner Brooke's Biography

2006-08-25T17:34:20-04:00

Rupert Chawner Brooke's Biography Rupert Chawner Brooke was born in 1887 in England. The son of the Rugby School's housemaster, Brooke excelled in both academics and athletics. He entered his father's school at the age of fourteen. A lover of verse since the age of nine, he won the school poetry prize in 1905. A year later, he attended King's College, Cambridge, where he was known for his striking good looks, charm, and intellect. While at Cambridge, he developed an interest in acting and was president of the University Fabian Society. Rupert Brook published his first poems in 1909; his first book, Poems, appeared in 1911. While working on his thesis on John Webster and Elizabethan dramatists, he lived in the house that he made famous by his poem "The Old Vicarage, Grantchester." Popular in both literary and political circles, he befriended Winston Churchill and Henry James. Although he was popular, Brooke had a troubled love life. Between 1908 and 1912 he fell in love with three women. None of the relationships were long lasting. In 1912, after his third romance failed, Brooke left England to travel in France and Germany for several months. Upon his return to England, Brooke received a scholarship at King's College and spent time in both Cambridge and London. In 1912 he compiled an anthology entitled Georgian Poetry, 1911-12, with Edward Marsh. The Georgian poets wrote in an anti-Victorian style, using rustic themes and subjects such as friendship and love. Some critics viewed Brooke's poetry as too sentimental and lacking depth, they also considered his work a reflection of the mood in England during the years leading up to the First World War. After experiencing a mental breakdown in 1913, Brooke traveled again, spending several months in Canada, United States, and the South Seas. While in the South Seas, he wrote some of his best poems, including "Tiare Tahiti" and "The Great Lover." He returned to England at the outbreak of World War I and enlisted in the Royal Naval Division. His most famous work, the sonnet sequence “1914 and Other Poems” appeared in 1915. Later that year, after taking part in the Antwerp Expedition, he died of blood poisoning from a mosquito bite while en route to Gallipoli with the Navy. He was buried on the island of Skyros in the Aegean Sea. Following his death in 1915, Brooke, who was already famous, became a symbol

Dante Alighieri Italian Poet's Biography

2006-08-12T16:55:56-04:00

Dante Alighieri: Italian Poet's Biography The Italian poet Dante Alighieri is known worldwide as one of the greatest poets of all time. His works, including La Vita Nuova and La Commedia Divina or The Divine Comedy, have been translated into several different languages and have inspired great artists both of the past and of modern times to create works of their own concerning the Divine Comedy. However, there is much more to be known about Dante. Not only was he a talented poet, he was also a politician, a statesman, a philosopher, a noble, an exile, and a theologian. Dante was a sort of Renaissance man, even before the idea came into being. There are many aspects about Dante’s character, personality, and his life that are worthy of further knowledge and exploration. Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy in 1265. He states in the Paradisio that he was born when the sun was in Gemini, fixing his birthday between May 18 and June 17 (Gardner 1). When he was just nine years old, an event happened in his life that would forever be the driving force of his existence (Howell 9-10). It was at this time that he met Beatrice, whose name is found in both La Vita Nuova and in The Divine Comedy. She too was only nine years old. They did not have an intimate relationship since for the first nine years he loved her, she never spoke to him. Only when he was nearly eighteen did Beatrice, now grown up into a “marvelous lady,” even bow to him (Walsh 102). Although the two married other people, Beatrice’s death in 1290 at the age of 24 had a profound affect on Dante. As he once said, “The things of the present, with their false pleasure turned my steps aside as soon as your face was hidden.“ (Howell 13). However, he later goes on to say that whatever delinquencies he charged himself were bitterly repented of and nobly atoned for. By 1294, Dante had already completed his La Vita Nuova, a medley of lyric verse and poetic prose, that tells of his love for Beatrice. In it, Dante describes his love for Beatrice as purely spiritual and mystical, showing his philosophical and religious ideals, as well as his thoughts on “Divine Love.” In the Divine Comedy Beatrice holds a very high spiritual position. She is seen as the “blessed soul

Review of Various Hitler Biographies

2006-08-09T12:31:53-04:00

Review of Various Hitler Biographies The historian and Hitler biographer Allan Bullock once wrote of his subject, "the more I learn about Hitler, the less I can explain it." To say the least, Hitler presents a challenge for any biographer. According to one of those who famously accepted the challenge, Joachim Fest, Hilter was an "unperson," whose demonic energy and sheer force of will nearly destroyed an entire civilization. In contrast to the darkly romantic overtones of Fest's interpretation, Bullock viewed Hitler as merely a craven mediocrity, "an opportunist entirely without principle," as he wrote in his 1952 biography, tellingly subtitled "a study in tyranny." There is no end to the historiographical battles over the Third Reich and the phenomenon of Adolph Hitler. There is, it seems, no "getting him right." It is no surprise, then, that Hitler is one of the most written about figures in human history. But oddly enough, until the appearance of Ian Kershaw's now complete two volume life(Hitler 1889-1936:Hubris, Hitler:1936-1945:Nemesis, both Norton), it has been several decades since the last full-scale biography. The recent publication of Kerhshaw's second volume occasioned much acclaim for the British historian, who was lauded as the rightful successor to Fest and Bullock. Indeed, it was pointed out that neither Fest nor Bullock tried to explain Hitler as the product of a unique interaction between the Furher and the German people, as does Kershaw; their narratives focused on his personal traits and habit of mind. For Kershaw, Hitler "was a social product--a creation of social expectations and motivations vested in Hitler by his followers." Gordon Craig, one the most prominent historians of modern Germany, praised Kershaw's efforts in the New York Review of Books: "In the telling of his lamentable story, Kershaw keep his temper, and his tone is level, analytical, and judicious." Similarly, Omer Bartov, in The New Republic, thought very highly of Kershaw¹s method, calling his account "massive, extensively researched, extraordinarily balanced, and remarkably judicious..." He added that Kershaw's work "is likely to remain the definitive biography for a long time to come. It is also a highly readable, often exciting book, even for those who already read as much as they thought they would ever want to about this 'Scourge of God'" By far the best political biography of Adolf Hilter published in recent years is that of Ian Kershaw's," exulted Milton Rosenberg in the Chicago Tribune. "Compared to many others

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce Biography

2006-08-09T12:12:12-04:00

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce Biography Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was born in 1842 into a fairly poor family as the youngest of nine children. He lived in a log cabin in Horse Cave Creek, Ohio as a child. The only formal education he ever received was a single year at the Kentucky Military Institute when he was seventeen years of age. He enlisted with the Ninth Indian Infantry as a drummer boy in the Civil War. Then, in 1864, he was wounded and left the war to live with one of his brothers in San Francisco. There he began his career as a newspaper writer and published his first short story, "The Haunted Valley," in the Overland Magazine in 1871. After marriage, Ambrose lived in London for five years. There he was accepted into the "Fleet Street Gang," a social Parthenon of prominent authors, critics, editors, and "pub-crawlers." After returning to the United States, he spent the year of 1880 gold mining and shotgun riding in the Black Hills of South Dakota for Wells Fargo & Company, but returned to his family in San Francisco. He became editor-in-chief of the weekly Wasp with the New Year’s Day edition, 1881. He went on to write many more short stories, and his first collection, Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, was published in 1891. In 1893, Can Such Things Be? appeared, Bierce’s second and most famous collection of fiction. One of his most recognized short stories, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," was one of the many stories included in his earliest compilations, Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, and later in the 1906 release of The Devil’s Dictionary. In the written story, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," a planter, Peyton Farquhar, is being hanged at Owl Creek Bridge in Northern Alabama. He is being hanged because he hinted to a Federal Spy, unbeknown to him, that he planned to burn Owl Creek Bridge. There are several differences between the written version of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," and the later short film version. Of course, in the written version there are some details that are acted out which would have been very difficult to portray in a film at the time. All of the characters are the same but some of the aspects are slightly different or even completely opposite. Both the written version and the film version of "An Occurrence at Owl

General Biography of Francis Bacon

2006-08-08T09:56:05-04:00

General Biography of Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, lawyer, courtier, statesman, philosopher and master of the English language. He was born year 1561 in London, and was living close within the court of England. Bacon went to Cambridge University where he studied both philosophy and science. Later his predestination to be a diplomat was irrupted, but because of his childhood he several years later returns and manages to work his way to greater titles .

Life of German Historain and Philosopher Oswald Spengler

2006-08-08T09:49:00-04:00

Life of German Historain and Philosopher Oswald Spengler Oswald Spengler was a German historian and philosopher. He was born on May 29, 1880 in Blankenburg (Harz) in central Germany. He was the eldest of four children, and the only boy. At the age of ten, his family moved to the city of Halle. Here Spengler received a classical education in the areas of Greek, Latin, mathematics, and natural science. He also enjoyed the arts, in particular, poetry, drama, and music. Two figures whom he greatly admired were Goethe and Nietzche. At the age of twenty-one, he entered the University of Munich. After a year, he transferred to the University of Berlin and then to Halle. His studies covered many fields, such as classical cultures, mathematics, and physical sciences. In 1904, Spengler received his teaching certificate. After a few years though, he realized this wasn’t the way for him. He left to go his own way, never to return to the teaching profession again. He settled in Munich where he began the writing of his first book. Spengler encountered a few problems before completing his first book. He had difficulty finding a publisher mostly because of the chaotic conditions at the time (WW1). Nevertheless he kept at his work. Finally in 1918, the first volume of the Decline of the West, subtitled Form and Actuality appeared on the shelf. With no surprise to Spengler and his publisher his book was an immediate success. Soon, due to its popularity throughout Europe the book was quickly translated into other languages. Because Spengler was not a trained historian, professional historians took great offense to his work. They were quick to criticize and find errors. In 1922 Spengler issued a revised version of the first book that held minor corrections and new revisions. The next year, the second volume, subtitled Perspectives of World History was put on the shelves. He was satisfied with his work and all other writings were only enlargements on the theme he laid out in Decline. In 1931 he published Man and Technics a book that reflected his fascination with the development and usage, past and future, of the technical. This was a racial book though, but not in a narrow “Germanic” sense. It warns the European or white of the pressing danger from the outer colored races. Another piece of work, Fundamental Questions was published in 1965. Spengler did occasionally give

Complete Benjamin Frankilin Biogrpahy

2006-08-08T09:18:16-04:00

Complete Benjamin Frankilin Biogrpahy Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. He was the tenth son of soap maker, Josiah Franklin. Benjamin's mother was Abiah Folger, the second wife of Josiah. In all, Josiah Franklin was the father of 17 children. Benjamin’s father wanted him to enter into the clergy. However, Josiah could only afford to send Benjamin to school for one year and clergymen needed years of schooling. But, as young boy Benjamin loved to read he had him apprenticed to his brother James, who was a printer. After helping James compose pamphlets and set type which was demanding work. At the age 12 Benjamin began selling their products in the streets. When Benjamin was 15 his brother started The New England Courant the first "newspaper" in Boston. The people aboard only readied most of the newspaper at that time. James's paper carried articles, opinion pieces written by James's friends, advertisements, and news of ship schedules. Benjamin wanted to write for the paper too, but he knew that James would never let him. So Ben began writing letters at night and signing them with the name of a fictional widow, Silence Dogood. Dogood was filled with advice and very critical of the world around her, particularly concerning the issue of how women were treated. Benjamin would sneak the letters under the print shop door at night so no one knew who was writing the pieces. They were a smash hit, and everyone wanted to know who was the real "Silence Dogood." After 16 letters, Benjamin confessed that he had been writing the letters. While James's friends thought Benjamin was quite precocious and funny, James discipline his brother and was very jealous of the intention paid to him. James was thrown in jail for his views, and Benjamin was left to run the paper for several issues. After he was release from jail, James was not grateful to Benjamin for keeping the paper's going. Instead he kept harassing his younger brother. Benjamin could not take it and decided to left in 1723. Benjamin Franklin runs to Philadelphia by boat even though he was born in New York. Franklin meet a lady named Deborah Read who befriended him. Franklin found work as an apprentice printer. He did so well that the governor of Pennsylvania promised to set him up in business for himself if young Franklin would

Biogrpahy of Underground Railroad Heroine Harriet Tubman

2006-08-07T16:48:48-04:00

Biogrpahy of Underground Railroad Heroine Harriet Tubman Harriet Ross was born in Dorchester County, Maryland Plantation in 1820. Her parents were from the Ashanti tribe of West Africa, and they worked as slaves on the Brodas plantation. Their master was very abusive at nights she had to sleep on the kitchen floor, to keep warm she would put her feet in the fireplace ashes. Harriet was hired out as a laborer by the age of 5. Harriet did not like to work indoors, and her masters routinely beat her. By her early teens, Harriet was no longer allowed to work indoors and was hired out as a field hand. She was a hard worker but considered defiant and rebellious. When she was 15 years old, Harriet tried to help a runaway slave. The overseer hit her in the head with a lead weight, which put Harriet in a coma. It took months for her to recover, and for the rest of her life, Harriet suffered from blackouts. In 1844, Harriet married a free black man named John Tubman. (She was born Araminta Ross; she later changed her first name to Harriet, after her mother.). Harriet remained a slave, but she was able to stay in Tubman's cabin at night. Although she was married, Harriet lived in fear of being shipped to the Deep South, a virtual death sentence for any slave. In 1849, her owner of the Brodas plantation died and many of the slaves were to be sold. After hearing of her fate, Harriet planned to escape that very night. She knew her husband would expose her, so the only person she informed was her sister She set out one night on foot. With some assistance from a friendly white woman, Tubman was on her way. This was a strong and self-willed woman, Harriet made the 90mile trip to the Mason-Dixon line with the help of contacts along the Underground Railroad. She had to hike through swamps and woodland. Harriet's trip was successful, and she settled in Philadelphia. She worked as a dishwasher and made plans to rescue her family. The next year, Harriet traveled back to Maryland and rescued her sister's family. Tubman returned to the South again and again. She devised clever techniques that helped make her "forays" successful, including using the master's horse and buggy for the first leg of the journey. Leaving on a Saturday night, since runaway notices

Robert E. Lee Biography

2006-08-07T07:56:52-04:00

Robert E. Lee Biography Robert E. Lee was born in Virginia on January 19, 1807. Robert E. Lee’s father fought in George Washington’s army. As a child Robert and his brother begged his father to tell them about what he did in the army. Roberts father told them the stories many times, but they never got sick of them and always wanted to hear them again. Soon Roberts father had to go on a trip to the West Indies. Roberts Father took him and his brother for a walk before he left. He told them “To be good while he was away, and to always do what you think is best.” A short time after that Roberts father went to the West Indies. Robert never ended up seeing him again. But he never forgot what his father said that day. Robert and his brother weren’t the only children. There were three other children besides Smith and Robert. They were Carter, Ann and a baby named Mildred. Robert loved to ride horses. Robert was speaking to one of his family friends Mary Custis. Mary was a step great- granddaughter of George Washington. He was discussing that he wanted to go to college but it was too expensive. He wanted to go to West Point, a Military Academy, but only a few boys from each state were accepted. Mrs. Lee asked and Roberts’s relatives wrote letters to the Secretary of War saying that Robert was a fine young man. One morning Robert found a letter, which he would find out that he was accepted to West Point. He went through many weeks of training. Robert graduated from West Point as second rank in his class. Robert Fought in many wars and became very powerful and victorious. He fought in the Mexican War, his first war. Later in Robert's life, he was commanded to lead the war against Richmond, Virginia. But Robert refused and instead resigned from the United States Army. Lee Headed the Southerners and won the war against the Northerners. Robert saved Richmond. Lee's greatest victory was against the Northerners; he greatly defeated them with only sixty thousand men while they had one hundred and thirty thousand men. But soon the south became week. Lee decided to invade the North

Biography of Benedict Arnold

2006-08-05T15:36:06-04:00

Biography of Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold played a very important role in our country’s beginning but is mainly remembered for being a traitor. Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1741 in Norwich, Connecticut. His farther, also named Benedict Arnold, was a very well respected war hero due to the part he had played in the Battles of the League. His mother was the wealthy widow Hannah Waterman King before her marriage to Arnold’s father. Arnold went to school at Canterbury and during that time he lost some of his siblings to Yellow Fever. A few poorly made deals produced financial problems and Benedict Arnold was pulled out of school. Arnold was usually getting himself into trouble due to lack of discipline from his parents. His mother’s cousins owned a successful apothecary business. Their names were Joshua and Daniel Lathrop and they gave the young Arnold a job as an apprentice. In 1759, Benedict’s mother died and just two years later so did his father. (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000) Arnold quit his apprenticeship job and traveled to Europe to get supplies to start his own apothecary business. Arnold started his new business in New Haven and his only remaining sibling, his sister, took the position as Arnold’s assistant. Arnold met Margaret Mansfield and in 1767, they got married and the couple would later have three sons. (http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/arnold.html) Benedict Arnold became the captain of the Governor’s Second Company of Guards prior to the beginning of the war. After the war had started, Arnold requested permission from the Committee of Safety of Massachusetts to seize control of Fort Ticonderoga. After getting permission, Arnold and his men marched to Bennington and were surprised when they found that Ethan Allan and his Green Mountain Boys were also ready to take the fort. During the trip to Fort Ticonderoga, Arnold tried to talk Allan into giving up command but he had no success. Both Arnold and Allen agreed to lead the attack together, shoulder to shoulder. On May 10, they made the surprise attack on Ticonderoga, which only had one guard on duty. They broke into the rum stores and celebrated. (http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/arnold.html)(Hakim, Joy. A History of US. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993) The Continental Congress was planning the invasion of Canada, to take Quebec and make

The Biography of Thurgood Marshall

2006-08-05T15:20:10-04:00

The Biography of Thurgood Marshall One man, Thurgood Marshall, has impacted millions of children and adults across America. Thurgood Marshall was an American jurist, civil rights leader, and associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (Encarta Marshall, Thurgood). He was involved in many famous cases, such as Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, in which this report will mostly be about. This famous case dealt with racial imbalances in schools in the United States and the lack of equality children in Southern schools faced at that time. This report will also cover Thurgood Marshall and the lawyer (Roy Wilkins) who assisted him in this case. Thurgood Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 2, 1908. He was educated at Lincoln University and at Howard University Law School. After graduating, Marshall first practiced law in Baltimore where he specialized in civil rights cases. He then moved to New York City, serving the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), where he was “special counsel (1938-50) and director and counsel of the NAACP legal defense and education fund (1938-61)”(Encarta Marshall, Thurgood). Shortly after these duties, Marshal was admitted to practice before U.S. Supreme Court, where he won 29 out of 32 cases. (Encarta Marshall, Thurgood). During his tenure as a lawyer before the Supreme Court, he was assigned a case known as Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka. A lawyer named Roy Wilkins assisted Marshall. Wilkins was born in 1901 in St. Louis Missouri. He was educated at the University of Minnesota. From 1923 - 1931 he was a journalist in Kansas City, Missouri working on a newspaper for the black population, of which he became managing editor. In 1931, he was appointed assistant executive secretary of the NAACP, the largest civil right organization in the U.S. From 1934 - 1939 he was editor of the crisis, the official magazine of the NAACP, (Encarta Wilkins, Roy). Wilkins served as a consultant to the war department on black employment during World War II. After the war, he continued his service for the NAACP; he was executive secretary from 1955 - 1965 and executive director from 1965 until his retirement in 1977. All of these experiences helped him to assist Marshall in a positive way. In assistance to Thurgood Marshall, he played a major role

Biography of Clara Barton

2006-08-01T20:08:26-04:00

Biography of Clara Barton Clara Barton was born in North Oxford, Massachusetts on December 25, 1821 to Stephen and Sarah Barton. As a result of Clara growing up as the youngest child, she was timid and withdrawn. Throughout her life she would always seek acceptance and confirmation of her worth. When Clara was three she began her schooling. Early on, teachers were impressed with this quiet girl’s advanced reading abilities, and soon were also pleased with her accomplishments in writing, arithmetic, and geography. In all her years in school, Clara excelled in the classroom and received much attention and praise as a scholar. While most girls her age were discouraged from active intellectual pursuits, her liberal and unconventional family encouraged her scholastic achievements. Clara would love to engage in playtime battles with her brothers based on wartime stories told by her father, a former captain. At age 11, when her brother David fell from the rafters of a newly raised barn, Clara volunteered to nurse him, and for two years fulfilled this occupation with great devotion. As she grew into adolescence, her parents encouraged her involvement in charitable work such as tutoring children and nursing poor families during a small pox epidemic. Unlike most persons her age, Clara chose to spend most of her free time actively assisting others by alleviating their illnesses or troubles. This was the beginning of a lifetime of work from which she would always receive her greatest satisfaction. In her early adulthood, Clara began teaching at various schools in the community, working without wages in poorer areas; instructing students whose ages in one classroom ranges from toddlers to late teens. But as much as she cared about her students and the classrooms in which she taught, the unique challenges of each school held her interest, and once overcome, she persued new ones elsewhere. In the mid-1840’s Clara started her first crusade to aid the distressed and underprivelaged. At one school, having taught classes in a dilapidated building, and finding the textbooks and supplies inadequate and the attendance inconsistent. Clara carefully drafted a plan for improvements and presented her ideas at the town meeting. Clara’s efforts were rewarded when the school was reestablished in one o the area largest, central mills, and equipped with maps, blackboards, and a

Biography of James Galoway

2006-08-01T20:05:32-04:00

Biography of James Galoway James Galway was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on December 8, 1939. As a child, he began playing the penny whistle and the mouth organ before switching to flute. At the age of ten, he was the winner of all three classes of the Irish Flute Championships, which earned him a BBC radio session, as well as a spot in the Belfast Youth Orchestra. He continued studying the flute at the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music, and eventually landed a scholarship at the Paris Conservatory. He began his career at the Sadler Wells Opera and the Royal Opera Convent Garden which led to positions with the BBC Symphony Orchestra where he played the piccolo, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra where he was Principal Flute. In 1969, he was appointed Principal Flute of the Berlin Philharmonic, and in 1975, Galway launched his solo career, playing 120 concerts within his first year, including appearances with many London orchestras. In 1979, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II all for his contributions to society. Since going solo, Sir James Galway has traveled extensively giving recitals, performing with the world’s top orchestras, participating in chamber music engagements, performing in popular music concerts, and giving master classes. In December of 1997, he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Mozart Players and he began working with them during the 1999/2000 season. Galway has appeared in many spectacular special concerts and events. His most notable one was at Buckingham Palace in July 1991 before The Queen, members of the Royal Family and the Group of Seven Heads of State during the London Summit Meeting. A few more include, a performance of Pink Floyd‘s “The Wall” in Berlin which was televised internationally, several performances at the White House, and a December 1998 performance at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony. Galway tours extensively world wide including recitals in the U.S. and appearances with many major orchestras. He has also become a regular visitor to Japan and Hong Kong, and is in demand at many major European music festivals. Galway has forty nine albums to his credit, and appears as a guest on over fifty others. He has been praised for his remarkable tonal range,

Kim Novak Biography

2006-07-31T18:55:57-04:00

Kim Novak Biography Kim Novak was originally Marilyn Pauline Novak, born in Chicago on February 13, 1933. She was the daughter of a Slavic railroad worker and a former teacher. Novak’s first job after high school was modeling teen fashions for a local department store. Before going into films, she worked as an elevator operator, dental assistant, store clerk, and toured the country as “Miss Deepfreeze,” a refrigerator spokes-model. In the early 1950s, Novak moved to Los Angeles to pursue modeling and acting. Her first film was a small part in The French Line (1954) with Jayne Mansfield. After a talent agent arranged for a screen test with Columbia Pictures, she was awarded a six month contract. Columbia studio chief Harry Cohn worked to groom the icy blond Novak into a sex symbol in the league of Rita Hayworth, whose career was in decline, and as a competitor to another blonde, Marilyn Monroe, whose career was on the rise. Fiercely protective of his new hot property, Cohn objected to Novak’s serious romance with black star Sammy Davis Jr., and allegedly threatened Davis with physical harm if he did not break off the relationship. Cohn also paid $15,000 to prevent scandalous photographs of Novak from appearing in the media. By 1956, Novak was the number one female box office attraction due to her performances in such films as Phffft! (1954) with Jack Lemmon and Judy Holliday, The Man With the Golden Arm (1955) with Frank Sinatra, Picnic (1956), and The Eddie Duchin Story (1956). She crossed paths with Sinatra again in Pal Joey (1957), and turned in one of her best-known performances in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958). Novak’s alleged romantic liasons with Davis, Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Cary Grant, and Aly Khan made regular gossip column news and added to her appeal with the public. She acted in a number of films in the 1960s, including Pepe (1960), Of Human Bondage (1964), and The Great Bank Robbery (1969), but did not maintain the popularity that she enjoyed in the 1950s. She retired from the screen in the late 1970s to raise horses and breed llamas, but ventured into a few film and television roles in the 1980s. In 1986-87 she played the role of Kit Marlowe in the night time television soap opera Falcon Crest. Novak married twice, first to British actor Richard Johnson (1965-66), then in

Biographical Report on Robert Frost

2006-07-31T12:45:48-04:00

Biographical Report on Robert Frost Robert Frost was born in San Francisco in 1874. He moved to New England at the age of eleven and became interested in reading and writing poetry during his high school years in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Analysis of Hersey and Hiroshima

2006-07-31T12:35:40-04:00

Analysis of Hersey and Hiroshima Hiroshima traces the experiences of six residents who survived the atomic blast of August 6, 1945 at 8:15 am. The six people vary in age, education, financial status and employment. Miss Toshiko Sasaki, a personnel clerk; Dr. Masakazu Fuji, a physician; Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura, a tailor's widow with three small children; Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge, a German missionary priest; Dr. Terufumi Sasaki, and the Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto are the six Hersey chose from dozens of people he interviewed. The book opens with what each person was doing moments before the blast and follows their next few hours, continuing through the next several days and then ending with their situation a year later. In the opening chapter, "A Noiseless Flash" he gives short scenarios of what each was doing moments before the blast and immediately after. The second chapter, "The Fire," picks up with each victim as they begin to assess their surroundings. All face a different sort of horror as they realize their lives have been spared yet the world as they knew it is gone. "Details Are Being Investigated" is the title of the third chapter. As the title suggests, inhabitants of Hiroshima are being bombarded with rumors about the bomb and eagerly await any official word. Information is scarce and the phrase "details are being investigated" is repeated throughout the city over makeshift communications. This chapter is the longest and details what is happening to the six as the day passes into night. Some readers might be confused by the significance of the title of the fourth chapter: "Panic Grass and Feverfew." The effect the bomb had not only left the underground organs of plants intact but also had stimulated growth of the wild flowers and plants. Two of these plants that grew profusely around the scars of the city were panic grass and Feverfew. This chapter traces the effect of the nuclear radiation on the residents. Four of the six suffer from radiation sickness in varying degrees. This is the final chapter in the original book. Hersey concludes the stories with a report of where each victim is at this point in his or her life a year after the bomb had fallen. In his addition to the original text, the fifth chapter called the Aftermath, Hersey returns to interview the six survivors and see how their lives have been altered by the blast

James Boswell Biography

2006-07-31T08:37:20-04:00

James Boswell Biography James Boswell is a unique figure in English literature: a classic by virtue of the three masterpieces he published, he is also, in one sense, a contemporary (Collins 7). Much of his best work has been published only in the last thirty years, and some still awaits publication, so that our ideas of the man and his art are still being continuously modified (Collins 7). James Boswell was born in Edinburgh on October 29, 1740 (Collins 6). He is the son of Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, who was a judge in the Scotland supreme courts (“James Boswell (1740-1795)”). Boswell’s mother, Euphemia Erskire, was descended from a minor branch of Scottish royalty (“James Boswell (1740-1795)”). James was the eldest child in the family (“James Boswell: Biographer, Diarist & Travel Writer 1740-1795”). Boswell attended the University of Edinburgh where he studied arts and law. He was already keeping a journal at age 18 (“James Boswell (1740-1795)”). In 1759, Boswell’s father sent him to the University of Glasgow to separate his son from an actress (“James Boswell (1740-1795)”). James ran away to London in 1759 and embraced Roman Catholicism, planning to become a monk (“James Boswell (1740-1795)”). In 1762, Boswell was permitted another trip to London, where he made full use of his freedom, overindulging in drink and sex (“James Boswell: Biographer, Diarist & Travel Writer 1740-1795”). In 1763, he was sent to study law at Utrecht and then traveled widely over the continent (“James Boswell: Biographer, Diarist & Travel Writer 1740-1795”). In Davies’s Bookshop in May 1763, Boswell met the man who was to become the central figure in his life, Dr. Samuel Jackson (“James Boswell: Biographer, Diarist & Travel Writer 1740-1795”). Moving back to Scotland in 1766, James was admitted to the bar and he practiced law in Edinburgh for 20 years (“James Boswell (1740-1795)”). Then he visited Corsica, meeting the Corsica leader General Paoli and in 1768 he published An Account of Corsica, which won him an international reputation (“James Boswell: Biographer, Diarist & Travel Writer 1740-1795”). In 1769, Boswell married Margaret Montgomerie, his cousin; and they had 7 children together (“James Boswell (1740-1795)”). Though his visits to London were restricted to the vacations of the Court of Session, Boswell kept his contacts to Johnson, and was elected to the Literary

Loyalty and Entrepreneurship of Henry Ford

2006-07-31T08:33:07-04:00

Loyalty and Entrepreneurship of Henry Ford Henry Ford once said, “I will build a motorcar for the masses…constructed of the best materials, by the best me to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise…so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God’s great open spaces.” (Willamette 1) This is one of his most memorable yet earliest public quotes in history, that can easily sum up his whole life. Ford was much more than a person who made cars. He was a man with biblical principles; his main goal in life was to make it possible for everyone to afford a car, he was a loyal citizen, and a popular philanthropist. Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 on a farm near Greenfield Michigan where he lived a normal childhood. At thirteen years old Ford became obsessed with the “horseless carriage”, after he witnessed a steam engine rolling down the street on its own (Lacey 8). Ford, being an inquisitive child, ran up to the engineer and asked him many questions. After getting all his answers the engineer actually let him drive the engine (Robert 9). Four years later, he went to work in Detroit as a machinist (Sahlman 1). One year later, he met Thomas Edison and earned a job at Detroit Edison Illuminating Co. (Caldwell 21). Ford and Edison became life long friends, and because of Edison’s continued encouragement Ford built the first quadricycle gas powered car in 1896 (Salhman 1). In 1903 he founded his company The Ford Motor Co. (Caldwell 21). Ford invented the assembly line in 1913 to be able to produce his cars more rapidly then any other company (Willamette 1). He was the first to use the moving conveyor belt in his factories (Encarta). In 1908, he introduced the Model T. The Model T’s were sold at an affordable price of $850 (Willamette 2). In 1920, 4 million Model T’s were sold nationwide (Williamette 2). When Ford came out with the assembly line for the Model T the price dropped to $490. Due to mass production in 1925 from the assembly line profits were increased. This enabled the price to be decreased to

Loyalty and Entrepreneurship of Henry Ford

2006-07-31T08:32:16-04:00

Loyalty and Entrepreneurship of Henry Ford

2006-07-31T08:29:17-04:00

Biography of Children's Writers Jan and Stan Berenstein

2006-07-31T08:24:09-04:00

Biography of Children's Writers Jan and Stan Berenstein Jan Berenstein was born on July 26, 1923, Pennsylvania. Her husband and partner Stan

Biography on Clive Cussler; 1931-Present

2006-07-30T21:41:51-04:00

Biography on Clive Cussler; 1931-Present Eric Clive Cussler was born in 1931 in Aurora Illinois. He attended Pasadena city college in 1949 and remained their until 1951. He also attended Orange Coast College and California State University. He was enrolled in the military from 1950 to 1954. While enrolled he became a sergeant. In 1955 he Married Barbara Knight and they now have three children, Teri, Dirk, Dana. In his working career he started out with Bestgen & Cussler Advertising in which he was the owner from 1961-65. He was the copy director for Darcys Advertising in Hollywood from 1965 to 1967. He then became the vice president and creative director for Mefford Advertising 1970-75 (Contemporary Popular Writers). Then he established NUMA which stands for National Underwater Marine Agency. This agency consists of a crew of marine experts and NUMA volunteers. They have discovered more than 60 historical significant underwater wreck sites. This organization takes all their findings and turn them over to non-profits, universities, or government entities throughout the country (www.numa.net/CliveCussler/bio.htm). Clive is also a member of several organizations. They are Royal Geographic society in London, Writers Guild, Colorado Author’s club in which he is the president, and the Explorers Club in New York. Clive writes adventure novels for the young at heart. He began writing novels in 1965, He published his first book in 1973. In his main series of books there is one main character. His name is Dirk Pitt and he has been referred to by many as a mix between James Bond and Jacques Cousteau. He solves mysteries that most times have to do with the sea. In the books Pitt works for NUMA a United States Government agency like the CIA. Every book he writes has Dirk ending up in some unbelievable situation that is almost impossible to deal with. His first novel was Raise the Titanic (1976), in this book Pitt was introduced and the series took off. As the series has developed so has the counterparts and villains. Cussler does however start out each book with a side story. It always takes place in the past and involves a ship of some sort. After the side story the real novel begins but in the end the novels

Biography on Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks

2006-07-30T19:55:29-04:00

Biography on Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was born on June 7, 1917, in Topeka, Kansas. Her parents were David Anderson Brooks and Keziah Wims Brooks. Her mother had come home to Topeka from Chicago to give birth to her child. When Gwendolyn was one month old, the family returned to Chicago. Despite her extensive travels and periods in some of the major universities of the country, she has remained associated with the city's South Side. She was one of two children. Her brother, Raymond, became an artist. Encouraged by her parents, Gwendolyn began to write poetry at about age 7. When she was a teenager, her first poem she wrote 'Eventide' appeared in a well-known magazine of her time, called American Childhood. This was a first clue to her parents that she would soon become a famous writer or a poet. Brooks met the leading black writers James Weldon Johnson and Langston Hughes, who told her to read modern poetry and eventually encouraged her to begin write poetry as a profession. She continued to write poetry while attending school. More than 75 of her poems were printed in the Chicago Defender, a local newspaper. She originally went to an all-white school called Hyde Park High School but was then transferred to an all-black High school where she graduated from. The name of the school she graduated from was Englewood High School in 1934, she entered Wilson Junior College, where she majored in literature. She graduated in 1938, then worked as a typist until after she got married, in 1938, to Henry Lowington Blakely, a Chicago businessman. They had two children, a son, Henry Lowington, Jr., and a daughter, Nora. Gwendolyn Brooks's first book of poems, 'A Street in Bronzeville', was published in 1945. 'Annie Allen' (1949), a ballad of Chicago African American life, earned its author the Pulitzer prize for poetry in 1950.'Bronzeville Boys and Girls', a book of children's poems, was published in 1956. Gwendolyn Brooks's other books of verse include 'The Bean Eaters' (1960), contains poems about the 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi, lynching, and the integration of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. 'Selected Poems' (1963), 'In the Mecca' (1968), ("the Mecca" referring to a South Side apartment building) which included poems to Malcolm X, slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, and

Steve Irwin

2006-07-30T03:22:00-04:00

‘ My fingers clamped around the croc’s thick neck and my chin slammed into its bony head as my chest landed on its back and my legs wrapped around the base of the tail. With eyes wide open I was being thrashed around in the muddy water. I saw pulses of light as I rolled over and over. There’s no way I was letting go and I hung on for grim death.’ The glowing afternoon sun had already dropped below the horizon, leaving the rugged landscape of the outback under a heavy veil of darkness. When most people would venture back to their houses in preparation for dinner, nine-year-old Steve Irwin was out under the mercy of the cruel Australian outback, attempting his first crocodile capture. Rarely seen without dirt under his fingernails or dressed in anything apart from his famous khaki uniform, Irwin's 'Aussie' boyish good looks, larger-than-life personality and unique ability to capture the oldest prehistoric dinosaur of our time, has ultimately earned him the legendry title 'The Crocodile Hunter' amongst loyal fans around the world. The extraordinary life of crocodile legend Steve Irwin has expertly been captured within his one hundred and forty-four page autobiography, appropriately entitled ‘The Crocodile Hunter’. Throughout the book, Steve recounts his most memorable moments growing up surrounded by wildlife, which have ultimately contributed to the dedication he possesses towards wildlife today, from receiving his first python at six years of age, to playing cops and robbers with his best friends, a pet emu, brolga and curlew, Born in Essendon, on February 22, 1962 to keen naturalists and herpetologists, Bob and Lyn Irwin, Steve began to demonstrate such personal traits of passion and dedication towards wildlife and environmental conservation from an early age. The majority of Steve’s childhood was filled with numerous adventures and countless animal encounters, from spotting and capturing, to basically living and breathing the outback. Through years of watching his father efficiently work through the process of capturing one of the most dangerous animals in Australia, almost as routinely as if he were about to sit down for a cup of coffee, Steve’s fascination and knowledge developed, and soon he found his dad teaching him the Irwin technique of catching a crocodile he would grow up to know so well. Whilst recounting his childhood, Steve chooses to portray himself as a naive adolescent, which he ultimately achieves by including such self-discourses

Biographical Reference on Martin Luther King, Jr.

2006-07-29T16:45:25-04:00

Biographical Reference on Martin Luther King, Jr. One of the world's best known advocates of non-violent social change strategies, Martin Luther King, Jr., synthesized ideas drawn from many different cultural traditions. Born in Atlanta on January 15, 1929, King's roots were in the African-American Baptist church. He was the grandson of the Rev. A. D. Williams, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist church and a founder of Atlanta's NAACP chapter, and the son of Martin Luther King, Sr., who succeeded Williams as Ebenezer's pastor and also became a civil rights leader. Although, from an early age, King resented religious emotionalism and questioned literal interpretations of scripture, he nevertheless greatly admired black social gospel proponents such as his father who saw the church as a instrument for improving the lives of African Americans. Morehouse College president Benjamin Mays and other proponents of Christian social activism influenced King's decision after his junior year at Morehouse to become a minister and thereby serve society. His continued skepticism, however, shaped his subsequent theological studies at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, and at Boston University, where he received a doctorate in systematic theology in 1955. Rejecting offers for academic positions, King decided while completing his Ph. D. requirements to return to the South and accepted the pastorate of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. On December 5, 1955, five days after Montgomery civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to obey the city's rules mandating segregation on buses, black residents launched a bus boycott and elected King as president of the newly-formed Montgomery Improvement Association. As the boycott continued during 1956, King gained national prominence as a result of his exceptional oratorical skills and personal courage. His house was bombed and he was convicted along with other boycott leaders on charges of conspiring to interfere with the bus company's operations. Despite these attempts to suppress the movement, Montgomery bus were desegregated in December, 1956, after the United States Supreme Court declared Alabama's segregation laws unconstitutional. In 1957, seeking to build upon the success of the Montgomery boycott movement, King and other southern black ministers founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As SCLC's president, King emphasized the goal of black voting rights when he spoke at the Lincoln Memorial during the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom. During 1958, he published his first book, Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. The following year, he

Biography of Galileo Galilei

2006-07-29T16:05:56-04:00

Biography of Galileo Galilei “In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.” For Galileo Galilei this thought meant everything. He went against everyone and believed what he thought was true. Many disrespected him and thought he was insane to question the theories of many great scientists of that day. He proved to be right a portion of the time. Galilieo the Great fits him better than Galileo Galilei, “cause great he was. Galileo was born on February 15, 1564 in Pisa, Italy. His father, Vincenzio Galilei, was a Florentine patrician. His father also taught music and wrote against the prevailing abstract, numeral theories of harmony. Galileo’s first dream was a musician due to the fact that his father was very involved in music. A private tutor provided Galileo’s education. Then his education was given to him by the Camaldolese monks of Vallombrosa. Finally Galileo reached collage. At this point in his life he decided he wanted to be a medical student. With this in mind he enrolled in the University of Pisa as a medical student. Approximately 2 years later he began studying mathematics with a family friend, Ostilio Ricci. Galileo left the University in 1585 without a degree. Galileo started applying mathematics to physics. This helped him start forming theorems about the center of gravity of solids bodies and a treatise on the hydrostatic balance. He then became interested in uniform beating of pendulums and the speed of descent bodies in air and in water. Most physics before Galileo was treated as a branch of Aristotelian philosophy. Heavy bodies were supposed to fall at speeds the same as its weight, seeking the center of the earth. Thrown bodies supposedly were kept in motion either by some property of the air or a temporary force put into them by the thrower. It was all different for Galileo. In 1590 he wrote a treatise on motion in which he disputed nearly every assumption of Aristotelian physics. He held the view that bodies composed of the same of material fall with the same speed through a given medium regardless of their weights. He supported his theory based on the principle of Archimedes. Galileo achieved many

Biography of Female Tennis Pro Billie Jean Moffitt

2006-07-29T15:50:44-04:00

Biography of Female Tennis Pro Billie Jean Moffitt Billie Jean Moffitt was born November 22, 1943 in Long Beach, California. She was named Billie Jean for her who was a Navy man who served in World War II. In 1948 Billie’s brother Randy was born. At a young age Billie developed an interest in softball, basketball, and football. She was given the name “Tom Boy”, a name given to girls who happen to like sports better than little girl things. Her mother suggested a more feminine sport. Billie decided to play tennis. She saved up money for her first racquet by doing odd jobs around her neighborhood. She bought her first racquet when she was 10 years old. Billie took lessons at a public park in Long Beach with Mr. Clyde Walker. Mr. Walker taught her how to hit the ball, and immediately Billie knew she would love tennis. Billie Jean’s parents clearly spelled out neatness, discipline, patriotism, and right and wrong. They also instilled in their children a desire to win. Everyday Billie played tennis and her brother, Randy, played baseball at the park. Randy later became a pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. Billie entered her first tournament at age 11. When the picture of the players in the tournament was going to be taken, she was asked to stay out of the picture because she was not wearing a tennis dress. This left a deep impression on the 11 year old, and she decided then and there that someday she would make some changes in tennis. (Church, 1976) “Tennis had been played for hundreds of years before Billie Jean discovered it. In the courts of Persia and in the castles of the Middle Ages, it was first played with a hand glove, then with a paddle, and later with a racquet. From the very earliest times, tennis had been associated with the upper class. Rules and etiquette surrounding the game were very strict and prissy: only white could be worn; no one could shout at matches; only polite quiet applause was allowed. Too bad that such a marvelous sport as tennis was surrounded with such stuffiness.” (Deford, 1982) Billie Jean’s career had been a career of firsts. In 1968 she was the first woman

Biography of Ernest Hemingway

2006-07-29T15:37:29-04:00

Biography of Ernest Hemingway What do working at a newspaper, driving an ambulance in World War I, and traveling throughout the world have in common? These diverse experiences helped to shape Ernest Miller Hemingway into a great American author, an author who would shape and influence the styles of writers since his time. Growing up in Oak Park, Illinois, Hemingway lived a middle class childhood with a controlling mother, who he felt bitter toward as he grew older, and a father was also strict, selfish and domineering. He graduated high school in 1917 and became a reporter for the Kansas City Star. During World War I, he drove ambulance in Italy, was wounded in both knees by shrapnel from an explosion, and fell in love with an American nurse who took care of him. After the war, he became a correspondent for the Toronto Star, and lived in Paris. His work as a correspondent would continue into two more wars, during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), and for the United States during World War II. After the war, he settled in Havana, Cuba and in 1958, moved to Ketchum, Idaho, where he ended his life with a shotgun blast to the head. While a writer for the Kansas City Star, Ernest Hemingway learned the skills that he would use throughout his career. The style sheet in the newsroom contained these instructions: “Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English.” He was also influenced by the writings of Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Ezra Pound, and Gertrude Stein. Hemingway abandoned the too-flowery descriptive writing of the Victorian era, and was said to “…write(s) as if he had never read anybody’s writing, as if he had fashioned the art of writing himself.” He also created a character that has become known as the “Hemingway Hero.” These heroes will risk their lives for a principle, but will never sacrifice their honor. The “principle” that the Hemingway hero tried to live up to, has been described by Hemingway scholar Phillip Young as the: “Hemingway Code Hero.” This code hero could be a person that the hero tried to be like, or the code hero might be a principle or idea that the hero tried to uphold. The hero grew out of Hemingway’s belief that the trials a

Biography of Nobel Prize Winner, William Butler Yeats

2006-07-28T08:40:02-04:00

Biography of Nobel Prize Winner, William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats was not just an extremely well-known Nobel Prize winning author, he was a very influential Irishman in the political and social fields of the time. Although given much more credit for his poetry rather than the social groups which arose from his influence, he was very involved in society. Yeats was born near Dublin, Ireland in Silgo on June 13, 1865, into an Anglo-Irish Protestant family. He was educated at Dublin and London. During his education he studied art and writing. At the age of twenty-three, Yeats wrote his first book, and during 1888 he became madly entranced with a woman by the name of Maud Gonne. Although he asked for her hand in marriage on many different occasions, she always returned him a declination in response. Finally, in 1916 Maud Gonne married a soldier and Yeats surrendered his pursuit. Yeats was not discontented for too long however, for he married Georgina Hyde-Lees in 1917. Yeats’ writings underwent many changes. From 1900 until 1907, William endeavored into the field of writing plays, which were esoteric (full of poetry and prose writings) and expressed his critical ideas, after which he returned to his most familiar field, poetry. Soon after his return to poetry (1923 to be precise), he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He published The Tower (1928), and then in 1933 he published yet another, The Winding Stair. Both of these books are based on Georgina’s writing and speech, which greatly influenced Yeats’ writings. The titles of these refer to a Norman fortification that Yeats acquired in 1917 called Thoor Balleylee in County Galway. Yeats’ writings consisted mainly of lyrical, romantic, and mythological poetry. His poetry was full of individual idioms and tones of allusiveness that were nurtured by his interests. Yeats continued to write poetry throughout the rest of his life, until a day or two before his death at Roqueburne, France in 1939. Yeats’ political pursuits began early in his life. During his time of schooling in London and Dublin, he founded the fin de siècle, a society of poets. With the aid of Ernest Rhys, he helped to found the Rhymers Club which dabbled in theosophy and the occult. He lead the Irish Literary Revival which lead to his founding

Life and Career of Edgar Allan Poe

2006-07-28T08:20:00-04:00

Life and Career of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe’s whole fifteen-year career was a constant struggle for survival. He received only ten dollars for “The Raven” which was first published in 1845, and, within a few months, read, and recited wherever the English language was spoken. Less than a year later his brother poet, N. P. Willis, issued this touching appeal on the behalf of the Edgar. "Here Born in poverty at Boston, January 19 1809, dying painfully in Baltimore, October 7, 1849 is one of the finest scholars, one of the most original men of genius, and one of the most industrious of the literary profession of our country, whose temporary suspension of labor, from bodily illness, drops him immediately to a level with the common objects of public charity. There is no intermediate stopping-place, no respectful shelter, where, with the delicacy due to genius and culture, be might secure aid, till, with returning health, he would resume his labors, and his un-mortified sense of independence." {An Appreciation} Edgar's father, a son of General David Poe, the American revolutionary patriot and friend of Lafayette, had married Elizabeth Arnold Poe, an English actress and pursued the stage as a profession for himself. Alcoholism destroyed his acting career and he abandoned his wife and three children of which Edgar was the infant. Edgar’s mother fell ill while performing in Richmond Virginia and died on December 8, 1811, at the age of twenty-four. Her three children, who would maintain contact with one another throughout their lives, were sent to live with different foster families. Apparently the future poet was to be cast upon the world’s homeless. Fate decreed that a few glimmers of sunshine were to occur in his life for he was adopted by John Allan, a wealthy merchant of Richmond, VA. Other foster homes cared for his brother and sister. In his new home Edgar found all the luxury and advantages money could provide. He was spoiled and shown off to visitors and friends of the household. In Mrs. Allan he found all the affection a childless woman could bestow. Mr. Allan took much pride in the little boy. At the age of five he recited, with fine form, passages of English poetry to visitors of the Allan household. Although never formally adopted by them, Poe regarded the couple, especially Mrs. Allan, as parents, and he took

Life and Career of Edgar Allan Poe

2006-07-28T08:19:40-04:00

Life and Career of Edgar Allan Poe

2006-07-28T08:18:44-04:00

Biography of Kim Il Sung

2006-07-28T08:14:48-04:00

Biography of Kim Il Sung He was born on April 15, 1912, Pyongyang, to a poor family. His family, a most patriotic and revolutionary one, was in the best of the people's fight for many generations, from the beginning of the modern revolutionary movement of the Korean people for the independence of the country, the freedom and liberation of the people and for the victory of the noble revolutionary best of the working class. He grew up, receiving his revolutionary education at home and acquiring a revolutionary outlook on the world through study and revolutionary practice; he became a prominent revolutionary. During his Yuwen Middle School days in Jilin from 1927 to 1929, he rallied young students around revolutionary organizations, educated and trained them through struggles against the Japanese imperialists and reactionary warlords. He led the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle centering on armed struggle to victory, and achieved national liberation on August 15, 1945. The anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle he trained a strong revolutionary force. He accomplished the cause of founding the party by forming the Central Organizing Committee of the Communist Party of North Korea on October 10, 1945 and following this, he organized different mass organizations, including the General Federation of Trade Unions of North Korea, thus rallying broad sections of the people closely behind the Party. He effected the agrarian reform, nationalization of industries and other democratic reforms and thus victoriously carried out the tasks of the anti-imperialist, anti-feudal democratic revolution in the northern half of Korea in a short space of time. He organized the People's Committee of North Korea, the first government of proletarian dictatorship in Korea, in February 1947, and was elected chairman. He gave intelligent leadership to the movement of agricultural cooperation and the socialist transformation of the urban handicraft and capitalist industries and trade, and established the socialist system in the northern half of the country. He defined the ideological, technical and cultural revolutions as the main content of the revolution to be carried out in socialist society after establishment of the socialist system and as the task of the revolution which must be continued until communism has become a reality. I think he pressed ahead with all three revolutions. The comprehend the ideas and theories on the essence of the socialist rural question, the basic principle of solving it successfully and the regional base of socialist rural construction. He raised national reunification

Biography of Kim Il Sung

2006-07-28T08:13:21-04:00

Langston Hughes an American Poet

2006-07-27T15:33:39-04:00

American Poet, Langston Hughes Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902 and died May 22, 1967, was an African-American author. James Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri. He published works in all forms of literature, but he was best known for his poetry and his sketches about a black

The Life of Malcolm X

2006-07-27T12:28:58-04:00

The Life of Malcolm X Malcolm X was born on May 19, 1925 in Omaha Nebraska. His real name was Malcolm Little. Louis Norton Little, his mother, was a housewife occupied with eight children. Earl Little, his father, was a Baptist minister who supported the Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. Because of Earl’s civil rights activism, death threats were given by the white supremacist organization the Black Legion. Forcing the family to move twice before Malcolm’s fourth birthday. They tried very hard to stay away from the legion, but in 1929 their house in Lansing, Michigan was burned to the ground. Two years later Earl Little’s Body was found mutilated on the town’s trolley tracks. The police said both were accidents, but the Little family knew that the Black Legion was responsible. Several years after the death of Earl Little, his wife Louis Little had an emotional breakdown and was placed in a mental institution. Malcolm and the seven other children were placed in foster homes and orphanages. When Malcolm was in junior high, he was a smart and focused student, he gradated at the top of his class. He had a dream of being a lawyer, but he lost interest in school and dropped out when a favorite teacher told him that trying to be a lawyer was “no realistic goal for a nigger”. He moved to Boston working at different jobs. Then he traveled to Harlem where he committed petty crimes. By 1942 Malcolm was organizing narcotic, prostitution and gambling rings. In 1946 Malcolm moved back to Boston. There he was arrested and convicted on burglary charges. In his seven-year prison sentence, he furthered his education. Malcolm’s brother Reginald visited to talk about the Muslim religious organization the Nation of Islam. Malcolm then started to study the teachings of Elijah Muhammad the Leader of the Nation of Islam. When Malcolm got paroled in 1952 he was a devoted follower. He changed his last name from “Little” to “X”; saying that “little” was a slave name and “X” was a lost tribal name. Malcolm was later appointed a minister and a national spokesman for the Nation of Islam. He also made new mosques in Detroit, Michigan and Harlem, New York. He also used newspaper columns, radio, and television to get the Nation of Islam’s message across the United States. From 1952 to 1963 Malcolm was

Biography of Guitar Player Randall Rhoads

2006-07-27T08:09:46-04:00

Biography of Guitar Player Randall Rhoads Randall William Rhoads was born on December 6, 1956 at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California. With one brother (Doug) and one sister (Kathy), Randy was the youngest of three. When Randy was 17 months old his father, William Arthur Rhoads, a public school music teacher, left and all three children were raised by their mother, Delores Rhoads. William Rhoads would later remarry, producing Dan and Paul,... "half" brothers to Randy. Randy started taking guitar lessons around the age of 6 or 7 at a music school in North Hollywood called Musonia, which was owned by his mother. His first guitar was a Gibson (acoustic) that belonged to Delores Rhoads’ father. Randy and his sister (Kathy) both began folk guitar lessons at the same time with Randy later taking piano lessons (at his mother’s request) so that he could learn to read music. Randy’s piano lessons did not last very long. At the age of 12, Randy became interested in rock guitar. His mother, Delores, had an old semi-acoustic Harmony Rocket, that at that time was "almost larger than he was". For almost a year Randy took lessons from Scott Shelly, a guitar teacher at his mother’s school. Scott Shelly eventually went to Randy’s mother explaining that he could not teach him anymore as Randy knew everything that he (Scott Shelly) knew. When Randy was about 14, he was in his first band,Violet Fox, named after his mothers middle name, Violet. With Randy playing rhythm guitar and his brother Doug playing drums, Violet Fox were together about 4 to 5 months. Randy was in various other bands, such as "The Katzenjammer Kids" and "Mildred Pierce", playing parties in the Burbank area before he formed Quiet Riot in 1976 with longtime friend and bassist Kelly Garni. Randy Rhoads and Kelly Garni (whom Randy taught to play bass guitar) met Kevin DuBrow through a mutual friend from Hollywood. How they actually got together is a different story with many variations: A.) The two contacted Kevin DuBrow, went to his house to "audition" him but originally weren’t interested in having him as a vocalist. Kevin kept calling Randy and Kelly until they eventually decided to try him out as a vocalist. B.) Randy and Kelly Garni auditioned Kevin DuBrow in Delores Rhoads’ kitchen. Kevin sang for them, then said something to the point of, "well

Complete Biography of Benjamin Franklin

2006-07-27T08:08:43-04:00

Complete Biography of Benjamin Franklin When one takes a look at the world in which he currently lives, he sees it as being normal since it is so slow in changing. When an historian looks at the present, he sees the effects of many events and many profound people. Benjamin Franklin is one of these people. His participation in so many different fields changed the world immensely. He was a noted politician as well as respected scholar. He was an important inventor and scientist. Particularly interesting is his impact on the scientific world. Benjamin Franklin was a modest man who had had many jobs in his lifetime. This may help explain his large array of inventions and new methods of working various jobs. He did everything from making cabbage growing more efficient to making political decisions to being the first person to study and chart the Gulf Stream movement in the Atlantic Ocean. Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1706. He was the fifteenth child in a family of seventeen kids. His parents, Josiah and Abiah Franklin, were hard working devout Puritan/Calvinist people. Josiah Franklin made candles for a living. Since the Franklins were so poor, little Benjamin couldn't afford to go to school for longer than two years. In those two years, however, Franklin learned to read which opened the door to further education for him. Since he was only a fair writer and had very poor mathematical skills, he worked to tutor himself at home. Benjamin Franklin was a determined young man. As a boy, he taught himself to be a very good writer. He also learned basic algebra and geometry, navigation, grammar, logic, and natural and physical science. He partially mastered French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Latin. He was soon to be named the best-educated man in the country. When he was 12-years-old, he was apprentice to his brother in printing. Benjamin's brother founded the second newspaper in America. Many people told him that one newspaper was enough for America and that the paper would soon collapse. On the contrary, it became very popular. Occasionally, young Benjamin would write an article to be printed and slip it under the printing room's door signed as "Anonymous". The following is a direct quote from Franklin's Autobiography. It describes his writing the articles as a boy. "He (Benjamin's older brother) had

Complete Biography of Benjamin Franklin

2006-07-27T08:06:36-04:00

Biography of Adolf Hitler

2006-07-25T12:41:24-04:00

Biography of Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler, aka 'Der Führer' ('The Leader'). Was born in Germany. He was directly responsible for the deaths of 66 million world wide, during the second World War. Following the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles penalizes the defeated Germany, annexing land, imposing large war reparations, limiting the size of the army and blaming Germany and Austria-Hungary for starting the conflict. The new German government, a coalition of left-leaning and centrist parties, attempts to rebuild the country but faces opposition from the right and extreme left. The instability is exacerbated by the failure of the domestic and global economies. Born on 20 April 1889 in Braunau am Inn, Austria, into a middle class family. His father is a customs official.. After finishing secondary school he lives in Vienna and attempts to study art but is twice rejected by the Academy of Fine Arts. 3 - He moves to Munich. When the First World War breaks out the following year be volunteers for service with the German army, joining the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment. He serves with distinction throughout the war and is awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class, in December 1914, and the Iron Cross, First Class, in August 1918. Following the war, Hitler returns to Munich and begins to become involved in politics. He joins the German Workers' Party in September. A gifted and inspiring public speaker, he is soon placed in charge of the party's propaganda. In 1920 the party is renamed the National Socialist (Nazi) Party. The party's platform calls for the removal of civil rights for Jews and for their expulsion from Germany. As the German economy begins to buckle under the weight of the enormous war reparations demanded by the Allies, popular support for the Nazis begins to increase. Inflation and unemployment climb. The German government loses its majority in the elections of 1920, introducing a decade long period of political instability. The Nazi Party's "storm troopers", used to protect party meeting and attack opponents, are formally organized into a private army, the Sturmabteilung (SA), the 'Brown shirts'. Hitler becomes leader of the Nazi Party in July. Inflation skyrockets and is fuelled when the government begins printing more and more money. The value of the Deutschmark plummets. In mid-1920 US$1 is worth 40 marks. By November 1923 US$1 is worth 4.2 trillion marks. Social unrest begins to escalate.

Review of Autobiography of Maya Angelou

2006-07-24T08:02:32-04:00

Review of Autobiography of Maya Angelou I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a coming of age story of a young black woman during a critical time of African American History. The story is an autobiography about Maya Angelou during the 1930’s in rural segregated Stamps, Arkansas. Within this framework Maya jumps back and forth between triumphs and drama. However, this poses several questions: Why does she do this? And what effect does it have on the reader? Maya jumps back and forth between triumphs and drama in order to keep the reader interested, and this allows the reader to remain focused on the story and this also makes it more suspenseful and enjoyable to read. First off, it is important to understand that the story goes from triumph to drama quite quickly. A prime example of this is when Maya successfully drove the car from the Mexican bar to the border (guard’s box) and said, “No matter what happened after that, I had won.” However, just as quickly as Maya praised herself over this triumph, when she pulled away from the guard’s box she slammed into another car. Suddenly her triumph became drama. Now, one might wonder how this keeps the reader interested. Well, the sudden change draws the reader’s attention and thus it is more interesting. Not only this, but the fact that the story changes from triumph to drama so quickly affects the reader in the sense that it keeps him/her on their toes, or in other words makes it suspenseful. Secondly, the fact that Maya chooses opportune times to change from triumph to drama keeps the reader interested and affects the reader by making it more suspenseful. In other words during boring parts of the story where a reader would appear to be becoming less interested, Maya attracts the reader’s attention by a sudden change from triumph to drama. For example, Maya spends an entire chapter discussing how she lived in a junkyard. There is no real triumph or drama-taking place here; thus the reader becomes less interested. Though, just at the right time Maya suddenly jumps toward triumph, “I was at home again. And my mother was a fine lady.” Maya expresses her triumph in returning home to her mother after spending a month living

Biography of Poet Alfred Tennyson

2006-07-23T13:34:28-04:00

Biography of Poet Alfred Tennyson Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron 1809-92, English poet. The most famous poet of the Victorian age, he was a profound spokesman for the ideas and values of his times. Tennyson was the son of an intelligent but unstable clergyman in Lincolnshire. His early literary attempts included a play, The Devil and the Lady, composed at 14, and poems written with his brothers Frederick and Charles but entitled Poems by Two Brothers (1827). In his three years at Cambridge, Tennyson wrote a prizewinning poem, Timbuctoo (1829), and Poems, Chiefly Lyrical (1830) and began his close friendship with Arthur Henry Hallam, son of the historian Henry Hallam. Upon the death of his father in 1831, Tennyson became responsible for the family and its precarious finances. His volume Poems (1832) included some of his most famous pieces, such as The Lotus-Eaters, A Dream of Fair Women, and The Lady of Shalott. In 1833 he was overwhelmed by the sudden death of Hallam. Tennyson's next published work, Poems (1842), expressed his philosophic doubts in a materialistic, increasingly scientific age and his longing for a sustaining faith. The new poems included Locksley Hall, Ulysses, Morte d'Arthur, and Break, Break, Break. With this book he was acclaimed a great poet, and in addition, he was granted an annual government pension of £200 in 1845. The Princess (1847) was followed in 1850 by the masterful In Memoriam, an elegy sequence that records Tennyson's years of doubt and despair after Hallam's death and culminates in an affirmation of immortality. The same year saw his appointment as poet laureate and his marriage to Emily Sellwood, whom he had courted since 1836 but had been unable to marry because of his precarious financial position. Occasional poems, such as the Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington (1852) and The Charge of the Light Brigade (1855), were part of his duties as laureate. The first group of Idylls of the King appeared in 1859; it was expanded in 1869 and 1872, and in 1885 Tennyson added the final poem. He arranged the 12 poems chronologically in 1888 to constitute a somber ethical epic of the glory and the downfall of King Arthur. In the Arthurian legend, Tennyson projected his vision of the hollowness of his own civilization. Included among his other works are Maud (1855), a monodrama; Enoch Arden (1864); several poetic dramas, most notably

General Biographical Information on Dwight D. Eisenhower

2006-07-22T17:58:18-04:00

General Biographical Information on Dwight D. Eisenhower In this review I will discuss with you the birth and death of Dwight D. Eisenhower. I will also include his family size, education, marriage, jobs,and accomplishments. The purpose of this review is to give you information about Dwight D. Eisenhower. It is also so that people will know who one of our presidents was and what he did fir our country. This review is on Dwight D. Eisenhower. Dwight David Eisenhower was born on the 14 of October in 1890. He was born in Dension, Texas. He is te third born son of David and Ida Eisenhower. The family returned to Abilene, Kansas in 1892. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower dies on March 28, 1969. He died at the Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC. Dwight was buried on April 2, 1969. He was buried in the Place of Meditation at the Eisenhower Center. in Denver. Dwight D. Eisenhower married Mamie Geneva Doud. They got married in Denver on July 1, 1916. Their first son was named Doud Dwight. He was also known as "Icky." Doud was bord in 1917 and dies of scarlet fever in 1921. John, the second son, was born in 1922 in Denver. Dwight entered the United States Military Academy. The academt was in West Point, New York. He went there June 14, 1911 and graduated Jun2 12, 1915. Dwight Eisenhower enterend Command and General Staff School, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. In August 19,1925 he went to this school. He graduated fist in a clas of 245 in June 18, 1926. August 27, 1927, he entered Army War College, in Washington, DC and graduated June 30, 1928. First Dwight seved with the Infantry September 1915 to February 1918 in Ft. Sam Houston, Camp Wilson and Leon Springs, Texas and Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia. February 1918 to January 1922 he serverd in Cmp Meade, Maryland, Camp Colt, Pennyslvania, Camp Dix, New Jersey, Ft. Benning, Gergia and Ft. Meade, Maryland. He was in the military also. Dwight D. Eisenhower was president during the Cold War. The Cold war was a political rivalry between the USSR and the US. The USSR believed in Communism and the US believed in Democracy. He ended the Korean War. He also promoted a

The Life of Michelangelo

2006-07-22T17:40:46-04:00

The Life of Michelangelo Michelangelo (1475-1564), arguably one of the most inspired creators in the history of art. As a sculptor, architect, painter, and poet, he exerted a tremendous influence on his contemporaries and on subsequent Western art in general. A Florentine—although born March 6, 1475, in the small village of Caprese near Arezzo—Michelangelo continued to have a deep attachment to his city, its art, and its culture throughout his long life. He spent the greater part of his adulthood in Rome, employed by the popes; characteristically, however, he left instructions that he be buried in Florence, and his body was placed there in a fine monument in the church of Santa Croce. Michelangelo's father was a Florentine official named Ludovico Buonarrotiwith connections to the ruling Medici family, placed his 13-year-old son in the workshop of the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. After about two years, Michelangelo studied at the sculpture school in the Medici gardens and shortly thereafter was invited into the household of Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent. There he had an opportunity to converse with the younger Medici, two of whom later became popes (Leo X and Clement VII). Michelangelo produced at least two relief sculptures by the time he was 16 years old, the Battle of the Centaurs and the Madonna of the Stairs, which show that he had achieved a personal style at a very early age. Michelangelo then went to Rome, where he was able to examine many newly unearthed classical statues and ruins. He soon produced his first large-scale sculpture, the over-life-size Bacchus (1496-98, Bargello, Florence). One of the few works of pagan rather than Christian subject matter made by the master, it rivaled ancient statuary, the highest mark of admiration in Renaissance Rome. At about the same time, Michelangelo also did the marble Pietà (1498-1500), still in its original place in Saint Peter's Basilica. One of the most famous works of art, the Pietà was probably finished before Michelangelo was 25 years old, and it is the only work he ever signed. The youthful Mary is shown seated majestically, holding the dead Christ across her lap, a theme borrowed from northern European art. Instead of revealing extreme grief, Mary is restrained, and her expression is one of resignation. In this work, Michelangelo summarizes the sculptural innovations of his 15th-century predecessors such as Donatello. While ushering in the new monumentality

Lucille Desiree Ball

2006-07-22T12:36:50-04:00

Lucille Desiree Ball Television comedienne, actress, producer...these words all describe her. Lucille Desiree Ball was born on August 6, 1911, in the small town of Celeron, just outside of Jamestown, New York. At age 15, Ball enrolled in the John Murray Anderson Drama School in New York City. However, after only twelve months of going there (with Bette Davis as a classmate) the acting coach informed Lucy that she was not talented and should go into a different field, because she'd never make it in acting! She then was a soda fountain clerk at Walgreens Drug Store and also sold hotdogs at the Celeron amusement park. There, she liked to act up for the customers and be silly, but her boss didn't appreciate her antics. She repeatedly auditioned, unsuccessfully, for Broadway chorus lines before turning to modeling. Using the name Diane Belmont, Ball became a model in fashion designer Hattie Carnegie’s studio and won national exposure as the Chesterfield Cigarette Girl in 1933. A bad thing happened to Lucy's family in 1927, when Lucy was 16. They were having a birthday party for her brother, Fred, and Lucy's Grandpa Hunt allowed a girl who had never used a gun before to fire one. When she did, she accidentally hit a neighborhood boy, who ended up paralyzed below the neck. The boy died five years later. They went to court, but the judge in the case ruled the shooting an accident, but still ordered the Ball family to pay all the medical bills. They had to sell their home. From then on, Lucy remained terrified of guns. From the early 1930s through the late 1940s, Ball appeared in over 60 films. She was under contract to the Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) studio for seven years, playing leading roles in a number of low-budget movies. Often typecast as the plucky sidekick, her talent was largely wasted in these films. Some of her more notable films included Stage Door (1937), with Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers; The Affairs of Annabel (1938); Five Came Back (1939); Dance, Girl, Dance (1940); The Big Street (1942); The Dark Corner (1946); and Sorrowful Jones (1949), co-starring Bob Hope. From 1947 to 1951, Ball played a wacky wife of a straight-laced banker on the popular CBS radio program, My Favorite Husband, which "I Love Lucy" was later based on. When CBS approached her about

Biography of Bill Gates and Microsoft

2006-07-22T10:54:53-04:00

Biography of Bill Gates and Microsoft William Henry Gates, III was born October 28, 1955 in Seattle, Washington. He was the middle child of three born to William and Mary Gates. ATrey,@ as he was called because of the III, was sent to a private school by his father, a lawyer, and mother, a former teacher now on several prestigous boards (Moritz, 238). At age 13, Bill had completely taught himself programming after taking a computer studies class. After scoring a perfect 800 on the mathematics half of the SAT, he graduated from Lakeside school and enrolled at Harvard University as a prelaw major. As a student Gates was a wonder. He received an A in an economics class without attending and cramming the night before the final exam. In June 1975, Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to pursue a career in computers full time. Later that year after dropping out of Harvard he moved to New Mexico. There he and Allen Kay established Microsoft to produce their Basic for the MITS. Eighteen months later they were a few hundred thousand dollars richer and were hired by Tandy to develop software for its radio shack computers. Gates and Allen then moved their headquarters to Seattle, Washington. In Seattle, Gates re-wrote an operating system and called it MS-DOS, which stands for Microsoft Disk Operating System. Microsoft would eventually sell the rights of MS-DOS to IBM, making it a major computer corporation. Other computer companies wanted Microsoft to produce software for their computers, including Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple computers. With the operating system established, Gates and Microsoft set out to create applications software, for tasks such as financial analysis or word processing. Microsoft has continued being successful through the years and will be in the future as long as it keeps innovating new and exciting computer software. Bill Gates has his eye on the future. He sees the world in a Apowerful, high-speed network-both within companies and across the so called Information Superhighway@ (Brandt, 57). He hopes to be on top of the Transformation from Personal Computers to nets. Gates predicts that an explosion of low-cost, high-capacity, networks will radically alter how we use technology in the upcoming decade. Now before Bill Gates came onto the scene in the early seventies, the main focus in the computer world was hardware. Chips, circuit boards,

Biographical Report on Karl Marx

2006-07-22T10:47:47-04:00

Biographical Report on Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in the city of Trier in Prussia, now, Germany. He was one of seven children of Jewish Parents. His father was fairly liberal, taking part in demonstrations for a constitution for Prussia and reading such authors as Voltaire and Kant, known for their social commentary. His mother, Henrietta, was originally from Holland and never became a German at heart, not even learning to speak the language properly. Shortly before Karl Marx was born, his father converted the family to the Evangelical Established Church, Karl being baptized at the age of six. Marx attended high school in his home town (1830-1835) where several teachers and pupils were under suspicion of harboring liberal ideals. Marx himself seemed to be a devoted Christian with a “longing for self-sacrifice on behalf of humanity.” In October of 1835, he started attendance at the University of Bonn, enrolling in non-socialistic-related classes like Greek and Roman mythology and the history of art. During this time, he spent a day in jail for being “drunk and disorderly-the only imprisonment he suffered” in the course of his life. The student culture at Bonn included, as a major part, being politically rebellious and Marx was involved, presiding over the Tavern Club and joining a club for poets that included some politically active students. However, he left Bonn after a year and enrolled at the University of Berlin to study law and philosophy. Marx’s experience in Berlin was crucial to his introduction to Hegel’s philosophy and to his “adherence to the Young Hegelians.” Hegel’s philosophy was crucial to the development of his own ideas and theories. Upon his first introduction to Hegel’s beliefs, Marx felt a repugnance and wrote his father that when he felt sick, it was partially “from intense vexation at having to make an idol of a view [he] detested.” The Hegelian doctrines exerted considerable pressure in the “revolutionary student culture” that Marx was immersed in, however, and Marx eventually joined a society called the Doctor Club, involved mainly in the “new literary and philosophical movement” who’s chief figure was Bruno Bauer, a lecturer in theology who thought that the Gospels were not a record of History but that they came from “human fantasies arising from man’s emotional needs” and he also hypothesized that Jesus had not existed as a person. Bauer was later dismissed

Al Capone's Life before Crime

2006-07-18T13:17:13-04:00

Al Capone's Life before Crime Gabriele Capone was one of 43,000 Italians who arrived in the U.S. in 1894. He was a barber by trade and could read and write his native language. He was from the village of Castellmarre di Stabia, sixteen miles south of Naples. Gabriele, who was thirty years old, brought with him his pregnant twenty-seven-year-old wife Teresina (called Teresa), his two-year-old son Vincenzo and his infant son Raffaele. His plan was to do whatever work was necessary until he could open his own barber shop. Along with thousands of other Italians, the Capone family moved to Brooklyn near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The neighborhood was virtually a slum, given

Biography of French Writer Albert Camus

2006-07-18T13:12:26-04:00

Biography of French Writer Albert Camus Albert Camus is a French novelist, essayist and journalist whose works had great influence in the mid-20th century. He was recognized as a man of great personal integrity as he "sought to define the way of life that would respect in equal measure the logic of the heart, the logic of the mind, and the limitations imposed on the individual by reality". Compared to the other existentialists, Albert Camus is considered to be more optimistic in his views. Camus was born in Mondovi, Algeria on November 7, 1913. His father who was of Alsatian descent, was a farm labourer while his mother worked as a servant. Despite poor living conditions, Camus' interest in education allowed him to move beyond the limitations of his environment. He attended the University of Algiers where he developed a life-long interest in literature and philosophy through the influence of Jean Grenier, a philosopher. In the 1930's, he became committed to politics, theatre and writing. He was a member of the communist party as a non-doctrinal socialist. He also participated in an amateur theatrical group as an actor and director. He then travelled in Europe for quite a bit and in 1940, he returned to Algeria to teach in a private school. His writings greatly reflected his views about different things. In 1937, he wrote L'envers et l'endroit and in 1938, Noces, which are two small volume of essays that reflect his lyrical commitment to life, beauty and happiness and at the same time express his revolt against the burden of suffering, death and solitude. L'etranger (1942, English tr. The Stranger, 1946) is narrated by a man named Mersault, a clerk in Algeria who blindly commits murder and then realizes the unique value of life and solidarity of man. Le mythe de Sisyphe (1943 English tr. The Myth of Sisyphus and other essays, 1955) is a greek mythology where Sisyphus is condemned eternally to push a boulder uphill only to have it roll down again as a symbol of man's fate and possibilitites. Caligula (1938 published in 1945, translated 1958) is a story about a Roman emperor so driven by his sense of absurdity of life that he indulges in excessive cruelty that destroys even himself. One of his most important writing is about the bubonic plague in the Algerian town of Oran, La peste (1947, English tr. The

The Life of Bill Cosby

2006-07-18T12:34:53-04:00

The Life of Bill Cosby Bill Cosby came from a poor neighborhood as a child. He grew up with a lot of humor. He did not know that he would make a career of it as a child. As he later grew up he tried stand up comedy and succeeded. in the 1960’s “I Spy” came out and broke the racial barrier by featuring Cosby, the first ever black man to lead a weekly dramatic series. So he started a television show called “The Bill Cosby Show.” The Show brought NBC from last place in the ratings to first. His show was a great success. His goals included succeeding in life as a comedian. He did that and did it very well. His success in entertainment was complemented by his involvement with a host of charity organizations and making generous gifts in support of education. While Cosby was younger he saw little of his father. His mom on the other hand was very supportive. His mom was a major influence and his first audience member. It didn’t take long for him to start gigs on her and practicing routines on her. She always encouraged his inventive performances of everyday household happenings. A couple of his friends that he knew from elementary school including: Fat Albert, Old Weird Harold, Dumb Donald, and Weasel was an influence on him and later immortalized in his comedy routines. Family and Friends helped Bill Cosby get a great start in his entertainment career. As a child Cosby loved to joke around all the time with his friends after school while playing in the playground. They loved playing gags on each other in their free time. Bill Cosby was always loved by neighbors and friends of family. He would always be in a good mood no matter what the situation. When Bill walked in a room he always brought humor with him and made people laugh. This is pretty much how he figured he could be a comedian when he grew up. He had to leave the tenth grade to join the Navy, but he finished school by means of a correspondence course while in the service. Later when he was discharged he enrolled at Temple University in Philadelphia, hoping to become a physical education teacher. To support himself he started to perform at a nightclub that really enjoyed his

Biographical Information on Benjamin Frankilin

2006-07-17T13:05:06-04:00

Biographical Information on Benjamin Frankilin Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. He was the tenth son of soap maker, Josiah Franklin. Benjamin's mother was Abiah Folger, the second wife of Josiah. In all, Josiah would father 17 children. Josiah intended for Benjamin to enter into the clergy. However, Josiah could only afford to send his son to school for one year and clergymen needed years of schooling. But, as young Benjamin loved to read he had him apprenticed to his brother James, who was a printer. After helping James compose pamphlets and set type which was grueling work, 12-year-old Benjamin would sell their products in the streets. Apprentice Printer When Benjamin was 15 his brother started The New England Courant the first "newspaper" in Boston. Though there were two papers in the city before James's Courant, they only reprinted news from abroad. James's paper carried articles, opinion pieces written by James's friends, advertisements, and news of ship schedules. Benjamin wanted to write for the paper too, but he knew that James would never let him. After all, Benjamin was just a lowly apprentice. So Ben began writing letters at night and signing them with the name of a fictional widow, Silence Dogood. Dogood was filled with advice and very critical of the world around her, particularly concerning the issue of how women were treated. Ben would sneak the letters under the print shop door at night so no one knew who was writing the pieces. They were a smash hit, and everyone wanted to know who was the real "Silence Dogood." After 16 letters, Ben confessed that he had been writing the letters all along. While James's friends thought Ben was quite precocious and funny, James scolded his brother and was very jealous of the intention paid to him. Before long the Franklins found themselves at odds with Boston's powerful Puritan preachers, the Mathers. Smallpox was a deadly disease in those times, and the Mathers supported inoculation; the Franklins' believed inoculation only made people sicker. And while most Bostonians agreed with the Franklins, they did not like the way James made fun of the clergy, during the debate. Ultimately, James was thrown in jail for his views, and Benjamin was left to run the paper for several issues. Upon release from jail, James was not grateful to Ben for keeping the

Biography of Oprah Winfrey

2006-07-16T20:58:57-04:00

Biography of Oprah Winfrey Oprah Winfrey has always been an achiever. As a child she was a victim of sexual abuse. As a teenager she became Miss Black Nashville. Now, as an adult she is the world’s black millionaire in a white, male-dominated world. Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her name was believed to be Orpah from the Book of Ruth; however, the midwife got mixed up and so she wound up being Oprah on her birth certificate. (Adler 1) When Oprah was five years old she wished that she were white. She would sleep with a clothespin on her nose and two cotton balls seeking for it to turn up. She prayed for Shirley Temple curls every day. Oprah wanted to be white because white kids didn’t get whippings. She got beatings all the time from her grandmother. “Old people raised kids like this. My grandmother would whip me for days and not get tired. It would be called child abuse now.” When she turned six years old she went to Milwaukee to live with her mother, Verna Lee, who was on welfare and worked as a cleaning woman. A month later Oprah started school as a Kindergarten student. She wrote her teacher a letter that expressed her thoughts. Oprah thought that she did not belong in this grade and asked the teacher to help her. Her teacher decided that Oprah was right and moved her up a grade. She was now in first grade. One day she was going to get beat up by six white kids. To get out of this mess she told them what happened to the people who tried to stone Jesus of Nazareth. Afterwards, she was called the preacher and her peers did their best to try and stay away from her. As a result of a test that was given to her at the near the end of first grade she was being elevated to the third grade as soon as the semester began in September. However she went to live with her father and her stepmother as soon as she concluded the first grade. Her stepmother realized that Oprah was going to begin in third grade but she didn’t know how to multiply or divide. So she spent the summer learning the multiplication table. (Adler 3-8, Mercy 6-8) Oprah moved back

Life in Algeria for Albert Camus

2006-07-16T20:35:01-04:00

Life in Algeria for Albert Camus Although born in extreme poverty, Camus attended the lycee and university in Algiers, where he developed an abiding interest in sports and the theater. His university career was cut short by a severe attack of tuberculosis, an illness from which he suffered periodically throughout his life. The themes of poverty, sport, and the horror of human mortality all figure prominently in his volumes of so-called Algerian essays: L'Envers et l'endroit (The Wrong Side and the Right Side, 1937), Noces (Nuptials, 1938), and L'Ete (Summer, 1954). In 1938 he became a journalist with Alger-Republicain, an anticolonialist newspaper. While working for this daily he wrote detailed reports on the condition of poor Arabs in the Kabyles region. These reports were later published in abridged form in Actuelles III (1958). The War Years Such journalistic experience proved invaluable when Camus went to France during World War II. There he worked for the Combat resistance network and undertook the editorship of the Parisian daily Combat, which first appeared clandestinely in 1943. His editorials, both before and after the liberation, showed a deep desire to combine political action with strict adherence to moral principles. During the war Camus published the main works associated with his doctrine of the absurd--his view that human life is rendered ultimately meaningless by the fact of death and that the individual cannot make rational sense of his experience. These works include the novel The Stranger (1942; Eng. trans., 1946), perhaps his finest work of fiction, which memorably embodies the 20th-century theme of the alienated stranger or outsider; a long essay on the absurd, The Myth of Sysiphysus (1942; Eng. trans., 1955); and two plays published in 1944, Cross Purpose (Eng. trans., 1948) and Caligula (Eng. trans., 1948). In these works Camus explored contemporary nihilism with considerable sympathy, but his own attitude toward the "absurd" remained ambivalent. In theory, philosophical absurdism logically entails total moral indifference. Camus found, however, that neither his own temperament nor his experiences in occupied France allowed him to be satisfied with such total moral neutrality. The growth of his ideas on moral responsibility is partly sketched in the four Letters to a German Friend (1945) included, with a number of other political essays, in Resistance, Rebellion, and Death (1960). Rebellion From this point on, Camus was concerned mainly with exploring avenues of rebellion against the absurd as

Biographical Report on Heinrich Schliemann

2006-07-16T20:33:25-04:00

Biographical Report on Heinrich Schliemann The life of Heinrich Schliemann embodies the era of scientific discovery in the late eighteen hundreds. His is a tale of success, and that of man turned to myth. From a meager upbringing, he achieved success in business, and went on to make some of the most impacting archeological discoveries in the nineteenth century. Though copious amounts have been written on Schliemann, the accounts differ greatly, varying from hero to charlatan. From Schliemann's biographers, it remains difficult to glean an accurate perception of him; in many cases, legend is incorporated as fact, thus the man envisioned as Schliemann is the fusion of myth and reality. Regardless of whether one defines Schliemann as a genius after intellectual pursuits or a mere gold-digger, he remains a man that intrigues or induces curiosity. His story is "inextricably bound up with the beginnings of archaeology as a science" (Wood, 50) It is widely believed that from Schliemann's youth, he was inspired by the writing of Homer, and determined to find and excavate Troy in order to prove the truth of its existence. Accounts vary on this theme, but commonly, this is considered true. Schliemann based his business ventures and wealth on his lifelong scholarly pursuits. Deviants to this notion, however, believe that Schliemann concocted the accounts of a lifelong obsession for the epic poems and all things Greek late in life in order to cover up the fact that he was merely in search of fame and fortune. As Wood writes in In Search of the Trojan War, "today it is customary to deride Schliemann's archaeological technique as well as his character" (Wood, 51). Schilemann is considered by some as a brilliant, self-taught man who climbed the ranks to achieve success, whose quick mind, wit and excitability lent themselves to create a most fascinating man. Some historians maintain that Schliemann was passionate about Greek culture from his youth, immersing himself in it, even to the point of marrying a young Greek woman solely for her cultural roots. Legend has it that he held a contest in order to find the most eloquent reading of Homer's Iliad, however it is also said that a friend arranged the marriage. Schliemann's wife, Sophia (Figure 2), became an integral part of his life, contributing a great deal to his research and excavations. Schliemann's seemed determined to bring to life the ancient lore of

The Life Story of Al Capone

2006-07-10T18:31:29-04:00

The Life Story of Al Capone For several years after Capone arrived in Chicago, things were comparatively quiet among the various gangs that had carved up Chicago's rackets. Nonetheless, reform-minded William E. Dever succeeded the spectacularly corrupt Mayor "Big Bill" Thompson. With city government nominally in the hands of an earnest reformer, the daily process of payoffs and corruption became more complicated. Torrio and Capone decided to put many operations out of the city into the suburb of Cicero, where they could purchase the entire city government and police department. Shortly after opening up a brothel in Cicero, Torrio took his elderly mother back to live in Italy, leaving Capone in charge of the business in Cicero. Capone made it clear that he wanted an all-out conquest of the town. He installed his older brother Frank (Salvatore), a handsome and respectable-looking man of twenty-nine, as the front man with the Cicero city government. Ralph was tasked with opening up a working-class brothel called the Stockade for Cicero's heavily blue-collar population. Al focused on gambling and took an interest in a new gambling joint called the Ship. He also took control of the Hawthorne Race Track. For the most part, the Capone conquest of Cicero was unopposed, with the exception of Robert St. John, the crusading young journalist at the Cicero Tribune. Every issue contained an expose on the Capone rackets in the city. The editorials were effective enough to threaten Capone-backed candidates in the 1924 primary election. On election day, things got ugly as Capone's forces kidnapped opponents' election workers and threatened voters with violence. As reports of the violence spread, the Chicago chief of police rounded up seventy nine cops and provided them with shotguns. The cops, dressed in plain clothes, rode in unmarked cars to Cicero under the guise of protecting workers at the Western Electric plant there. Frank Capone dead Frank Capone, who had just finished negotiating a lease, was walking down the street when the convoy of Chicago policemen approached him. Someone recognized him and the cars emptied out in front of him. In seconds, Frank's body was riddled with bullets. Technically, the police called it self defense, since Frank, seeing the police coming at him

Biography of American Gangster Al Capone

2006-07-10T18:15:40-04:00

Biography of American Gangster Al Capone Al Capone is America's best known gangster and the single greatest symbol of the collapse of law and order in the United States during the 1920s Prohibition era. Capone had a leading role in the illegal activities that lent Chicago its reputation as a lawless city. Capone was born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York. Baptized "Alphonsus Capone," he grew up in a rough neighborhood and was a member of two "kid gangs," the Brooklyn Rippers and the Forty Thieves Juniors. Although he was bright, Capone quit school in the sixth grade at age fourteen. Between scams he was a clerk in a candy store, a pin boy in a bowling alley, and a cutter in a book bindery. He became part of the notorious Five Points gang in Manhattan and worked in gangster Frankie Yale's Brooklyn dive, the Harvard Inn, as a bouncer and bartender. While working at the Inn, Capone received his infamous facial scars and the resulting nickname "Scarface" when he insulted a patron and was attacked by her brother. In 1918, Capone met an Irish girl named Mary "Mae" Coughlin at a dance. On December 4, 1918, Mae gave birth to their son, Albert "Sonny" Francis. Capone and Mae married that year on December 30. Capone's first arrest was on a disorderly conduct charge while he was working for Yale. He also murdered two men while in New York, early testimony to his willingness to kill. In accordance with gangland etiquette, no one admitted to hearing or seeing a thing so Capone was never tried for the murders. After Capone hospitalized a rival gang member, Yale sent him to Chicago to wait until things cooled off. Capone arrived in Chicago in 1919 and moved his family into a house at 7244 South Prairie Avenue. Capone went to work for Yale's old mentor, John Torrio. Torrio saw Capone's potential, his combination of physical strength and intelligence, and encouraged his protégé. Soon Capone was helping Torrio manage his bootlegging business. By mid-1922 Capone ranked as Torrio's number two man and eventually became a full partner in the saloons, gambling houses, and brothels. When Torrio was shot by rival gang members and consequently decided to leave Chicago, Capone inherited the "outfit" and became boss. The outfit's men liked, trusted, and obeyed Capone,

Biography and Accomplishments of Elizabeth Blackwell

2006-07-10T16:14:12-04:00

Biography and Accomplishments of Elizabeth Blackwell On January 23, 1849, a young woman walked across the stage of the Presbyterian Church in Geneva, NY. She was given a degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Geneva Medical College. And she happened to be the very first woman to earn the degree. Her name was Elizabeth Blackwell. Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England on February 3, 1821. She received her childhood education by private tutor. In 1832, her father, Samuel Blackwell, moved her family to the United States. They lived first in New York and later moved to Cincinnati. Her father was actively involved in social reform and abolitionism. He also had many businesses that did not do well for the family financially. After his death, Elizabeth and her mother and two sisters opened a private school in order to support their family. In the beginning, Elizabeth had no intention of going into medicine. It was only after a female friend of Elizabeth’s had gotten sick and remarked to her that she wished she had a female doctor to consult with had she began considering becoming a doctor herself. Her father’s ideas of radicalism and social reform probably influenced her to make the decision as well. She was also said to have been looking for a reason to prevent any chance of future marriage. Since no woman was allowed to go to medical school, she had to teach herself privately and under the assistance of a doctor in North Carolina whose family she was living with. To the rest of the world she was a teacher. She liked the idea of the struggle and fight against she had ahead of her to get into a medical school. In 1847, she began that great struggle. She applied and was rejected by all the leading medical schools. When the Geneva Medical College received her application the school asked the students whether or not they should let a woman attend the college. All of the students thinking it was a practical joke agreed to let her in. When they realized she was serious, some of the students and people of Geneva, New York were upset. The students unanimously voted to allow her the opportunity to study without their interference. They held to

The Business of George Mortimer Pullman

2006-07-10T13:36:18-04:00

The Business of George Mortimer Pullman George Mortimer Pullman was born in Brocton, New York in the year 1831. He was raised in New York, and was taught in the art of cabinetmaking in Albion. For seven years, he worked with his brother making cabinets. (Colliers Encyclopedia, 511) After those seven years, he became bored with cabinetmaking, and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1855. There he gained notice as a contractor, and became quite popular. One of his more popular accomplishments was the raising of the Tremont Hotel. He did not gain much more recognition in the contractor business. After riding in a train once, he noticed the discomfort of the sleeping cars on the train. He found a new project for himself, and in 1864, converted two coach cars into a “sleeper” with comfortable berths to sleep on. The way his car worked, he invented a system of facing pairs of seats, with an overhead rack that held a curtain, so the seats were to be used as a curtained compartment. This was the first comfortable sleeping car, and began a new career for him. Along with the sleeping car, Pullman invented the Railway Dining car in 1868, and to help the use of his cars, he invented the car vestibule, to connect his railway cars. (New Standard Encyclopedia, 643) He began the Pullman Palace Car Company, which produced his new sleeping cars, along with his other different cars. This company had made Pullman a rich man and famous man. His cars transported people all across the country, all carrying his name on the side. He had set up several different factories to make his cars in different locations in the US, other than in Chicago where it began. In Chicago, Pullman had a revelation, and thought up a city after his own name, Pullman, Illinois. (“The Forgotten Four Hundred”, 38. This became a model city for his workers in the factory. In his town, he possessed new aged housing, new types of factories, nice library’s for it’s inhabitants, an enclosed shopping area, and even recreational facilities. His town was a model of modern efficiency. His workers rented housing from him, and these houses boasted conveniences like running water, gas heat, and electricity. These types of traits

John Adams: America's Second President

2006-07-09T14:59:39-04:00

John Adams: America's Second President Adams was born in the village of Braintree (Quincy), Massachusetts, on Oct. 30, 1735. His father, also named John Adams, was a farmer, a deacon of the First Parish of Braintree, and a militia officer. His mother, Susanna Boylston Adams, came from a family of Brookline and Boston merchants and physicians. Adams attended dame and Latin school. Besides wanting to become a farmer, his school prepared him for college and a career in the ministry. With some tutoring in Latin from Joseph Marsh, John passed his entrance examinations for Harvard College in 1751 and began four years of study that excited his imagination. He was a metaphysician, a scientist, debater, and orator. Adams soon graduated from Harvard College in 1755, ranking 14th in a class of 24 Adams was still undecided in his career, so he accepted a teaching position in Worcester while he thought of the future. After teaching for a while Adams decided that the career of a schoolmaster was unsatisfying. His pupils barely knew their ABC's, and his students noted that he was preoccupied with other matters. His position, however, enabled him to meet the intellectuals of Worcester, including James Putnam, its most distinguished lawyer. Adams finally decided to make a career of the law and apprenticed himself to Putnam. After teaching school for a short time, Adams studied law in the office of James Putnam in Worcester, Massachusetts. Adams continued to teach school during the day and study law at night. When it came time for Adams to present himself to the bar at Braintree, Putnam failed to accompany Adams. Fortunately, Jeremiah Gridley, another lawyer, recommended Adams. Adams was admitted to the bar in 1758. Adams then soon began to practice law in Braintree in 1758. Later that year, John Adams met Hannah Quincy who was a year younger than John. They met on a Sunday evening. Hannah left Adams and married another man in 1760. Ten years later, Adams moved to Boston, where he became a leading attorney of the Massachusetts colony. In 1764, Adams married Abigail Smith on October 25. At the time John was 28. Abigail became John's best friend and quite possibly his wisest political advisor. Abigail was the first First Lady to live in the White House and is regarded as one of the early advocates of the women's liberation movement. Abigail and John

Scope of Leonardo Da Vinci's Work beyond Art

2006-07-07T12:55:39-04:00

Scope of Leonardo Da Vinci's Work beyond Art The greatest gifts are often seen, in the course of nature, rained by celestial influences on human creatures; and sometimes, in supernatural fashion, beauty, grace, and talent are united beyond measure in one single person, in a manner that to whatever such an one turns his attention, his every action is so divine, that, surpassing all other men, it makes itself clearly known as a thing bestowed by God (as it is), and not acquired by human art. This was seen by all mankind in Leonardo da Vinci, in whom, besides a beauty of body never sufficiently extolled, there was an infinite grace in all his actions; and so great was his genius, and such its growth, that to whatever difficulties he turned his mind, he solved them with ease. In him was great bodily strength, joined to dexterity, with a spirit and courage ever royal and magnanimous; and the fame of his name so increased, that not only in his lifetime was he held in esteem, but his reputation became even greater among posterity after his death. Truly marvelous and celestial was Leonardo, the son of Ser Piero da Vinci; and in learning and in the rudiments of letters he would have made great proficiency, if he had not been so variable and unstable, for he set himself to learn many things, and then, after having begun them, abandoned them. Thus, in arithmetic, during the few months that he studied it, he made so much progress, that, by continually suggesting doubts and difficulties to the master who was teaching him, he would very often bewilder him. He gave some little attention to music, and quickly resolved to learn to play the lyre, as one who had by nature a spirit most lofty and full of refinement: wherefore he sang divinely to that instrument, improvising upon it. Nevertheless, although he occupied himself with such a variety of things, he never ceased drawing and working in relief, pursuits which suited his fancy more than any other. Ser Piero, having observed this, and having considered the loftiness of his intellect, one day took some of his drawings and carried them to Andrea del Verrocchio, who was much his friend, and besought him straitly [sic] to tell him whether Leonardo, by devoting himself to drawing, would make any proficiency. Andrea was astonished to see

Biographical Overview of George Washington Carver

2006-07-07T12:38:26-04:00

Biographical Overview of George Washington Carver George Washington Carver was born in 1860 near Diamond Grove, Missouri. He died January 5, 1943 in Tuskegee, Alabama. He was an agricultural chemist and experimenter who became a benefactor of the American South and a cultural hero. He dedicated his life to bettering and improving the economy of the South by improving the soil and crop diversification. Carver and his mother were slaves. Their slave master's name was Moses Carver. George and his mother were sent to Arkansas because it was difficult to hold slaves in the border state of Missouri. Moses Craver, their slave master, found out that his mother and other slaves had disappeared except for the George who had become very ill with whooping cough. Carver, frail and sick, was returned to his former master's (Moses Carver)home. There his health returned to normal. George learned to draw and spent considerable amounts of time painting flowers, plants, and landscapes. Amongst the blacks he was known as a singer and an organist. When he left the Carver's (former slave masters), they pronounced him as no longer being a slave. He developed an interest in plants and animals. In his late 20's, he managed to obtain a high school education in Kansas by working as a farmhand. A university in Kansas refused to admit Carver because he was black. Since he was not accepted to the university in Kansas he had to go to Simpson College. From there he transferred to Iowa State Agricultural College where he received a degree in Agricultural Science in 1894 and a master of science degree in 1896. Carver went to Tuskegee Institute because he believed that this industrial type of education would help solve the race problem. Carver had many offers to other colleges but he remained at Tushkegee because he believed in its destiny as an institution for black people. Many scientists did not like Carver. They did not even consider him a scientist, just a contributor to agriculture. He worked in the South until his death on January 5, 1943 in Tuskegee, Alabama. Carver became an idol for many African American people. To me he was a great agricultural scientist. He had faith in God and was able to achieve his goal. "He fulfilled the white man's conception of the Negro, and he played a convenient role in interracial politics." This is why this is one

Biography of Chemist Linus Pauling

2006-07-07T12:33:22-04:00

Biography of Chemist Linus Pauling Chemist Linus Pauling; born in Portland, Ore. After taking his Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology (1925) and then two years of study abroad, he returned to that institution for most of his professional career (1927--63). Details of those years are as follows: At the California Institute of Technology his advisor was Roscoe Dickinson, whose area of expertise was X-ray crystallography. At this time Dickinson was investigating the crystal structure of various minerals. In his work with Dickinson, Pauling displayed what was to become his standard method of attacking a problem. According to Dr. Edward Hughes, "He would guess what the structure might be like, and then he would arrange it to fit into the other data. . . he could then calculate the intensities he would get from that structure and then compare it with the observed ones." For the rest of his career Pauling was criticized for using too large an amount of intuition in his work and not always having complete data to back up what he wrote. As well as doing his research work, Pauling was taking courses and serving as a teaching assistant in the freshman chemistry course. He received his Ph. D. in chemistry with high honors in the June of 1925. His dissertation comprised the various papers he had already published on the crystal structure of different minerals. A year later, when he was 25, he received a Guggenheim fellowship to study at the University of Munich under Arnold Sommerfeld, a theoretical physicist. Here he began work with quantum mechanics. In January of 1927 he published "The Theoretical Prediction of the Physical Properties of Many Electron Atoms and Ions; Mole Refraction, Diamagnetic Susceptibility, and Extension in Space" in which he applied the concept of quantum mechanics to chemical bonding. In 1928 he published six principles to decide the structure of complicated crystals. This bothered Bragg even more since they did not all originate with Pauling. Actually, according to Horach Judson, "Pauling clarified them, codified them, demonstrated their generality and power." However, Bragg was spreading stories in England about Pauling's "thievery" and lack of professional ethics. At this time Pauling took an assistant professorship in chemistry at Cal. Tech. In 1928 he published a paper on orbital hybridization and resonance. In 1931 he published the first paper, "The Nature of the Chemical Bond". At this time he was also

Analysis of John Locke

2006-07-05T23:52:15-04:00

Analysis of John Locke The way shown how we come by any knowledge, sufficient to prove it not innate. It is an established opinion amongst some men, that there are in the understanding certain innate principles; some primary notions, koinai ennoiai, characters, as it were stamped upon the mind of man; which the soul receives in its very first being, and brings into the world with it. It would be sufficient to convince unprejudiced readers of the falseness of this supposition, if I should only show (as I hope I shall in the following parts of this Discourse) how men, barely by the use of their natural faculties, may attain to all the knowledge they have, without the help of any innate impressions; and may arrive at certainty, without any such original notions or principles. For I imagine any one will easily grant that it would be impertinent to suppose the ideas of colours innate in a creature to whom God hath given sight, and a power to receive them by the eyes from external objects: and no less unreasonable would it be to attribute several truths to the impressions of nature, and innate characters, when we may observe in ourselves faculties fit to attain as easy and certain knowledge of them as if they were originally imprinted on the mind. But because a man is not permitted without censure to follow his own thoughts in the search of truth, when they lead him ever so little out of the common road, I shall set down the reasons that made me doubt of the truth of that opinion, as an excuse for my mistake, if I be in one; which I leave to be considered by those who, with me, dispose themselves to embrace truth wherever they find it. General assent the great argument. There is nothing more commonly taken for granted than that there are certain principles, both speculative and practical, (for they speak of both), universally agreed upon by all mankind: which therefore, they argue, must needs be the constant impressions which the souls of men receive in their first beings, and which they bring into the world with them, as necessarily and really as they do any of their inherent faculties. Universal consent proves nothing innate. This argument, drawn from universal consent, has this

Examining the Life and Writing of James Baldwin

2006-07-04T16:01:39-04:00

Examining the Life and Writing of James Baldwin In the four decades of his writing career, James Baldwin made an extraordinarily prolific and wide-ranging contribution to American letters. He published six novels, a collection of short stories, two plays, a screenplay about the life of Malcolm X that later became one of the bases for the Spike Lee film, a volume of poems, two book-length dialogues (one with anthropologist Margaret Mead, the other with poet Nikki Giovanni), a short book (part autobiographically-based and part sociologically) about American movies, a long essay on a series of murders of young African-American children in Atlanta, Georgia, in the early 1980s, and five other volumes of essays and nonfiction. His early novels, especially the first two, excited substantial notice and critical acclaim, and they have continued to hold their reputations, but there is a strong body of opinion to the effect that it is in his nonfiction writings that his greatest and most enduring work is to be found. James Baldwin was born in Harlem on August 2, 1924. His name at birth was James Arthur Jones. Baldwin never knew his father; his mother, who was originally from Maryland, was named Emma Burdis Jones. In 1927, she married David Baldwin, a Baptist preacher and factory worker from New Orleans with a twelve-year-old son, and thus the future writer received the last name that he was to make famous. Together the couple went on to have six children of their own, three sons and three daughters, the last of whom was born on the very day--July 29, 1943--that David Baldwin died. In 1935, James entered P.S. 139 (Frederick Douglass Junior High School), where he wrote for and helped to edit the school magazine, and where he came to know the poet Countee Cullen, a faculty member at the school who had been one of the principal writers of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. From 1938 until his graduation in 1942, Baldwin attended De Witt Clinton High School in the Bronx, where his friends and classmates included the photographer Richard Avedon and the publisher and novelist Sol Stein. He had a religious experience in 1938, and for the next three years was a boy preacher at Fireside Pentecostal Assembly, a phase of his life that ended at the time of his high-school graduation. For the next several years, he worked at

Life and Accomplishments of Gaius Julius Caesar

2006-07-03T23:29:13-04:00

Life and Accomplishments of Gaius Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar was a brilliant general, a great politician, and a powerful dictator of the Roman republic. He was born on July 17, 100 BC and he was assassinated on March 15, 44 BC. Caesar's rise to power was not an easy one, in 73 BC he was made a pontiff in Rome. He gained alot of popularity because of this and because he sided with those seeking power outside the circle of nobles, who at that time dominated the Roman senate. He also gained popularity with the Gauls in 68 BC by supporting them for Roman citizenship. Caesar became the governor of Spain in 61 BC after Crassus had helped pay his creditors after some financial issues. Military actions in Spain helped further restore Caesar's financial security. Caesar outwitted his political enemies by passing up his triumph. He did this in order to win the election to the consulate with the support of Pompey and Crassus. At this time Crassus was the richest man in Rome. Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus formed what was known as the first triumvirate, which means a government of three men, in 60-59 BC. These actions were takin to further their political success. While the triumvirate ruled , the senate became very angered. This led to the breakup of the senate, which gave the triumvirate even more power. Caesar also recieved the governorships of Lllyricum, Cisalpine Gaul, and Transalpine Gaul. He was also given control over a large army that he used to rule over Gaul. He gained alot of political strength from the Gallic Wars which lasted from 58 to 51 BC. With Caesar spending most of his time in the north, Pompey gathered most of his power by making a good relationship with the senate. The Gallic Wars were not Caesar's most famous wars, the wars with Pompey probably hold that title. Although Caesar's daughter, Julia, was married to Pompey, friction between the two developed. This friction was encouraged by Crassus. The death of Julia in 54 BC and the death of Crassus in 53 BC destroyed Caesar and Pompey's relationship. In 52 BC Pompey was made sole consul. In 50 BC Pompey joined with Caesar's political enemies, and ordered Caesar to disassemble his army. Instead, Caesar crossed the Rubicon River into Italy and fought against Pompey, which created another civil war in Rome. In many

Life of John Fitzgerald Kennedy

2006-07-03T23:27:21-04:00

Life of John Fitzgerald Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917. He graduated from Harvard in 1940. Once he graduated from Harvard, he followed in his brother‘s footsteps and joined the Navy. He was the captain of the famous PT 109 during World War II. The PT 109 was famous because a Japanese destroyer in hostile territory rammed it. Then John Kennedy led the remaining members of the crew to islands whose only inhabitants were spotters. JFK came home from the war he became a Democratic Congressman from the Boston area. He became a member of the Senate in 1953. On September 12, 1953 he married Jacqueline Bouvier. John F. Kennedy had chronic back pains all his life. While recuperating from a back surgery in 1955, he wrote the book Profiles in Courage, and won a Pulitzer Prize in history. In 1956 JFK almost won the Democratic Vice President Nominee. In 1960 he was the Democratic Presidential Candidate. Kennedy won the popular vote by a tiny margin, but the Republican, Richard Nixion, did not call for a recount. JFK was the first Roman Catholic president ever elected. John F. Kennedy delivered the famous line: “I call upon all Americans to ask not what your county can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” in his inaugural speech. Not long after he had taken office JFK permitted a band of Cuban exiles to invade their homeland and overthrow Castro. The plan didn’t work. After the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Soviet Union started placing missile silos on Cuba. Kennedy enforced a naval blockade around Cuba in attempt to keep the Soviets from bringing in more missiles. The world held their breath as the leaders of the two biggest superpowers on Earth stood eye to eye. The Soviets eventually backed down and agreed to remove weapons from Cuba. That was known as the Cuban missile crisis. While in the United States John Kennedy was redeeming his promise to get America moving again. He worked to promote equal rights in America. He continued the American ideal of the revolution of civil rights. JFK also provided aide for developing nations. In August of 1963, JFK was campaigning in Dallas, Texas. While riding in his limousine he was shot twice by Lee Harvey Oswald. He died at a local hospital.

Analysis of Dave Pelzer's Autobiography

2006-07-03T23:05:31-04:00

Analysis of Dave Pelzer's Autobiography The main character in the autobiography is Dave Pelzer. He is a young child who is both mentally and physically abused by his hateful mother. His most prominent trait is his ability to survive in any situation. Dave’s mother Catherine, started out as a Mrs. Brady, but she snapped one day after weeks of drinking. When her and her husband, Stephan, would fight and he would leave. This left Catherine without someone to take her anger out on. Obviously, Dave was the next best thing. Dave also had two brothers named Ron and Stan, who were never abused. May favorite character would have to be Dave because he remained strong even though all the hard times that he had. The Story starts out with Dave telling the readers about how perfect his life seemed before his mother began her out of control drinking habit. Before she started the whole family would go on camping trips and spend most of there time together. When Catherine started to drink heavily, she and her husband began to fight over everything. This is when she first began to emotionally abuse Dave, by telling him that it was his fault that his they fought. She started referring to him as “ the boy” when she spoke of him and soon after, the entire family knew him as that. She then began hitting Dave and making him do everyone’s chores around the house. His Father decided to say something about the abuse, but Catherine became angry and took it out on Dave. A few nights later she was drinking and stabbed him in the stomach with a knife. Dave would also go days without eating because his mother thought it was fair punishment for not getting the chores done in time. He was also forced to lie to the school about his injuries, for example when his mother broke his arm he told them that he fell off the bunk beds. The worst “punishment” or torture that he had to endure was when he was locked in the bathroom with a bucket of cleaning fluids. The fumes filled the air and Dave could not breath so he pushed his face into an air vent to get good air. He was locked in there for several hours. A few weeks later his parent decided to go to their cabin. Dave thought they were

Comprehensive Albert Einstein Biography

2006-07-03T15:27:44-04:00

Comprehensive Albert Einstein Biography Of all the scientists to emerge from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries there is one whose name is known by almost all living people. While most of these do not understand this man's work, everyone knows that its impact on the world of science is astonishing. Yes, many have heard of Albert Einstein's General Theory of relativity, but few know about the intriguing life that led this scientist to discover what some have called, "The greatest single achievement of human thought." Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1874. Before his first birthday, his family had moved to Munich where young Albert's father, Hermann Einstein, and uncle set up a small electro-chemical business. He was fortunate to have an excellent family with which he held a strong relationship. Albert's mother, Pauline Einstein, had an intense passion for music and literature, and it was she that first introduced her son to the violin in which he found much joy and relaxation. Also, he was very close with his younger sister, Maja, and they could often be found in the lakes that were scattered about the countryside near Munich. As a child, Einstein's sense of curiosity had already begun to stir. A favorite toy of his was his father's compass, and he often marvelled at his uncle's explanations of algebra. Although young Albert was intrigued by certain mysteries of science, he was considered a slow learner. His failure to become fluent in German until the age of nine even led some teachers to believe he was disabled. Einstein's post-basic education began at the Luitpold Gymnasium when he was ten. It was here that he first encountered the German spirit through the school's strict disciplinary policy. His disapproval of this method of teaching led to his reputation as a rebel. It was probably these differences that caused Einstein to search for knowledge at home. He began not with science, but with religion. He avidly studied the Bible seeking truth, but this religious fervor soon died down when he discovered the intrigue of science and math. To him, these seemed much more realistic than ancient stories. With this new knowledge he disliked class even more, and was eventually expelled from Luitpold Gymnasium being considered a disruptive influence. Feeling that he could no longer deal with the German mentality, Einstein moved to Switzerland where he continued

Overview of Thomas Hutchinson's Political Career

2006-07-03T13:56:07-04:00

Overview of Thomas Hutchinson's Political Career Thomas Hutchinson, chief justice and lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, despite his goal to prevent passage of the dreaded Stamp Act, was violently hated by the people of Boston. In the middle of dinner on August 26, 1765, the most violent mob in the history of America attacked the mansion of Governor Hutchinson. If he and his family had not fled the table and escaped their home, they might not have lived through the ordeal. But, why would an angry Boston mob ransack the home of man who wanted to better the lives of the people? The day after the attack, Thomas Hutchinson appeared in court to defend against the accusation of him supporting the Stamp Act. Wearing the only clothing he had left (some even borrowed), he called God, his Maker, to witness: I never, in New England or Old, in Great Britain or America, neither directly nor indirectly, was aiding, assisting, or supporting, or in the least promoting or encouraging what is commonly called the STAMP ACT, but on the contrary, did all in my power, and strove as much as in me lay, to prevent it. Hutchinson was born in 1711 and grew up in a family of merchants. They produced no physicians, lawyers, teachers, or ministers in the course of a century and a half. They were all devoted to developing property and networking trade, based on kinship lines at every point. Thomas, in the fifth generation, was the end of this developing merchant clan. He was the one that accumulated all of the energy of the family and was the perfect merchant. Thomas' father, Colonel Thomas Hutchinson, married a merchant's daughter, which perfectly fit the family's ideology. This marriage increased contacts three fold between the two families. This set the perfect pattern for young Thomas' life. Thomas entered Harvard at the age of twelve. He inherited much from his father, which became a fortune by the time of the revolution. He had fifteen times his original capitol in cash, eight houses, including the Boston mansion, two wharves, a variety of lots and shop properties in Boston, and a universally admired house in suburban Milton with a splendid setting and a hundred acres of choice land. Basically, Hutchinson was a very rich man. He entered the world

General Biography of General Colin Powell

2006-07-03T13:50:39-04:00

General Biography of General Colin Powell General Colin Powell was born on April 15, 1937 in

Biography and Career of Mariah Carey

2006-07-03T13:41:54-04:00

Biography and Career of Mariah Carey Mariah Carey was born and raised in New York by her mother. She began singing at the age of four. By the time she was in junior high, she had begun to write songs. After her high school graduation, she got her fist big break, singing backup for Brenda K. Starr, a break that led to her signing with Columbia Records. Mariah always knew that she would be a singing star. Mariah's father was black and Venezuelan. Her mother, the daughter of Irish immigrants, was an opera singer. Mariah took after her mother in the pursuit of developing her vocal talents. Mariah Carey is the biggest-selling female recording artist of the 1990's. Mariah has co-written all but one of her number one hits, and has co-produced almost all of her chart-topping singles. Mariah's range of songs includes pop, soul, R&B, hip-hop and gospel. She is the only artist to have had a number one single for every year of the 1990's. The last decade to have an artist hit number one every single year was in 1920's . Mariah has hit number one with the debut single from every one of her albums. Mariah Carey has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide, 84 RIAA gold, platinum and multi-platinum certifications for her singles and holds a record-setting four consecutive number one singles. "Heartbreaker," the first single from her album "Rainbow", made music history on September 29, 1999, when it became her 14th number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, something only accomplished by the Beatles and Elvis Presley. When "Heartbreaker" entered its second week at number one, Mariah spent her 60th week at number one breaking the long-standing 59-week record established by the Beatles as the artist with the most weeks at number one in the 41-year history of the Hot 100. Mariah has racked in numerous awards in her time. She received Grammy’s for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Female in 1990. The same year, Mariah picked up three Soul Train Awards: Best New Artist, Best Album and Best Single. At the American Music Awards, Mariah won Favorite Female Artist/R&B in 1992; Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock and Favorite Album, Adult Contemporary in 1993; Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock in 1995: and Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock and Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B in 1996. Mariah picked up

Biographical Synopsis of Andrew Lloyd Webber

2006-07-03T13:31:02-04:00

Biographical Synopsis of Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber was born on March 22, 1948 to William and Jean Lloyd Webber. In 1951 his younger brother Julian was born. Even at a young age, Andrew loved to make his own music. Andrew also had a great interest in inspecting ancient monuments around England. It and history were what many thought he would choose to do for a career. However, his Aunt Vi introduced him to the theatre, and under her advice started writing music of his own. In 1956, Andrew went to Westminster and started composing music for the school's plays. In 1962, Andrew won a Challenge Scholarship that reduced his tuition at Westminster. Andrew won another scholarship in 1964 to transfer to Oxford. Time Rice and Andrew met in 1965 and consequently, Andrew dropped out of Oxford to pursue music with Tim. The first musical, The Likes of Us, was a failure, but soon afterwards Joseph was created. The first showing was at Colet Court in 1968. Jesus Christ Superstar came next. In 1971, Andrew married Sarah Jane Hugill. Andrew and Alan Ayckbourn, in 1975, started work on a new musical, Jeeves. Jeeves was not a success and Andrew went back to Tim. Together they wrote Evita in late 1975. The next musical, Cats, paired Andrew with the deceased poet T.S. Eliot and producer, Cameron Mackintosh. It was an incredible hit and beat A Chorus Line for longest running musical and highest grossing musical. Cats made Andrew rich and famous and ready to start a musical about trains. Starlight Express was created in 1984, the most expensive musical created up to that point. The same year, Andrew divorced Sarah Hugill and married Sarah Brightman. Andrew's next work was Requiem. It isn't a musical, but serious music for a Mass. Sarah Brightman sang the female soprano part. Andrew's next work, Phantom of the Opera also included Sarah. One of Andrew's most famous works, Phantom was created in 1986. Aspects of Love, Andrew's next venture, opened in 1989. Its intimate setting and songs were critically praised. In 1991, Andrew and Sarah decided to call it quits and on February 15, 1991, Andrew got married yet again to Madeleine Gurdon. The glittery and tragic musical, Sunset Boulevard came out in 1993, but closed after a few years due to lack of "star power". In 1997, Andrew was knighted and became Sir Andrew Lloyd

Material on the Life of Charles Darwin

2006-07-02T22:35:30-04:00

Material on the Life of Charles Darwin Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. He was the son of Robert Waring Darwin and his wife Susannah, and the grandson of the scientist Erasmus Darwin. His mother died when he was eight years old, and he was brought up by his sister. He was taught the classics at Shrewsbury, then sent to Edinburgh to study medicine, which he hated. Like many modern students Darwin only excelled in subjects that intrigued him. Although his father was a physician, Darwin was uninterested in medicine and he was unable to stand the sight of surgery. He did eventually obtain a degree in theology from Cambridge University, although theology was of minor interest to him also. What Darwin really liked to do was tramp over the hills, observing plants and animals, collecting new specimens, scrutinizing their structures, and categorizing his findings, guided by his cousin William Darwin Fox, an entomologist. Darwin's scientific inclinations were encouraged by his botany professor, John Stevens Henslow, who was instrumental, despite heavy paternal opposition, in securing a place for Darwin as a naturalist on the surveying expedition of HMS Beagle to Patagonia. Under Captain Robert Fitzroy, Darwin visited Tenerife, the Cape Verde Island, Brazil, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Chile, the Galapagos Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand, and Tasmania. In the Cape Verde Island Darwin devised his theory of coral reefs. Another significant stop on the trip was in the Galapagos Islands, it was here that Darwin found huge populations of tortoises and he found that different islands were home to significantly different types of tortoises. Darwin then found that on islands without tortoises, prickly pear cactus plants grew with their pads and fruits spread out over the ground. On islands that had hundreds of tortoises, the prickly pears grew substantially thick, tall trunks, bearing the pads and fruits high above the reach of the tough mouthed tortoises. During this five-year expedition he obtained intimate knowledge of the fauna, flora, and geology of many lands, which equipped him for his later investigations. In 1836, Darwin returned to England after the 5 years with the expedition, and by 1846 he had became one of the foremost naturalists of his time, and he also published several works on the geological and zoological discoveries of his voyage. He developed a friendship with Sir Charles Lyell, became secretary of the Geological Society, a position which Darwin

History and Teachings of Martin Luther

2006-07-02T17:27:13-04:00

History and Teachings of Martin Luther Martin Luther lived from 1483-1546. Luther was born on November 10, 1483 in Eisleben in the province of Saxony. His protestant view of Christianity started what was called the Protestant Reformation in Germany. Luther's intentions were to reform the medieval Roman Catholic Church. But firm resistance from the church towards Luther's challenge made way to a permanent division in the structure of Western Christianity. Luther lived in Mansfield and was the son of a miner. He later went on to study at Eisenbach and Magdeburg. After studying at these institutions he moved on to study at the University of Erfurt. Luther started out studying law, but then went on to enter the religious life. He went into the religious life due to the fact that he felt that he would never earn his eternal salvation. He didn't feel that all of the prayer, studying and sacraments were enough. Therefore, Luther felt that he would never be able to satisfy such a judging God. Not being able to satisfy this God meant eternal damnation. After entering the religious life he later became an Augustinian monk and entered the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt in July of 1505. While in this monastery Luther became a well known theologian and Biblical scholar. In 1512 Luther earned his doctorate in theology and became a professor of Biblical literature at Wittenberg University. Luther took his religious vocation very serious. This led him into a severe crisis in dealing with his religion. He wondered, "is it possible to reconcile the demands of God's law with human inability to live up to the law." Luther then turned to the New Testament book of Romans for answers. He had found, "God had, in the obedience of Jesus Christ, reconciled humanity to himself." "What was required of mankind, therefore, was not strict adherence to law or the fulfillment of religious obligations, but a response of faith that accepted what God had done." In other words he realized that religion is based on love and not fear. Basically, he realized that everyone is burdened by sin because it happens as a result of our weaknesses. He concluded that man could never earn his salvation by leading a blameless life or by performing holy acts. Instead, man's salvation was a divine gift from God resulting from faith in Jesus, especially the saving power of his death

Analysis of Biography of Hannibal from Carthage

2006-06-27T03:23:51-04:00

Analysis of Biography of Hannibal from Carthage Hannibal, Invader From Carthage by Robert N. Webb is a biography that focuses on and highlights the life and times of Hannibal, the Carthaginian general. Hannibal is best remembered as the courageous warrior who led an army of thousands and thousands of men, thirty-seven elephants, and a number of horses across Spain, the Alps, and Italy, on a mission to conquer Rome. The author does an admirable job showing different views of Hannibal. He quotes other historians and poets throughout the course of the book, such as Livy, Polybius, and Lord Byron. Quoting other historians is an effective system of writing, because it is not just Webb reciting facts, but other famous writers giving interpretations as well. As a boy, and all during his adult life, Hannibal was exposed to the traumas of war and battles. This probably is the reason why he was exceptionally fearless and brave. Hannibal became one of the greatest generals of all time, and is labeled by historians as a military genius superior to fearless heroes such as Alexander the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte. Hannibal, born in Sicily in 251 BC, was always close to war. The first five years of his life set the pattern for his future. Soldiers, who were mercenaries of about six different races, always surrounded him. Hannibal’s father, Hamilcar, led Carthaginian forces against Rome for the last six years of the First Punic War. Hamilcar was very bright, and was always coming up with brilliant ways to attack the Romans. Hannibal was with his father when Hamilcar raised his army of mercenaries, who were ferocious warriors. Hannibal received all of his skills from his father. During Hannibal’s time as leader of the Carthaginians, he always used force of arms, even when they were not necessary. He displayed much courage and talent in battle. Not only was Hannibal a great warrior, but he was highly educated for his time. Acts of pure genius and reasoning saved him during difficult and strenuous times in his prime years. A significant historical aspect of the book is in general Hannibal and the Carthaginian’s hate towards the Romans. The Carthaginians always had an edge, because Hannibal was so brilliant. For example, Hannibal planned invasions when the Romans least suspected them. Hannibal’s army could not invade by sea, because the Roman navy was in control of the seaports.

Overview of Galileo's Life as a Scientist

2006-06-27T02:26:01-04:00

Overview of Galileo's Life as a Scientist Galileo Galilei was born near Pisa in February 15’ 1564. As he grew up he was taught by Monks and entered into the University of Pisa. In the University of Pisa he studied Mathematics and he got a very high degree. After he graduated, around 1609 when the first telescope was invented he made a telescope of his own which magnified 20 times.

The Life and Times of Fredrick Douglas

2006-06-26T16:35:56-04:00

The Life and Times of Fredrick Douglas Frederick Baily was born a slave in February 1818 on Holmes Hill Farm, near the town of Easton on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The farm was part of an estate owned by Aaron Anthony, who also managed the plantations of Edward Lloyd V, one of the wealthiest men in Maryland. The main Lloyd Plantation was near the eastern side of Chesapeake Bay, 12 miles from Holmes Hill Farm, in a home Anthony had built near the Lloyd mansion, was where Frederick's first master lived. Frederick's mother, Harriet Baily, worked the cornfields surrounding Holmes Hill. He knew little of his father except that the man was white. As a child, he had heard rumors that the master, Aaron Anthony, had sired him. Because Harriet Baily was required to work long hours in the fields, Frederick was sent to live with his grandmother, Betsey Baily. Betsy Baily lived in a cabin a short distance from Holmes Hill Farm. Her job was to look after Harriet's children until they were old enough to work. At age 6, Frederick's grandmother told him that they were taking a long journey. They set out westward, with Frederick clinging to his grandmother's skirt with fear and uncertainty. They had approached a large elegant home, the Lloyd Plantation, where several children were playing on the grounds. Betsy Baily pointed out his siblings Perry, and his sisters Sara and Eliza. His grandmother told him to join his siblings and he did so reluctantly. After a while one of the children yelled out to Frederick that his grandmother was gone. Frederick fell to the ground and wept, he was about to learn the harsh realities of the slave system. Because Frederick had a natural charm that, many people found engaging, he was chosen to be the companion of Daniel Lloyd, the youngest son of the plantation's owner. Frederick's chief friend and protector was Lucretia Auld, Aaron Anthony's daughter, who recently married a ship's captain named Thomas Auld. One day in 1826 Lucretia told Frederick that he was being sent to live with her brother-in-law, Hugh Auld, who managed a shipbuilding firm in Baltimore, Maryland. She told him that if he scrubbed himself clean, she would give him a pair of pants to wear to Baltimore. Frederick was elated at this chance to escape the life of a field hand. He cleaned himself up

Psychological Analysis of Edgar Allen Poe

2006-06-22T14:36:02-04:00

Psychological Analysis of Edgar Allen Poe When picking a topic for my research paper. I thought of many different ideas. I started to think about my interests is reading literature, and I decided to write about my favorite author Edgar Allan Poe. This paper is going to look at Poe from a psychological perspective. There seems to be few attempts to look at the psychological causes of humor in Poe’s work, and how his personal life may have had an impact on his writings. Many of Poe’s tales are distinguished by the author’s unique grotesque ideas in addition to his superb plots. In an article titled “Poe’s humor: A Psychological Analysis,” by Paul Lewis, he states: “Appropriately it seems to me, that to see Poe only as an elitist whose jokes could not be grasped by a general audience is to sell him short. He does not deny this elitist side of Poe; but he holds for a broader, more universal less intellectual humor that screams out from the center of Poe’s work. (532) This article provides important insight to understanding the nature of the humor and its relationship to the overwhelming horror in some of Poe’s work. Lewis’ believes that humor and fear have a special relationship in Poe’s tales. Humor, taken to its limits, leads the reader to fear. He says, “Over and over, when humor fails, we are left with images of fear: the raven’s shadow, the howling cat, the putrescence corpse, or the fallen house. (535) According to Lewis, in The Black Cat and Ligeia, he argues that are first impressions of the narrators are half comic. “We are led gradually away from this humor into an expanding horror of men driven to acts of obscene cruelty. The combination with humor and horror occurs differently in Hop Frog where cruelty and joking co-mingle. (537) To agree with Lewis, I feel what happens in this tale is not just that cruel jokers are destroyed by a cruel joke but that joking itself gives good way to horror, as the cruelty of joke destroys its ability to function as a joke. The appeal of Lewis’ article about psychological insight of Poe rings true. I agree that fear and humor are linked together in Poe’s tales. I have seen it in hospitals, and at funerals, or even when humor helps pass the time during a threat of a destructive storm

Walt Whitman and the Romanticism Movement

2006-06-20T18:18:17-04:00

Walt Whitman and the Romanticism Movement Romanticism, is a movement in the literature of virtually every country of Europe, United States and Latin America . It lasted from about 1750 to 1870. This epoch is characterized by the reliance on the imagination and subjectivity of approach, freedom of thought and expression and idealization of nature. This movement was developed everywhere, imagination was praised over the reason, emotions were over the logic and intuition over science. The literature will emphasized a new flexibility of form adapted to varying content, encourage development of complex and fast-moving plots and allowed mixed genres and a freer style. There was an increasing demand for spontaneity and lyricism , it led to a rejection of regular meters, strict forms and other convention of the classical tradition. The romantic writers replaced the static universal types of classical 18th century literature with more complex, idiosyncratic characters and a great deal of drama, fiction and poetry. The 18th and 19th century is characterized by the libertarian and abolitionist movements. They were engendered by the romantic philosophy of desire to be free of convention and tyranny and the emphasis of the rights and dignity of the individual. An example is the American Civil War, where the abolitionist fight for the rights of the slaves of the southern part of the United States. The central interest of the romantic movement is the concern with nature and the natural surroundings. This tradition is absorbed in the literary movement of transcendentalism that is expressed by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. This movement were influenced by Romanticism, specially in the aspects of self-examination, the celebration of individualism, and the extolling of the beauties of nature and humankind. All the characteristics of this movement, specially the celebration of the individual, of the new creations and thinks, formed the most important author of the 19th century : WALT WHITMAN . Walter Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in Huntington, Long Island in a working class family. He was the second son of nine children. His father was a carpenter and a farmer, he was also a liberal thinker. Walter had a very special relationship with his mother. When he was four years, he moved to Brooklyn, near the East River and the ferries. Later in his life this was his inspiration to write the poem called "Crossing the Brooklyn Ferry" where he wrote the experiences

The Personal Life of Robert Oppenheimer

2006-06-20T18:11:54-04:00

The Personal Life of Robert Oppenheimer First things first, people argue his name. Some say that the “J.” at the beginning of his name means Julius because his fathers’ name is Julius. Others argue it is simply a “J.” that stands for nothing. To tell the truth nobody really knows the truth about what it stands for. Well, since that’s cleared up that’s that. J. Robert Oppenheimer was born on a cold spring evening April 22, 1904 in New York. When Oppenheimer was five he went on a trip to Germany to visit his grandfather Ben who gave him a dozen minerals that were labeled in German. This is where Oppenheimer first got into minerals. Oppenheimer went to college at Harvard. He finished college in three years instead of the usual four years. During his career he meets and befriends many Noble Prizewinners and worked with many others. Oppenheimer was bad at laboratory work at first but eventually became better. He learned many languages during his time. He lived in Europe while learning more physics. Oppenheimer was known for being more shy than snobbish while in Europe. Up until the 1930’s Oppenheimer was not into politics. He didn’t even own a radio or a telephone. At one point in his life he was leaning towards the communist party but then showed distaste for the communist party. Oppenheimer and Katherine Puening Harrison were married in 1940 and had a son in 1941. During Oppenheimer two and a half years at Loa Alamos he was a dedicated worker who worked six days a week on 20-hour days. For all the time he lived he was a dedicated family man. At the age of 62 he died on February 18, 1967 in Princeton, New Jersey. PROFESSIONAL LIFE For five years after Oppenheimer graduated he kept up his studies. When he finished his studies he was appointed to the physics department at University of California at Berkley. At the same time he was appointed to the physics department at Caltech at Pasedena. Oppenheimer later was the target of the governments need. The need was for someone to supervise the atomic bomb research. He agreed to become the coordinator of atomic research at the Office of Scientific Research and Development. This was

Following the Career of Jeff Atkins aka Ja-Rule

2006-06-20T17:54:52-04:00

Following the Career of Jeff Atkins aka Ja-Rule A native of Hollis, Queens, 21-year-old Ja-Rule, otherwise known as Jeff Atkins began his career guesting on Mic Geronimo's "Time To Build," the b-side to "Masta I.C." in 1995. From that Blunt/TVT Records appearance, the gravel-voiced MC was able to land a deal for his group, the Cash Money Click, on the same label. Unfortunately, the trio, which also featured MCs Nemesis and Chris Black, only dropped one single, "4 My Click/Get The Fortune," before Chris Black was incarcerated. After

Biography of John Saul

2006-06-20T17:43:37-04:00

Biography of John Saul I chose to do my paper on John Saul. I chose this author because I have already read many works by him. His books are psychological thrillers that keep you turning pages. Every book of his that I’ve read has been awesome. I plan to read his 15th novel, Second Child. I have already learned a minimum amount of information about him from reading some of his books. During this research project I hope to gain more information about his life. John Saul was born in Pasadena, California on February 25, 1942. He grew up in Whittier where he graduated from Whittier High School in 1959. He attended several colleges after graduation. They included Antioch, in Ohio -Cerritos, in Norwalk, California, -Montana State University and San Francisco State College. He majored in anthropology, liberal arts, and theater, but never obtained a degree. After leaving college, he decided the best thing for him, being a college drop out, to do was become a writer. He spent the next fifteen years working in various jobs while attempting to write a book someone would want to publish. During those years he gained a collection of unpublished manuscripts, but not a lot of money. He eventually found an agent in New York, who spent several years sending his manuscripts around, and trying to make rejection sound hopeful. Then, in 1976, one of his manuscripts reached Dell, who didn’t want to buy it, but asked if he’d be interested in writing a psychological thriller. He put together an outline, and hoped for the best. After that, things started getting strange. His agent decided the outline had all the makings of a best seller. They decided to gamble on a first novel. They backed the book with television advertising. That was one of the first times a paperback original was promoted on television. The gambling paid off. Within a month, Suffer the Children appeared on all the best-seller lists in the country and made the #1 spot in Canada. All 19 of his books have made all the best-seller lists and have been published world- wide. Though many of his books were published by Bantam/Doubleday/Dell, his last three books have been published by Ballantine/Fawcett/Columbine. In addition to his works as a novelist, John is also interested in theater. He has acted, and as a playwright has had several one-act plays produced in Los

Historic Analysis of John F. Kennedy

2006-06-20T16:56:38-04:00

Historic Analysis of John F. Kennedy On Friday November 22, 1963, the thirty-fifth President of the United States of America, John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode down Elm Street in downtown Dallas Texas. To this day, the questions as to whom did it, why did they do it, and how did they do it? are still unanswered. Then there is the question as to if it was a cover up. I personally believe that there was definitely a cover up because I don't think that Lee Harvey Oswald could have shot that many bullets in that short of a time period with the gun that was found on the sixth floor of the School Book Depository. In this essay, I will tell you my opinion of what happened on that day and what is wrong with certain parts of the Warren Commission Report. The Warren Commission consisting of "various outstanding citizens" was created to determine, evaluate and tell all of the facts relating to the assassination. The Commission was to examine the evidence found and developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and to further any investigation, as it deems necessary. In just a few days, the Warren Commission had decided that it was definitely Lee Harvey Oswald that had shot the President. It wasn't until a few years later that Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry said to a newsman, "We don't have any proof that Oswald fired the rifle, and never did. Nobody's yet been able to put him in that building with a gun in his hand." At no time did the Warren Commission seem to consider that Oswald was innocent until proven guilty, the right to legal representation, or the right to cross-examine witnesses. I believe that there is no way that Oswald was the lone assassin because nobody saw Oswald on the sixth floor of the Schoolbook Depository after 11:55 on November 22. Roy Truly and a police officer by the name of M.L. Baker saw Oswald on the second floor. I just don't see how it is possible for any person to first hide a gun on the opposite corner of the sixth floor, run down four floors of stairs passing a woman by the name of Victoria Adams, and end up on the second floor "calm and collected" in a 90 second time period. The Warren Commission claimed that Oswald fired three

Biography of Joe Montana

2006-06-16T18:49:34-04:00

Biography of Joe Montana Joe Montana. When his name is said, sports fans all over the world begin to tremble with excitement. When it is announced over the loudspeaker at football games, fans go wild. He was the greatest quarterback to ever play the game: Quarterbacks may come and go, but none will ever be as brilliant, nor as exciting as Joe Montana. He was Joe Cool, the quarterback who never quit, the quarterback who could overcome any deficit, any pressure, and injury. Despite horrible injuries, he won more than seventy percent of the games he started during an illustrious sixteen-year career in the National Football League. Not bad for someone who had eighty-one players picked ahead of him in the 1979 draft (Miller). I remember the first time that I ever saw Joe play. It was early in the 1988 season, against the New York Giants. Games versus home teams (Giants and Jets) and prime time games are just about the only times the New York audience get chances to watch the 49ers on television during the season. I was lucky, because in the first football game that I ever saw, I got to see the 49ers and Montana's magical play and greatness. The 49ers were down 17-13 in the fourth quarter with about three minutes remaining and Joe sprung into action by driving the 49ers down the field seventy or so yards and won the game with a touchdown pass to wide receiver Freddie Soloman. The final score was 20-17, another comeback performance for the king of comebacks, Joe Montana. He instantly became my favorite player and the 49ers became my favorite team. Later that year, during the playoffs, I saw the 49ers (with awesome performances by Joe Montana, Roger Craig, Jerry Rice, John Taylor, Ronnie Lott, Charles Haley, and company) destroy all their opponents by at least twenty points a game and go to Super Bowl XXIII. This was my first Super Bowl, and Joe Montana shone when it was most needed. With less than two minutes remaining, he drove the 49ers ninety-two yards and hit receiver John Taylor for a thirty-four yard touchdown to win the game. A sterling performance by teammate Jerry Rice kept Joe from winning his third MVP trophy. Ever since the 1988-1989 season, I've been an avid fan of Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers. No one on and off the

Story of Erasmus of Rotterdam

2006-06-16T14:49:44-04:00

Story of Erasmus of Rotterdam Erasmus’ attitude toward learning embodies important aspects of cultural change in the 16th century. “He was a man of deep religious feelings and conviction, an independent thinker, greatest philologist of his time and one of the greatest of all times, a staunch defender of human reason, opposed Luther’s teachings, religious reformer, and a fearless critic” (Runes p.184). Erasmus did and thought many things in his lifetime. His philosophy was mainly based on God and the Church. He was a true man of letters, he wrote and translated tirelessly; arguing, teaching, and campaigning for the purification of the Church. People believed he was a variety of things, but he conceived of himself as a preacher of righteousness and was convinced that what was needed to regenerate Europe was sound learning. He was a man who hated ignorance as much as Luther and Calvin hated sin. Desiderius Erasmus was born in October of 1469 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. His father, Gerard, was a priest and his mother was a daughter of a physician. His childhood was apparently very unhappy, and so was his youth. He mentioned it with bitterness. He had a mother named Margaret and a brother named Peter. It was said that he had hated his brother. He did not claim his father, and denied using his name. Since he was born out of wedlock, his birth was not blessed. His parent’s story is a unique one. His father’s parents pressured him into priesthood, but he was living with a view to marriage with Erasmus’ mother, Margaret. His family harassed him so much that he left Margaret pregnant, and fled to Rome. His family sent him word that she had died and he returned home only to find that he had been deceived, for Margaret was still alive. “His parents love affair was the base of Charles Read’s novel The Cloister and the Hearth” (Erasmus p.8). Many major historical events happened in his time, such as the Luther Reformation. Erasmus was involved a lot in the reformation of the Roman-Catholic Church. Most of the books written about Erasmus have a lot to say about the disagreements between Luther and Erasmus. Also, the French-Burgundism wars began shortly before Erasmus was born and lasted all the years that he lived in Holland. Where he lived was a dull and oppressive place because of the collapse of civil

For those ignorant of Abraham Lincoln

2006-06-16T14:45:57-04:00

For those ignorant of Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in Kentucky. When he was two, the Lincoln’s moved a few miles to another farm on the old Cumberland Trail. A year later, his mother gave birth to another boy, Thomas, but he died a few days later. When Lincoln was seven his family moved to Indiana. In 1818, Lincoln’s mother died from a deadly disease called the “milk-sick.” Then ten years later his sister died and left him with only his father and stepmother. Lincoln traveled to New Salem in April 1831 and settled there the following July. In the fall of 1836 he and Mrs. Bennett Abell had a deal that if she brought her single sister to New Salem he had to promise to marry her. When she arrived he was not to pleased with her because her skin was full of fat. Around seven months later he asked Mrs. Orville Browning to marry him but she said no. Lincoln met his wife to be, Mary Todd, at the grand cotillion in honor of the completion of the new capital building in 1839. They got engaged and a while later he broke off the engagement because she was seeing other men. Around a year later in Springfield on November 4, 1842 Abraham and Mary got married. In 1844, Abraham and his wife were able to purchase their own house in Springfield. It was a one-and-a-half story frame cottage. In May 1843, the Lincoln’s had a son and named him Robert, after the addition to the family they made the house a full two story house. Lincoln had three more sons Edward Baker, William Wallace, and Thomas. Edward died at the age of three, the cause of death was either consumption or pulmonary tuberculosis. In 1832 Lincoln announced himself a candidate for the state legislature but he was defeated. Then a year later he was appointed postmaster of New Salem and in the fall he became deputy county surveyor. He really wanted a seat in the Illinois legislature so he ran again and was elected with bipartisan support. Lincoln was very interested in being a lawyer, he would walk fifteen miles just to watch the court cases in Boonville, Indiana. Lincoln got a license to practice law after several hard years of teaching himself. By the early 1850s, the Lincoln-Herndon law office had become a

The Career of Basketball's Michael Jordan

2006-06-16T14:38:20-04:00

The Career of Basketball's Michael Jordan Michael Jordan is the Chicago Bulls superstar who beat Charles Barkley and Akeem Olajuwon for Rookie of the Year Honors in 1985. Perhaps, he is the greatest player to ever play the game....he even has six championship rings to back up his claim, including 3 straight from 1991-1993, and 3 more in 1996-1998. Michael was named the NBA Finals MVP in all of those titles. He's won them all with Scottie Pippen. In 1991, Jordan's Bulls finally overcame the greatest impediment to their team's success, Isiah Thomas' Detroit Pistons, who had regularly eliminated the Bulls from the playoffs. In 1993 he averaged 41.0 ppg in the finals, for a record. This 6-6 superstar guard is a perennial NBA first teamer (10 times from 1987-1993 and 1996 and again as a unanimous selection in 1997 and 1998). He was once again an All-NBA First Team member in 1996 after making his return from baseball. You can always pencil Mike in as the starting guard for the all-star game (13 appearances in 1985 and from 1987-1993, 1997-1998 and again in 2002). He started for the ninth time in 1997, as the first player EVER to receive more that 2 million votes. In the 1997 Game he became the first player ever to record a triple double in the all-star game with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 11 asssists. Jordan was not named MVP that year (Glen Rice received that honor), but he did win the Game's MVP award in 1988 after scoring 40 points and again in 1996. Jordan was once again elected to start (10th time in 12 appearances) in 1998 after leading the eastern conference in voting. After coming out of retirement, Jordan was elected to start again for the eastern all-stars in 2002. Jordan holds the record for most career scoring titles with eight, including 7 straight, also a record. He scores so many points that it is almost unfair to compare him with other players. On November 6, 1996 Michael scored 50 points for the 36th time in his career! Jordan eclipsed the 25,000 career points total, and he continues to dominate in that statistical category. He was the tenth player to score that many points, accomplishing the feat against San Antonio on November 30, 1996, with his 35th point of the game. On January 4, 2001 Michael Jordan scored his 30,000 career

Folklore and Stephen Vincent Benet

2006-06-16T14:20:55-04:00

Folklore and Stephen Vincent Benet In 1898, Stephen Vincent Benet was born into a military family in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He had an older brother and one sister, all of who became well known authors of the 20th century. As Stephen grew up he constantly heard folktales that had been passed down from generation to generation, and as he began to write books, his great knowledge of folklore becomes evident. In the story, The Devil and Daniel Webster, Benet writes a classic short story about how a normal human could soften the hearts of not only 12 of the most ruthless and heartless criminals in the history of the USA, but also the heart of the Devil himself. The elements that classify it as a folk lore is the fact that it is very unlikely to happen, the story contains many characters that are the classic stereotypes and it ends with a general truth about life. In actual life, the situation that is presented in The Devil and Daniel Webster is highly unlikely to happen which is one element that qualifies it as folklore. In the first chapter of the book, Jabez Stone and the devil strike up a deal, “and they went out behind the barn and made their bargain.”(TD&DW 197). Although some may argue that this is possible, it is still very unlikely to actually happen in real life. In Benets’ Reader’s Encyclopedia, it tells us how his father encouraged Benet to pursue writing, “His interest in literature, left his mark on his children…”(Benets’ Readers Encyclopedia 162) Using his fathers love for literature, Benet began to aim his life toward literature. A selection from The Devil and Daniel Webster says, “For the glitter was gone from the eyes of judge and jury, and, for the moment, they were men again, and knew they were men.”(TD&DW 207) This selection shows just how unlikely the story is to happen because Benet is suggesting that mire human could change the views of some of the most ruthless men in history, something that could not be done by any other man during their lives. And one of the most unbelievable selections is, “One and all, they came into the room with the fires of hell still upon them…”(TD&DW 204) Benet is suggesting that 12 men were brought back from the fires of hell to sit

The Legacy of Abraham Lincoln

2006-06-15T22:54:06-04:00

The Legacy of Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was a man who was best known for standing against the difficult problems of his day. Issues such as slavery, Negro social and political rights, and saving the Union in a nation based on the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln had many strengths as well as flaws. Lincoln was a self-educated man, who had never had a full year of schooling in his life. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809. He was born to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. In 1816, the Lincoln’s moved from Kentucky to across the Ohio River to Indiana. His father left Kentucky. Early on in life Lincoln had religious reasons for disliking slavery. His family was Separate Baptists who had to stick to a strict code of morality that condemned profanity, intoxication, gossip, horse racing, dancing, and slavery. October 5, a little over a year after living in Indiana, Lincoln’s mother died of a devastating outbreak of what was called “milk sickness”, along with several other relatives. In March 1832, Lincoln announced that he would run as a candidate for the state legislature. Lincoln was twenty-three and had decided to live in New Salem, where he was a clerk in a small country store. He had little formal education, so it as hard for him to get the job. He campaigned well, but in the end, Lincoln ran eighth out of thirteen candidates. In 1834 he entered his second race for the state legislature. Lincoln received 1376 votes, placing him the second highest candidate and was elected. In 1840, Lincoln decided not to run for re-election. On November 6, 1860 Lincoln was elected President. He won over two democratic candidates, Stephen Douglas, and John Breckinridge. He received 180 out of 303 possible electoral votes, and 40 percent of the popular vote. On March 4, 1861, Lincoln delivers his First Inaugural Address. Lincoln said in a portion of his Inaugural Speech: “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.” On March 6, 1861, Lincoln became the president of a very divided America. Abraham Lincoln had quite a bit to deal with. Within the first four months of him becoming President

Biography of Charles Darwin's own Evolution

2006-06-15T22:46:37-04:00

Biography of Charles Darwin's own Evolution Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsburry, England on February 12, 1809. He is the son of Robert Waring Darwin, a physician. Darwin showed little interest in his education at Shrewsburry School and in medical studies at Edinburgh University (1825-27). He decided to turn away from becoming a physician after witnessing several operations performed without anesthesia. At the same time he began to be interested in geology and in natural history. He was sent to study for Holy Orders for the Church of England at Christ Church College at Cambridge University in 1828. Instead of becoming a minister he became more and more interested in natural history. After he got his B.A. degree in 1831 , a professor and friend, John Stevens Henslow recommended him for an unpaid position as a naturalist on a scientific expedition. Darwin went on a 5 year voyage on the H.M.S Beagle; a turning point in his life. The ship set sail on December 27,1831 to study the Pacific Coast of South America and some Pacific Islands; and also set up navigation stations in the area. Darwin's duty was to study geology and biology of the areas. His research in geology was that sedimentary rocks crystallize when metamorphosed by overlying rocks. He also saw evidence of how volcanoes and earthquakes change the lay of the land, uplifting some areas. His theory of coral reefs were built up by skeletal remains of coral organisms that died as their home reefs around oceanic mountains sank below sea level. His common idea was all things in nature change in time . He published his observations like Coral Reefs in 1842, Volcanic Islands in 1844, Geological Observations On South America in 1846. The Galapagos Islands were probably the scene of his most important and best known research. Darwin found dazzling array of animal species that lived on different islands even though all islands were very similar in geological, climatic, and other physical conditions. He found an array of ground finches with beaks ranging from large and powerful to small or fine. He correlated differences not with physical conditions but with birds' feeding habits. Those with small beaks ate small seeds, and those with fine beaks primarily fed on insects. He thought that each finch was suited by food available in its environment. They were later called Darwin's Finches. In November 24,1859 he published a

Baseball Legend Jackie Robinson

2006-06-15T16:11:02-04:00

Baseball Legend Jackie Robinson The Roaring Twenties of this country was a time when the entire sports world blew up into the major worldwide business that it is now. Baseball was one sport that really profited from the country’s sporting obsession, and baseball became one of the most popular sporting events to attend. Not only was it a game played by adults but it was also a family event that entire families could go to. By the beginning of the decade baseball had it’s first $100,000 deal when George Herman Ruth was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for $125,000. The game became more than a game, it became a business. It was the emergence of the superstar, and players were making a living off of being a professional baseball player. Babe Ruth became more than a player he became an idol that was more noticeable than the President of the United States. Other superstar players emerged along with Ruth in the twenties, such players as Lou Gehrig, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, and Ty Cobb became players that were in a way bigger than the game. They became the superstars of the league, partying like college frat boys with endless amounts of money and the celebrity to take them anywhere. They became names that were common in households nationwide, and became heroes for young children to look up to and play after. The 1927 Yankees known as one of the best baseball teams ever, were around with stars like Ruth, Gehrig, and Tony Lazerri, is still considered one of the best teams ever assembled. This is the team that young little leaguers would play dreaming one day to play in the pinstripes of a Yankee uniform, playing under the lights of the House that Ruth Built. Players were now accepting a whole new role as baseball players, becoming idols of children, and they started gaining the celebrity that some of the Hollywood stars did not even have. Babe Ruth’s impact on the game of baseball was almost as mammoth as his home runs. When Ruth entered the league it was in its fragile, fledgling stages, and the enormous awe-inspiring slugger brought the game back into its flashy superstar filled game that it was. Ruth was different than most stars of

The Influence of Napolean Bonaparte on History

2006-06-14T23:11:59-04:00

The Influence of Napolean Bonaparte on History Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. Through his military exploits and his ruthless efficiency, Napoleon rose from obscurity to become Napoleon I, Emperor of France. He is both a historical figure and a legend -- and it is sometimes difficult to separate the two. The events of his life fired the imaginations of great writers, film makers, and playwrights whose works have done much to create the Napoleonic legend. Napoleon was one of the greatest military commanders in history. He has also been portrayed as a power hungry conqueror. Was he a megalomaniac, and was this an advantage or disadvantage to his rule over France? Napoleon denied being such a conqueror. He argued that, instead, he had attempted to build a federation of free peoples in a Europe united under a liberal government. But if this was his goal, he intended to achieve it by concentrating power in his own hands. However, in the states he created, Napoleon granted constitutions, introduced law codes, abolished feudalism, created efficient governments and fostered education, science, literature and the arts. He was a megalomaniac and because of his desire for complete control, he was defeated and exiled; therefore making it a disadvantage over his rule of France. One reason for napoleon’s megalomania was his childhood. He was put into the finest military schools and was taught military tactics and warfare#. Without this napoleon would have probably never learned the skills he did at the school, and would have never become the power hungry leader he eventually became. Napoleon’s childhood was different from an average child’s life. He was a very small, fiery, hot tempered boy#. He loved to argue and fight with his brother and even elders#. He beat his brother when fighting, even though Giuseppe was more than a year older than him#. He had a very large superego and was very conscientious. Although with all these aggressive aspects, he was very generous#. He went to military and preparatory schools. He started school at the age of five and was very serious about school#. He loved arithmetic, this love of mathematics caused him to become an artillery officer in the French army#. He developed his fiery nature as a child. He was very extroverted from the other boys in the school. This temper and anger ultimately caused him

The Whole Story of Richard Nixon

2006-06-13T19:32:21-04:00

The Whole Story of Richard Nixon Richard Nixon is known as the 37th president that resigned from office. I am going to tell you the whole story. Nixon was born in 1913 in Yorba Linda, California, the second of five sons of Francis Nixon and Hannah Nixon. The Nixons were Scots-Irish and the Milhouses were of Irish and English descent, known as Quakers. Richard Nixon attended public schools in Whittier, California, and went to Whittier College, a Quaker institution, where he majored in history. He won a scholarship to Duke University Law School and received his law degree in 1937. Nixon joined an established law firm in Whittier and there met his future wife, Thelma Ryan. They married on June 21, 1940, and had two daughters, Patricia in 1946 and Julie in 1948. In 1946 Nixon was persuaded by California Republicans to be their candidate to challenge the popular Democratic Congressman Jerry Voorhis for his seat in the United States House of Representatives. Nixon’s campaign was an example of the vigorous and aggressive style characteristic of his political career. He accused Voorhis of being soft on Communism. The two men confronted each other in a series of debates, and Voorhis was forced into a defensive position. Nixon won the election by a vote of 65,586 to 49,994. As a new member of the Congress of the United States, Nixon gained valuable experience in international affairs while serving on a special committee that helped establish the European Recovery Program. Nixon also served on the House of Education and Labor Committee, where he helped draft the Taft-Hartley Act on labor-management relations. In 1948, he was reelected to Congress after winning both the Republican and Democratic nominations. In 1950 the Republicans chose Nixon as their candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. His opponent was the liberal Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas. In another bitterly fought campaign, Nixon linked her voting record with American-Labor-Party congressman Vito Marcantonio, who was widely regarded as pro-Communist. Nixon won the election by 680,000 votes. In 1952 Nixon was selected to be the running mate of General Dwight Eisenhower, who had won the Republican presidential nomination. Shortly after Nixon’s vice-presidential nomination it was reported that a fund had been collected to meet his expenses as a senator. No evidence was produced that Nixon had misused the fund or given special favors to contributors, but many of Eisenhower’s advisers wanted Nixon

The Life of General Robert E. Lee

2006-06-13T19:07:27-04:00

The Life of General Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee was the most beloved General in American History. His accomplishments have traveled through history as being unmatched by any other American General in History. He earned respect by hard work and discipline. He was a leader by example, and would never ask his men to do something he himself would not do. He graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1829. He later becomes the Superintendent of West Point in 1852. He would have preferred duty in the field rather that duty behind a desk, but worked without complaint. While Superintendent at West Point, he improved the buildings, the courses, and spent a lot of time with the cadets. When war broke out between United States and Mexico in 1846, Lee was sent to Texas to serve as Assistant Engineer under John E. Wool. All his superior officers were impressed with Lee, especially General Winfield Scott. Lee supervised the construction of bridges for Wools troops to march towards the Mexican border. Lee also served as a scout for the Army. This was very dangerous work. Once when he was out on a scouting mission, a couple of Mexican solders went to a spring to get a drink of water, Lee quickly jumped under a log where he stayed for hours in hiding as more Mexican solders arrived to play games on the log that he was hiding under. When the solders left, Lee was able to make it back to his unit. Lee was asked by Winfield Scott to help plan the battle of Vera Cruz. He was also asked to find out the best way to besiege the city and to find out what the Mexican General Santa Anna was planning. Lee overcame days upon end without sleep in order to minimize the number of American causalities. As the battle proceeded, Lee without realizing ordered his brothers artillery piece into action. “I could see his white teeth through all the smoke of the fire.” Lee wrote to his wife Mary. When war broke out between the states in 1861, Lee was asked by the President of the United States Abraham Lincoln to led the army of the North and to crush the Southern states rebellion against the United States of America. Lee was disturbed

Story of Jim Lovell the Astronaut

2006-06-13T19:02:19-04:00

Story of Jim Lovell the Astronaut Jim Lovell was born in Cleveland, Ohio on March 25, 1928. Even as a child he was interested in rockets. During high school with the help of friends and his chemistry professor, he built a rocket that flew 80 feet into the air, wobbled, turned and 'exploded in a splendid suicide'. This was the start of Jim Lovell's lifelong fascination with projectiles. Upon entering college Jim was interested in continuing his study of rocketry and flight. Since there were no universities that offered a program in rocket science, and he was determined to achieve his goals, Jim decided that the military was the only place where flying was being pursued as a science and decided to enter. He applied to the Naval Academy and was placed on an alternate list. Jim began his Navy career at Moffet Field in Moutain View, California in

Biography of the Prophet Moses

2006-06-13T18:54:03-04:00

Biography of the Prophet Moses Born a slave and raised by kings, he was chosen to lead. His name is revered by millions......Moses. By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict." Hebrews 11:23 Revered as a prophet but even more importantly as a teacher and a lawgiver, Moses was the leader of the Israelite people 3,300 years ago during their journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom as a nation in the land of Israel. (Encyclopedia Britannica Reference Index, p46) For 40 years Moses led the people through the desert on their way to Israel and helped shape them into a nation that could live under the laws of God. (Encyclopedia Britannica, p.488) Ancient Israel had a long oral tradition of laws and legends, and it is likely that some parts of the story of Moses were written long after his lifetime. Modern scholarship recognizes that while the basis of the biblical story of Moses contains real history, there is disagreement as to the accuracy of every action and every word attributed to Moses by the biblical writers. (McDahl, p 73) Whether one views the Bible as the revealed word of God or as the writing of inspired people, the figure of Moses towers over the early history of the Jewish people. (Telushkin, source 2) Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions revere Moses for his central role in communicating the Ten Commandments and the Torah directly from God to the Jewish people soon after their escape from Egypt. (Rafkin, p 28) Thus, the Torah is also known as the Five Books of Moses. According to Genesis, the first book of the Bible, the Israelite people first came to Egypt in search of food during a famine that affected the entire ancient Near East. (Rafkin, p 33) At first welcomed by the Egyptians, after about 400 years the Israelites, or Hebrews, were perceived as a threat and were enslaved. In addition, the Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, decreed that all newborn male Israelites were to be killed. (Encyclopedia Britannica, p487) It was at this time that Moses was born. His older siblings, Aaron and Miriam, would join him later in his life to help lead the Israelite

Following the Life of Beryl Markham

2006-06-13T18:18:39-04:00

Following the Life of Beryl Markham Beryl Markham lead a remarkable life; from the warm and wild farm in Njoro to the wide open skies over Nairobi, Beru, as most natives said her name of Laweit as Arab Maina called her established grand relationships with not only many of the people she came in contact with, but she also have some special bonds with many of the animals she encountered in her life. Although many of the students complained that some of her characters were one dimensional, her chapters lacked focus or even that she didn’t dig deep enough into her personal life. I personally the Beryl Markham was an eccentric in her own rite and wrote about people, places and things that influenced her life the most. Besides that you have to give her praises, for such a unique style of writing. To begin to understand that Markham’s childhood was not an ordinary one. Spent most of her youth growing up on a farm in Africa by her father. He father whom she loved dearly, was a very talented horse breeder who instilled the love of horses in Markham. When most girls Beryl’s age were playing with dolls and drinking tea, Beryl was learning to speak African languages and hunting with the Murani tribe who were in a sense much like Beryl’s family. Beryl’s father was away doing business much during the day Beryl the Murani’s were much her keeper during the day. I think that her father was the first influential person that we come across in West with the Night Beryl’s mother left who left with Beryl’s brother Richard to return to England was really not a part of her life. Beryl looked up to her father, she admired his hard work and honesty and incorporated his words or wisdom in truth in her own life. She recalls the stories her father would tells her when she was younger. She says “He would tell me old legends about Mount Kenya or about the Mengai Crater…I would ride alongside and ask endless questions (Markham 58).” To think that even after years had passed and she wrote this book much later in her life she still could vividly remember some of the conversations she had with her family. It was her father who told Beryl not to trust the Elkington Lion, who did indeed turned out not to be as tame as

Narrative Biography of Frederick Douglass

2006-06-12T21:24:02-04:00

Narrative Biography of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass definitely plays out to become quite a hero for all african-americans in his life story. His narrative describes a man’s adaptation and escape from the life of slavery. Born a slave, and destined to die a slave, Douglass would not stand for it. He slowly brought himself to read and write, and planned his escape. He became what most people think to be one of the greatest writers of his time, and most courageous in his storytelling. He progressed from naïve little boy to abolishionist leader in the course of The Narrative of the Life of an an American Slave. Douglass shows signs of growth during the battle with Mr.Covey. Douglass had fainted from exhaustion, and Mr. Covey, the "slave-driver," came to investigate. He immediately went to work on Frederick, beating him until he rose. He decided to take up this injustice with the master himself. Mr. Covey became so furious that he preceded to attack Frederick upon his return. This was Frederick’s first stand: "..but at this moment…I resolved to fight;and, suiting my action to the resolution, I seized Covey hard by the throat; and as I did so, I rose."(81) Mr. Covey had no idea a slave could pose such a resitance to him. He was taken so aback by the incident, that no further beating would be imposed on Douglass during his stay. Frederick has just stood up for the inequity of slavery. Then came Frederick’s run for freedom. He decided that if only half of the U.S. were slave states, then he should make his way north to the free ones, not a tough decision. Or was it? Escaping slavery meant that angry slaveholders would want you hunted down, or maybe dead. But to Frederick, sometimes dead could be better than a slave. "I remained firm, and according to my resolution, on the third day of September, 1838, I left my chains, and succeeded in reaching New York without the slightest interruption of any kind."(111) All can agree that Douglass has proven maturity not only in his departure of the south, but in the gallant way he captured the moment on paper. He soon became and advocate of the abolitionist movement and a hero for all. Lastly, in Frederick’s hunt for work, he became the world famous author he is today. He had the courage to put his life on paper and

Biography of Nobel Prize Winner Michael Smith

2006-06-12T20:55:51-04:00

Biography of Nobel Prize Winner, Michael Smith I was born on April 26th, 1932 in Blackpool, England. My childhood went by quickly. I was very bright in elementary school. My family wasn’t to rich, so I didn’t have the option to go to a private school. Luckily I earned a Scholarship to Arnold School. And although I didn’t like my peers, I tried hard at school and I did well. I was not proficient in Latin and so was not able to go to Oxford or Cambridge. However, I did enter the first-rate chemistry honours program at the University of Manchester in 1950, where the professors were E.R.H. Jones and M.G. Evans, and graduated in 1953, with the financial support of a Blackpool Education Committee Scholarship. I had hoped to get a first-class degree, but only got a 2(i)! I was very disappointed. However, I still was able to obtain a State Scholarship which supported me throughout my graduate studies until I finished my Ph.D. degree in 1956. My supervisor was H.B. Henbest. He was an outstanding young organic chemist, and I was glad to have him as a supervisor of my work on cyclohexane diols. However, we did not have a particularly warm relationship. I was socially shy and moody and was probably quite hard to understand. I heard of a very intelligent scientist in Vancouver, Gobind Khorana. I wrote to him and was awarded a fellowship after an interview in London with the Director of the British Columbia Research Council, Dr. G.M. Shrum. I arrived in Vancouver in September 1956. My first project was to develop a general, efficient procedure for the chemical synthesis of nucleoside-5' triphosphates based on the synthesis of ATP by Khorana in 1954. Not the easiest thing to do let me tell you that. In 1960, the Khorana group, including myself, newly married (I have three children, Tom, Ian and Wendy. My wife Helen and we separated in early 1983), moved to the Institute for Enzyme Research at the University of Wisconsin. I enjoyed my time there because of the opportunity it presented to learn about marine biology and I was able to sustain my interest in nucleic acid chemistry because of the award of a U.S. National Institutes of Health Grant, which led to a new synthetic method for nucleoside-3',5' cyclic phosphates. However, the atmosphere of the laboratory, although based on the campus

The American Business Man, John D. Rockefeller

2006-06-12T19:07:07-04:00

The American Business Man, John D. Rockefeller The “risktakers” of the 19th century were the men who made the American businessman who he is today. Men such as, Bill Gates, are considered to be the great businessmen of our time. People ask about the practices that he does to get where he is today but lawful or not he can be considered an entrenpenuer. He followed in some of the footsteps of great businessmen. Such as John D. Rockefeller, the founder of the Standard Oil Company, and Andrew Carnegie, the founder of the U.S. Steel Company. These men were considered the “risktakers” of this time because of the way in which they did business. They would see an idea and run with it. The idea may have been risky but risk is the only way to make profit. Some people see these men as ruthless capitalists but only because their businesses became so strong and powerful that the government feared that it could be over taken by these businesses. I do not see these men as ruthless capitalists but ingenious men who were willing to take a chance. The Standard Oil Company founded by John D. Rockefeller and the U.S. Steel Company founded by Andrew Carnegie. The Standard Oil Company and U.S. Steel Company were made successful in different ways due to the actions of their different owners. The companies differed in their labor relations, market control, and structural organization. In the steel industry, Carnegie developed a system known as vertical integration. This means that he cut out the middleman. Carnegie bought his own iron and coal mines because using independent companies cost too much and were inefficient. By doing this he was able to undersell his competitors because they had to pay the competitors they went through to get the raw materials. Unlike Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller integrated his oil business from top to bottom, his distinctive innovation in movement of American industry was horizontal. This meant he followed one product through all its stages. For example, Rockefeller controlled the oil when it was drilled, through the refining stage, and he maintained control over the refining process turning it into gasoline. Although these two powerful men used two different methods of management their businesses were still very successful. Tycoons like Andrew Carnegie, “the steel king,” and John D. Rockefeller, “the oil baron,” exercised

Biography of Malcom X also known as Malcom Little

2006-06-12T02:50:29-04:00

Biography of Malcom X also known as Malcom Little On May 19, 1925 a man was born in Omaha, Nebraska. This man was named Malcolm Little. He was born to Earl Little, a Baptist preacher, and his wife Louis. Earl was major advocate and speaker for Black Rights and had to move around a lot when Malcolm was a child because of death threats. They eventually had to move to Milwaukee and then later to Lansing, Michigan. In 1929 the Little’s house was burnt to the ground, and in 1931 Malcolm's father Earl was found dead on some trolley tracks. Both were ruled accidents but a white supremacist group named Black Legion was alleged to be behind both attacks. Several years later his mother Louis would suffer a nervous breakdown and was committed to a mental institution. Malcolm would then spend the rest of his childhood in and out of foster homes in Michigan. Despite a troubled childhood Malcolm would be a very focused and dedicated student and throughout junior high would be at the top of his class. He even had dreams of one day becoming a lawyer. This all changed one day when one of his favorite teachers in junior high would actually tell Malcolm that was"no realistic goal for a nigger." Malcolm would later drop out of school at the age of fifteen and moved to Boston to live with his half-sister. While in Boston, Malcolm had many odd jobs and became familiar with the underworld. He later moved to Harlem and made a name for himself as a drug dealer and regular hoodlum performing a myriad of petty and major crimes. His nickname on the streets became Detroit Red. He was in charge of gambling, prostitution, and even narcotic rings while in New York. In 1949 after moving back to Boston Malcolm was arrested and convicted of burglary and was sentenced to seven years in prison. While in prison Malcolm used his time to further educate himself. He learned from his brother Reginald of a Muslim organization called the Nation of Islam. Malcolm decided to read and study the Nation of Islam and its leader Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm Little entered the prison in 1946 and in 1952 he left the prison as Malcolm X. He then moved to Detroit to become

Living a Musical Language through the Work of Stravinsky

2006-06-12T02:24:27-04:00

Living a Musical Language through the Work of Stravinsky Stravinsky Stravinsky is considered to be one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century. He introduced two of the first major suggestions of contemporary music. He is thought of as somewhat revolutionary because of the clamorous reception of his new style. Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky was born on June 17, 1882. His birthplace is Oranienbaum, Russia, which is now Lomonosov. His father was the leading bass singer at the Imperial Opera House in Saint Petersburg. Although he came from a very music-oriented family, Stravinsky was not encouraged to pursue a musical career. Instead he was pushed to study law. He attended the University of Saint Petersburg. During his studies at the university, he met Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Encarta). Korsakov was a famous Russian composer and a theoretician known for his book on orchestration, Principles of Orchestration (classical). Korsakov pointed the way to Stravinsky’s early works, and his influence can be deciphered in early pieces such as Symphony No. 1 in E Flat. Soon afterwards the contribution of two French impressionists, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, affected his work. This French influence produced pieces such as Fireworks and The Faun and the Shepherdess. Impressed by his orchestral talent, Sergey Diaghilev, a Russian impresario, commissioned Stravinsky to compose pieces for the Ballets Russes. In 1910, he produced The Firebird, his first ballet for Diaghilev and Petrushka in 1911. Both were very well received and acquired great success from the audience. The pieces were appreciated for their sensational force, their lavish orchestration, and their suggestion of Russian folk songs. (Encarta) In 1913, Paris audiences experienced Stravinsky’s revolutionary Rite of Spring. The unorthodox choreography coupled with the irregular, drastic rhythms was not only unbearable for the dancers, but also displeased the audience. The Rite of Spring was performed again in the later years and was very well received. It is the piece he is most known for today. The year after The Rite of Spring was composed, World War I began its destructive course. Stravinsky left Russia and took refuge in Switzerland. At this time, Stravinsky became interested with the production of classical pieces. He updated the pieces for an augmented harmonious language. Some of these are Pulcinella, a ballet, and Oedipus Rex, which were inspired by the Handelian oratorio. (Classical) During and after the war, Switzerland underwent troublesome social economic times. This made it nearly impossible for

The Life of Mohandas K. Gandhi

2006-06-12T02:01:51-04:00

The Life of Mohandas K. Gandhi Mohandas K. Gandhi was born October 6, 1869 in Western India. He was arranged to marry Kasturbai Makanji when they were both 13 years old, which he did. His family later sent him

Biography the American Writer Upton Sinclair

2006-06-12T01:45:14-04:00

Biography the American Writer Upton Sinclair Upton Sinclair was an American writer whose works reflects not only the inside but also the socialists view on things. Upton sinclair was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He was born into a family which held to it’s Southern aristocracy in every thing that was done. When Sinclair was ten years old, the family packed up and moved to New York City ( Where there were more opportunities to succeed ). Upton Beall Sinclair began writing when he was 15 years old. He mostly wrote ethnic jokes and fiction for a fun magazine. He wrote these silly stories and jokes in order for the magazine to pay for his studies at New York City College. After he was done at New York City College, in 1897, he enrolled at Columbia University. By this time, Upton was putting out many novels and respected works. He was already being realized as one of the greatest writers of his time. Upton was putting out up to two novels per week. This was unheard of at this point in time. During these years he wrote Clif Faraday stories such as "Ensign Clarke Fitch." He was also writing Mark Mallory Stories like "Lieutenant Frederick Garrison" for boys’ weekly magazine. His writing was on the right track, but he still didn’t have that one book to put him over the top. In 1900 Sinclair married his first wife. This was a start of a whole new era of writing for him. By 1904 Sinclair was moving toward a realistic fiction type of writing. He had become a regular reader of the "Appeal to Reason", which was a popular socialist-populist weekly magazine at that time. Upton’s big break came in 1906 when he published a book called, " The Jungle." As a writer this is where Sinclair gained most of his fame. This book gave him not only fame, but it also led to the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. This book had the deepest impact since Harriet Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The books popularity enabled Sinclair to establish and support the socialistic Helicon Home Colony in Englewood, N.J. However the popularity of his type of writing fell away after that year. After " The Jungle" was written it set off many similar studies of a group, and industry. or a region. Among some of them were: "The Metropolis" (1908) which

The American Leader Considered Dictator, John Adams

2006-06-11T19:17:07-04:00

The American Leader Considered Dictator, John Adams John Adams, who became the second president of the United States, has been accused by some historians of being the closest thing America ever had to a dictator or monarch (Onuf, 1993). Such strong accusations should be examined in the context of the era in which Mr. Adams lived and served. A closer examination of the historical events occurring during his vice presidency and his term as president, strongly suggests that Adams was not, in fact, a dictator. Indeed, except for his lack of charisma and political charm, Adams had a very successful political career before joining the new national government. He was, moreover, highly sought after as a public servant during the early formation of the new federal power (Ferling, 1992). Adams was a well educated, seasoned patriot, and experienced diplomat. He was the runner-up in the election in which George Washington was selected the first United States President. According to the electoral-college system of that time, the second candidate with the most electoral votes became the Vice President (Smelser & Gundersen, 1975). As president, Washington appointed, among others, two influential political leaders to his original cabinet; Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Jefferson, a veteran politician became the Secretary of State and Hamiliton, a young, outspoken New Yorker lawyer, became the Secretary of the Treasury (Ferling, 1992). Jefferson, like Adams, had also signed the Declaration of Independence. Hamilton, however, was the only cabinet member relatively unknown to Adams (Ferling, 1992). It was Hamilton, nonetheless, who excelled during this new administration by initiating numerous, innovative, and often controversial programs, many of which were quite successful. Adams and Hamilton were both Federalists. Unlike Hamiliton, Adams was more moderate (Smelser & Gundersen, 1975). During this first administration, Adams and Hamilton quarreled (Washington Retires, 1995), and Adams contemptuously began referring to Hamilton as “his puppyhood” (DeCarolis, 1995). This created a rift in the administration, for Washington generally favored Hamiliton (Smelser & Gundersen, 1975), and disregarded Adams (Ferling, 1992). Hamilton also went to great lengths to drive Jefferson out of the cabinet (Allison, 1966). Jefferson did finally, indeed, resign from the cabinet. The Federalists “party,” of which Hamiliton was the leader (DeCarolis, 1995) was greatly divided and even violent, at times, under his leadership (Allison, 1966). This is significant in assessing Hamilton’s and others’ arguments of Adams being a dictator after his presidential victory in 1796 A.D. There

Billie Holiday's Path to become a Legendary Jazz Singer

2006-06-11T19:12:44-04:00

Billie Holiday's Path to become a Legendary Jazz Singer Billie Holiday was one of the most famous jazz singers of the 20th century. Billie Holiday’s innovative phrasing about her life experiences in her music makes her one of the most influential jazz lyricists of the 20th century. The emotional intensity that she brought into the words she sang was always very memorable and sometimes almost scary; she often lived the words she sang. Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Harris in Baltimore, Maryland on April 7, 1915. She did not have a stable life. Her father Clarence Holiday played the guitar with Fletcher Henderson and later abandoned his family. Sadie (Billie’s mother) was not a very good role model either. Nonetheless, Billie grew up alone, feeling unloved and gaining a lifelong inferiority complex that led to her taking risks with her personal life becoming self-destructive. Before and while Billie was famous, she had two role models that would help her achieve her goal of becoming a great recording artist. These important people were Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. Billie would always tell people: “I always wanted Bessie’s big sound and Pops’ feeling.” (Gourse, 25) Bessie Smith was called the “Empress of Blues”. She had a magnificent voice, sense of drama, clarity of phrasing, and unique time, which set her apart from the competition. Louis Armstrong was said to be the greatest jazz performer ever. He had a raspy voice, and a rich sound in his trumpet. “He ultimately became a jazz pioneer by taking the spirit of blues and, improvising on his horn, turning it into something revolutionary.” (Kliment, 44) Billie did something quite similar except with singing. She was never a blues singer in her mind. In fact, she hated to be labeled as one. She always said, “If they have to give me a label, call me a jazz singer.” (Kliment, 57) Because of Billie’s unique blues-inspired jazz singing, she was in the spotlight before she knew it. When John Hammond discovered Billie singing in one of the Harlem clubs, it was the start of Billie’s career. He arranged for her to record a couple of titles with Benny Goodman in1933. Benny Goodman was a clarinetist and bandleader. He was most famous for popularizing swing-style jazz music. During the years of 1934-1942 Billie would make some of the finest recordings of her career. These recordings included, “Billie’s Blues,” “I’m Gonna Lock

Frederick Douglas's Life and Accomplishments

2006-06-11T02:53:48-04:00

Frederick Douglas's Life and Accomplishments Frederick Douglass was an emancipated slave who passed from one master to another until he finally found the satisfaction of being his own. He went through almost as many names as masters. His mother's family name, traceable at least as far back as 1701 was Bailey, the name he bore until his flight to freedom in 1838. His father may have been a white man named Anthony, but Douglass never firmly validated or rejected this possibility. During transit to New York, where he became a free his name became Stanley, and upon arrival he changed it again to Johnson. In New Bedford, where there were too many Johnson's, he found it necessary to change it once more and his final choice was Douglass. Throughout this period, he clung to his name Frederick to, “preserve a sense of [his] identity” (Norton, 1988). This succession of names is illustrative of the transformation undergone by one returning from the world of the dead, which in a sense is what the move from oppression to liberty is. Frederick Douglass not only underwent a transformation but, being intelligent and endowed with the gift of Voice, he brought back with him a sharp perspective on the blights of racism and slavery. Dropped into America during the heat of the reformation period, as he was, his appearance on the scene of debate, and his own self-emancipation, was a valuable blessing for the abolitionists. In their struggles so far, there had been many skilled arguers but few who could so convincingly portray the evils of slavery, an act that seemed to demand little firsthand experience, but which also required a clear understanding of it. Douglass had both, and proved himself an incredibly powerful weapon for reform. The life of a slave was full of hard times along with sadness. Slaves were bought and sold at random. There slaveholders consistently whipped them were they had calluses all over there backs. When they transported the slaves they were ranked together with the horses, sheep and swine. The Slaves were breed for size and strength. While the identity of his father is uncertain, it is generally accepted that the man was white, giving Douglass a mixed ancestry. Mirroring this, he was also blessed with an eye that could bring into focus different perspectives, just as many multi-racial children today are able to speak multiple languages, with ease.

How Giovanni Boccaccio became such an influential writer

2006-06-11T02:47:59-04:00

How Giovanni Boccaccio became such an influential writer Giovanni Boccaccio was born in Paris on December 21, 1375 to a merchant from Certaldo who was a man of some prominence in Florence. Shortly after his birth his father deserted his mother and took Giovanni to Florence. There he was put in school until he was ten years old. He was sent to Naples to study law in 1323. He abandoned law and dedicated

Reinventing Britney Spears in the Pepsi Ad Campaign

2006-06-11T02:45:50-04:00

Reinventing Britney Spears in the Pepsi Ad Campaign Historian Stuart Ewen proposes his idea that history of style in his essay, “The Marriage between Art and Commerce”, is the crucial turning point of what shapes our culture and every day life. Ewen’s concept of style in the 19th - 20th century is a combination of modern art and a business device. He describes the uses of symbolic forms of art, as to mainly sustain and promote consumption in the interests of the corporations when he states, “styling and style obsolescence come to the forefront as methods designed to stimulate markets, and keep them stimulated” (211). Ewen’s perception of style carries on to this day, as big companies during the super ball break on television, challenge the advertising industry. Pepsi-Cola is an example of such an Industry that invested in a two million dollar spot for a 30 second creative commercial flick. This year Pepsi is promoting the stylish pop star Britney Spears, mainly to target the desire of their beverages in the youth’s minds and define their trademark for all generations. Ewen introduces a different aspect of style when he specified that, “Advertising not only sought to inform people about the availability and appeal of industrially produced goods, it is also contributed to a reconstructed perception of the resources and alternatives available to people in every day lives.(204)” It is evident that in Ewens mind, a “…reconstructed perception” is recreating a misleading image to recognize these basic mass produced goods as separate identities with voluptuous themes. These themes are supposedly used by the corporate businesses to deceit the mentality of the buyer into believing that stylish looks are the main credentials of the goods they buy. This aspect of Style thrives on constantly new up to date ideas that come and go in a snap of an eye blink. It has been beneficial to the industries and markets at the expanse of the consumers, who are cheated into buying unnecessary products just for an up to date look. Therefore it is visible that Ewen is old fashioned and is fumed with this new vision of style that has absorbed in are culture in the 1900’s. Pepsi-Cola demonstrates their advertisements in a reconstructed theme, with a time clip of Britney Spears traveling through Pepsi’s generations. They use Britney Spears, to modernize an up to date Pepsi image

The Career of James Fennimore Cooper

2006-06-11T02:07:57-04:00

The Career of James Fennimore Cooper James Fennimore Cooper was a romantic writer in the mid 1880s. Cooper wrote to entertain and wasn’t held back by the rules of literature, which were set forth by the boring writers of his time. Cooper in his work exaggerated greatly, this however was not a flaw of Coopers. Cooper was harassed greatly by Mark Twain because of Coopers wide imagination and unique style of writing. Twain tried to state that Cooper was a terrible writer and that when it came to literature, Cooper broke about every rule in literary law. These accusations against Cooper however are garbage, and come from the jealous mind of twain. Cooper added adventure and excitement like no other writer before him had, and a person could be entertained for hours by picking out the crazy parts of Cooper’s stories. Cooper was on of the most entertaining writers of his time, and the criticisms from Twain were bogus. Before Cooper started writing himself, he spent many hours reading to himself and to his family. Cooper however grew tired of the dull books he was reading, so he took it into his own hands to come up with something more entertaining. Coopers main purpose of writing was to entertain, so he did not concentrate on trying to use perfect grammar or using the perfect word for what was being said. The protagonists in Coopers stories were stronger, faster, and a better shot then any other man they confronted. Making the protagonist in the story so perfect made the reader have great respect for him, and made the reader cheer for the protagonist. Cooper wrote to entertain, not to try to see how many laws of physics he could follow, or to perfect his usage of words. Cooper wrote about miraculous things such as the Pathfinder shooting a nail that is stuck in a tree from a hundred yards away or Chingachgook turning a running stream out of its course to find the tracks of his enemies. Of coarse Cooper knew that these ideas were a little far fetched, but he new with out these ideas the story would not be as good Coopers creativity just adds to his stories, if a person isn’t amazed by what the protagonist is doing in the story, then he his probably being amused by the impracticalness of what is being done Cooper

Biography of Alvin Alley, the Face of Modern Dance

2006-06-11T01:54:43-04:00

Biography of Alvin Alley, the Face of Modern Dance Born on the 5th of January 1931, the man who changed the face of modern dance forever. He was born in a farming community in Rogers, Texas. When he was twelve he and his mother moved to Los Angeles. He had a difficult childhood. His

Rene Levesque's journey to stardom

2006-06-11T01:24:55-04:00

Rene Levesque's journey to stardom By November 1976, Rene Levesque was already a mythic figure in Quebec. A full-blown star for twenty years, first as a television host and then as the most outspoken member of the Liberal cabinet of Jean Lesage from 1960 to 1966, he projected a personality that seemed transparently honest, impulsive, mischievous, modest, outspoken, and provocative. His foibles - a chain-smoking sloppy dresser, he was a notorious night owl, working and then relaxing until the early hours - were as endearing as his strengths. A study of Levesque is, in large part, a study of language, gesture, and culture - for, in a homogeneous society with a strong oral tradition, Levesque was a cultural force as much as a politician. An artist. A performer. A star. In 1964, the novelist and filmmaker Jacques Godbout called Levesque "Quebec's first lay teacher", and compared him to Quebec's symbolic hero, Maurice Richard. It was a telling comparison, for Maurice Richard, the dark, explosive hockey legend with the smouldering eyes, is a symbol of both pride and humiliation, remembered for his scoring triumphs, his martyred rage, and his bitterness against the NHL and Les Canadiens management. (Richard is the only hockey player whose suspension provoked a nationalist riot.) Levesque's career had been a torrent of words: a seemingly unending exhortation to Quebecers, emerging in a stream of prose that has been described as "an original mixture of joual, popular phrases, freshly coined words, American or English expressions that have been more or less gallicized, all expressed in long sentences plaited with an incredible association of ideas." At his best, Levesque personified simplicity and action: in place of the vanity and rhetoric of traditional politics in Quebec, he brought a new energy and openness. He spoke in provocative, firecracker phrases, constantly surprising, exciting, challenging his audiences. As a public figure, he seemed rumpled, casual, informal, and accessible. Levesque was a constant smoker; cigarettes seemed part of his restlessness, together with his squint, his twitches, his shrugs; they filled his spaces, just as the rhythms of the smoke seemed to shape his looping sentence structure. Politically, Levesque would adopt labels and self-definitions - and then thrust them away impatiently. Ultimately, he lived his ideological commitment in an intensely personal way, forging his political decisions out of events rather than ideas. Long after he might have been isolated by his own celebrity, he remained intellectually curious, questioning ordinary people

The Life of Argentinian Saint Evita Peron

2006-06-11T01:21:13-04:00

The Life of Argentinian Saint Evita Peron Evita Peron, to many Argentines, was a saint. 40,000 of them would write to the pope attesting to her miracles. She was born on May 7, 1919, in Los Toldos, and baptized Maria Eva, but everyone called her Evita. Her father abandoned the family shortly after her birth. In early 1935, the young Evita fled to Buenos Aires. She wanted to be an actress, and in the next few years supported herself with bit parts. She began regular visits to the offices of a movie magazine, talking herself up for mention in its pages. When, in 1939, she was hired as a second-tier actress in a radio company; she discovered a talent for playing heroines in the fantasy world of radio soap opera. This was a period of political uncertainty in Argentina, yet few people were prepared for the military coup that took place in June 1943. Among the many measures instituted by the new government was the censorship of radio soap operas. Quickly adapting to the new environment, Evita approached the officer in charge of allocating airtime, Colonel Anibal Imbert. She seduced him, and Imbert approved a new project Evita had in mind, a radio series called Heroines of History. Six months after Evita met Imbert, an earthquake struck Argentina. Colonel Juan Peron, the secretary of labor in the military government, launched a collection for the victims. He arranged for the Buenos Aires acting community to donate its time for an evening's entertainment, with the proceeds going to disaster relief. Evita was present on the big night, and she wanted to meet the colonel. They talked for hours and left together. Within days Evita had moved into Peron's apartment. Peron had risen quickly in the government and had accomplished a major coup with the unions, essentially taking control of them. In February, Peron engineered the ouster of the president and took over the war ministry. Evita continued her radio portrayals of famous women, but her ambitions lay in the movies. She wanted Peron to help her in her film career, and he did by procuring the film itself, a commodity difficult to obtain during World War II. He offered it to a movie studio in exchange for Evita's starring role in a film. Four months into their relationship, Evita was named president of a

Life Story of France's Napolean Bonaparte

2006-06-11T01:19:47-04:00

Life Story of France's Napolean Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte attendted military school in france, graduating as an artillery officer. As he continues gaining power and winning war after war his marriage with Joesaphine was loosing pasion. In the end Napoleon was beaten and exiled to island of Elba, where he prepared troops and marched back to Paris. Bonaparte was born in 1769 on the island of Corsica. He attended a military school in FRance and every day he would trade his sandwiches for military rasions. After graduating he became one of the greatest generals of all times

John Adams and the Revolutionary War

2006-06-07T18:37:08-04:00

John Adams and the Revolutionary War Learned and thoughtful, John Adams was more remarkable as a political philosopher than as a politician. "People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity," he said, doubtless thinking of his own as well as the American experience. Adams was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1735. A Harvard-educated lawyer, he early became identified with the patriot cause; a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, he led in the movement for independence. During the Revolutionary War he served in France and Holland in diplomatic roles, and helped negotiate the treaty of peace. From 1785 to 1788 he was minister to the Court of St. James's, returning to be elected Vice President under George Washington. Adams' two terms as Vice President were frustrating experiences for a man of his vigor, intellect, and vanity. He complained to his wife Abigail, "My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived." When Adams became President, the war between the French and British was causing great difficulties for the United States on the high seas and intense partisanship among contending factions within the Nation. His administration focused on France, where the Directory, the ruling group, had refused to receive the American envoy and had suspended commercial relations. Adams sent three commissioners to France, but in the spring of 1798 word arrived that the French Foreign Minister Talleyrand and the Directory had refused to negotiate with them unless they would first pay a substantial bribe. Adams reported the insult to Congress, and the Senate printed the correspondence, in which the Frenchmen were referred to only as "X, Y, and Z." The Nation broke out into what Jefferson called "the X. Y. Z. fever," increased in intensity by Adams's exhortations. The populace cheered itself hoarse wherever the President appeared. Never had the Federalists been so popular. Congress appropriated money to complete three new frigates and to build additional ships, and authorized the raising of a provisional army. It also passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, intended to frighten foreign agents out of the country and to stifle the attacks of Republican editors. President Adams did not call for a declaration of war, but hostilities began at sea. At first, American shipping was almost defenseless against French privateers, but by 1800 armed merchantmen and

Biography of Cesar Chaves

2006-06-07T16:28:36-04:00

Biography of Cesar Chaves Cesar Chaves was born and raised in Arizona’s North Gila Valley on March 31, 1927. Cesar was the second child of six; his parents were Junana and Librado. His family moved around a lot because of the depression and they were very poor. Cesar received a poor education in Valley School. In 1948 he married Helen Fabela and they conceived six children. After a few years of working at CSO (Community Service Organization) the group wanted to help migrant farmers have a better community to live in. So, in 1959 Cesar left CSO and received twelve hundred dollars cash, which he

The Life Story of the Music and Culture of Bob Marley

2006-06-06T15:13:20-04:00

The Life Story of the Music and Culture of Bob Marley Jamaica has produced an artist who has touched all categories, classes, and creeds through innate modesty and profound wisdom. Bob Marley, the Natural Mystic who introduced reggae to European and American fans still may prove to be the most significant musical artist of the twentieth century. Bob Marley gave the world brilliant music and established reggae as major forces in music that is comparable with the blues and rock&rolls. His work stretched across nearly two decades and still remains timeless. Bob Marley & the Wailers worked their way into all of our lives. "He's taken his place with James Brown and Sly Stone as pervasive influence on r&b", said Timothy White, author of the Bob Marley biography "Catch A Fire". It is important to think of the roots of this legend: the first superstar from the Third World, Bob Marley was one of the most charismatic and challenging performers of his time. His music reflects only one source: the street culture of Jamaica. Later, in 1930, Ras Tafari Makonnen was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia. Tafari claimed to be the 225th ruler in a line that went back to Menelik, the son of Solomon. The Garvey followers in Jamaica, who consulted their New Testaments for a sign, believed that Haile Selassie was the black king that Garvey had said would deliver the black race. It was the start of a new religion called Rastafari, which Bob was into heavily. Fifteen years after, in Nine Miles deep within Jamaica Robert Nesta Marley was born. His mother Cedella Booker was an eighteen-year-old black girl while his father was Captain Norval Marley, a 50-year-old white man working for the Jamaican Forestry Commission. The couple married in 1944 and Norval left Cedella to legitimize their unborn child. Then Bob was born on February 6, 1945. Norval's family applied constant pressure to Bob and, although he provided financial support, Norval seldom saw his son who grew up in St. Ann to the north of the island. Bob Marley, barely into his teens, moved to Kingston (Trench Town) in the late Fifties. His friends Were other street youths, also not happy with their place in society. One friend Neville O'Riley Livingston was known as Bunny, Bob met Bunny when his mom took work taking rooms behind a rum bar owned by Toddy Livingston Bunnys father. Bob took

Life and times of American author, novelist Richard Wright

2006-06-06T14:51:21-04:00

The life and times of American author, novelist Richard Wright Richard Wright had to face many challenges in his life that ultimately made him the man that he turned out to be. From his family struggles and his unending hunger to his troubles with racism and bigotry, Richard had to face a whole lot of adversity. Part of his struggle with society, beyond the obviousness of racism, was that he often times found himself having trouble communicating with people. He simply couldn’t understand why these people around him, both white and black, acted the way in which they did. Did skin color warrant such segregation and hate? Because of his thirst for knowledge, knowledge of other people, Richard often had to defend himself and his pride. Richard holds pride, knowledge, and the quest for equality in very high regards, because these beliefs shape the way in which he interacts with the people he meets in his life, and causes him to wonder what other people, both black and white, are thinking, feeling, and believing. It is these beliefs that form the foundation of his life. To Richard Wright, there is nothing more basic and essential to man than pride. Without it, a man is nothing: nothing to himself and nothing to society. Even at an early age, Richard could appreciate the value of pride. The scene where Richard and his mother are at their father’s house seeking money to leave for Arkansas is a perfect example of Richard holding on to his pride. Neither of them wants to be here, but they are desperate and are acting out of will for the moment. Richard’s father says to him, “I ain’t got nothing…Here Richard…don’t be a fool, take the nickel.” Richard’s father is being a jerk, offering Richard a nickel, knowing full well that Richard is going hungry. He is taunting his own son. He sarcastically asks if Richard wants to live with him, to which Richard replies, “I may be hungry now, but I won’t stay with you.” Even when offered to live with his father, where he will have plenty to eat, he refuses to live with this man; this cowardly man who abandoned him. He has enough pride in himself and his mother to be able to rise above his father’s level of

The Life and Times of French Saint and Heroine Joan of Arc

2006-06-06T14:49:11-04:00

The Life and Times of French Saint and Heroine Joan of Arc Joan of Arc, or Jeanne D’Arc was a French saint and national heroine known as the Maid of Orleans. She was born the third of five children in Domreemy-la-Pucelle, an ancient villenie of Vaucouleurs, on the Meuse River, in Eastern France on January 6, 1412. Joan’s parents were rich as far as wealth of a Domremy citizen was measured. At the time of Joan’s birth, the Hundred Years War was in its last quarter and it was hard times for patriotism in France. Her heart was filled with laughter and gaiety, dutiful obedience to her parents and the church, but her heart also held pain of misfortune and war. Joan began to have visions at a young age, most notably those of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret. When Joan was sixteen, the state of France had gone from bad to worse. Joan’s familiar saints, the “Brothers of Paradise” as she called them, began to visit her frequently until the day the Voice of God told her “You Must Go, You Must Go.” Those were the words that would forever change her life. It was at this time Joan had found it was time to fulfill her destiny. The voice of God and her saints advised her to give aid to a dauphin, later known as King Charles the VII, who was kept from the throne by the English during the Hundred Years War. Joan began her destiny by aiding Robert de Baudricourt, who was the captain of the dauphin’s forces in Vaucouleurs. Joan met the dauphin at the Castle of Chinon and subjugated his cynicism about her divine mission. In the first weeks of May 1429, she led a series of successful assaults against the English bastions and so defeated and demoralized them that they raised the siege and departed on May 8. The news of the liberation of Orleans spread quickly across France and injected a new spirit of hope and resolution into the oppressed population. This lead the way for Charles to be crowned king. The dauphin was crowned at Rheims on July 17 with Joan at his side during his coronation. This was the highlight of Joan’s life. In 1430 she was captured by the Burgundians

The Life and Times of Author Charles Dickens

2006-06-02T16:34:04-04:00

The Life and Times of Author Charles Dickens Charles Dickens is one of the greatest English writers that ever lived. There is no other writer so well known and widely read. Many people loved him and this was shown by his sold out performances. An endless amount of people mourned his death. Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, at Landport near the city of Portsmouth, England. His father John was friendly and well read. He was a devoted parent. John worked as a clerk in a Navy Pay Office and was paid fairly well. The only problem was he spent so much, their family was always on the brink of poverty. Charles had very loving parents. They had eight children all together (Haines 7). Charles was a bright, active child who was full of imagination. His mother taught him to read when he was very young. Charles would read books by the hour. He wanted to go to school but his family could not afford it. Charles ended up doing housework and running errands. Charles, who loved reading, writing, and studying, was very disappointed. Not only did he have to run errands, at the age of twelve, Charles had to work as a potboy in Warren’s Blacking Factory. He worked eight in the morning to eight in the evening. His father ended up not paying his debts and going to jail for it. He never paid them off until his mother died and left him money. With this, Charles was sent to the Wellington House Academy, where he did very well. The worst for Charles as a child was over (Haines 18). When he left the Academy at age fifteen, he went to work as a clerk and messenger boy in a lawyer’s office in London. After he taught himself shorthand, he left his job and became a free-lance shorthand reporter. Doing this job he had to go to Doctors Commons buildings everyday and write down everything that was said. During this time he met Maria Beadnell. Charles fell in love with her. He went to her house as often as he could. The Beadnell’s did not want Charles as a future son-in-law. Maria did not love Charles anyway. She only played with his

A Biography of Emily Dickinson's Life and Writing

2006-05-31T23:55:06-04:00

A Biography of Emily Dickinson's Life and Writing Emily Dickinson was a woman who lived in times that are more traditional; her life experiences influence and help us to understand the dramatic and poetic lines in her writing. Although Dickinson’s poetry can often be defined as sad and moody, we can find the use of humor and irony in many of her poems. By looking at the humor and sarcasm found in three of Dickinson’s poems, "Success Is Counted Sweetest", "I am Nobody", and "Some keep the Sabbath Going to Church", one can examine each poem show how Dickinson used humor and irony for the dual purposes of comic relief and to stress an idea or conclusion about her life and the environment in the each poem. Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst Massachusetts; a small farming town that had a college and a hat factory. There, she was raised in a strict Calvinist household while receiving most of her education at a boarding school that followed the American Puritanical tradition. She seldom left her hometown; virtually, her only contact with her friends came to be made through letters. As a young woman, Dickinson rejected comforting traditions, resisted male authority, and wrestled alone with her complex and often contrary emotions. Although she was claimed to be a high-spirited and active young woman, Dickinson began to withdraw from society in the 1850's. The many losses she experienced throughout her life, the death of her father, mother, close neighbors, and friends influenced her life largely and led her to write about death to an enormous amount. Dickinson made a few attempts during her life to be taken as more than an amateur poet; on one occasion, she sent a collection of her poems to a correspondent who was a published poet. His criticism of her poetry devastated Dickinson, and she never made another attempt towards publishing her works. Evident through her letters and poems, her poetry records intense devotion, sharp, skeptical independence, doubt, and what repeatedly reflects her happiness and despair. In the poem, "Success is Counted Sweetest"; Dickinson’s emphasis is less on humor and more on expressing irony. Here it is bitterness expressed towards the status or notion of success that is most felt by the reader as Dickinson reflects on the nature of success and how it can be best appreciated and understood by those who have not achieved it. While the

Accomplishments and Analysis of President Theodore Roosevelt

2006-05-31T18:34:13-04:00

Accomplishments and Analysis of President Theodore Roosevelt When President McKinley was assassinated, Theodore Roosevelt, who was only 43 years old became the youngest president in the nation’s history. It was the year 1901 and with him becoming President coincided a new vigor in the Presidency, he led congress and the American Public into a new age of reforms and stronger foreign policy. Until his time America had withdrawn herself from wordily affairs. He believed that a President should “take whatever action necessary for the public good unless expressly forbidden by law or the constitution, I did not usurp power, but I did greatly broaden the use of executive power,” wrote Theodore Roosevelt. Unlike earlier Presidents who were raised in rural areas or who became know as the “log cabin presidents” Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York City in 1858 into a wealthy family. Throughout his childhood and entire life he continuously struggled with ill health. In 1884 his first wife and his mother died on the same day. Greatly overcome with sorrow Theodore Roosevelt moved to a ranch in the Badlands of Dakota Territory where he master his problems with sorrow along with driving cattle and hunting big game. His skills that he adapted while living in Dakota would lead to him becoming a lieutenant colonel of the infamous Rough Rider Regiment, where he would lead the charge at the battle of San Juan making a him one of the hero’s of the Spanish-American war. That amazing feat established his reputation throughout the United States. In New York Boss Tom Platt was in need of a hero to draw attention away from the various scandals occurring throughout the state. Theodore Roosevelt fit the puzzle perfectly and within a few months he became Governor of New York in 1898. Coincidentally it was Boss Platt that tried to “ease” Roosevelt out of the state and onto the McKinley’s ticket as vice president. He succeeded in doing so. Though Roosevelt’s term as vice president was shorty, obviously due to the assassination of President McKinley, he would carry on McKinley’s policies into his Presidency. As President, Roosevelt “held the ideal that the government should be the great arbiter of the conflicting economic forces in the Nation”, especially between capital and labor, “guaranteeing justice to each and dispensing favors to none.” He became known as a “trust buster” by forcing a disolvement of

Important Issues in the Kravitz Family

2006-05-31T18:13:57-04:00

Important Issues in the Kravitz Family Duddy's obsession with land lies within his grandfather, Simcha. When Duddy was small, he spoke those unforgettable words to him, "A man without land is nobody." When it seemed as if nobody cared or respected him, Simcha did. Duddy did not receive the same kind of love from his father or uncle as Lennie did. When Duddy comes back from work at, he asks, "Why [Max] didn't answer any of [his] letters?" He replies he wasn't "one for letters." "But Duddy remembered that when Lennie had worked as a camp counsellor one summer his father had written every week. He had driven out to visit him twice."(pp. 104 & 105) Duddy did not have the same kind of affection and devotion Lennie and Max shared. The same situation came from his uncle, Benjy. At first sight, Benjy described him as having a "thin crafty face, the quick black eyes and the restlessness...the grain so shrewd and knowing, all made a bad impression on Uncle Benjy." (p. 61) Benjy supported Lennie, giving him money for his education. With the exception of Simcha, he had no other parental support which is the reason why Simcha words had such a great effect on him. Duddy gains what he had wanted in its acquisition, respect. Everyone except Simcha, Mr. MacPherson, and Uncle Benjy thought he was going to be a nobody. He wanted so much to prove them wrong and he has. We may say he has gained self assurance, restating the fact he was a somebody important. Since his days at Fletcher's Field High School, he ran a gang based on respect, not friendship. Things do not change when he becomes an adult. Virgil is just one of the people Duddy uses to get money for his land. He feels no grief for hurting his so called friends because he has never experienced true friendship. His purchasing of land would push him into higher step in society. What he gains is nothing compared to what he loses. Duddy has lost his innocence. No longer is he the pure and naïve boy as before, but now a corrupt, immoral man. Duddy has chosen a life without conscience or goodness, beginning a life with no morals and corrupt "friends." He does not think twice to people he has hurt which displays the deterioration of his character. He has traded morality for destructive materialistic values.

Steven Spielberg Biography

2006-05-31T16:37:56-04:00

Steven Spielberg Biography Stephen Spielberg has directed some of the most popular, and highest grossing, movies of all time. He has directed six of the top 25 highest grossing movies of all time, and is clearly one of the most notable directors of our day. Stephen Spielberg was born on December 18th, 1947 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Stephen's family moved around a lot, and Stephen had troubles fitting in at school. His peers constantly picked him on for his physical weakness and his ethnic background. Stephen is Jewish, and in his childhood he attended predominately non-Jewish schools. (Reed/Cunneff 139) His father Arnold was a computer engineer, and his mother Leah was a restaurateur. Stephen was a practical joker, who constantly played tricks on his sisters. Stephen found his best mode of expression however, through an old eight-millimeter camera that he had found in his garage. Spielberg focused all of his time and effort into this new form of expression he had found, even at the expense of other things in his life. In an article in Time magazine Spielberg said "From age twelve or thirteen I knew I wanted to be a movie director, and I didn't think that science or math or foreign languages were going to help me turn out the little 8-mm sagas I was making to avoid homework."(Contemporary Authors 3) Movies were also helping Stephen to escape his family life, where at home things were bad with his parents, and when Stephen was twelve years old they divorced. This only helped to clarify Stephen's love of film. After he completed high school, Spielberg was well on his way to becoming a director. He had already won student awards for some of his short films, and one of them, a movie called Firelight, had actually been shown in a local movie theatre. As a young high school graduate, Spielberg would often take tours to Universal Studios, and then sneak off for hours to tour the lot by himself. He did this almost every day after graduating from high school. (Contemporary Authors 3) At age twenty Spielberg was signed to a seven-year contract with Universal television after an executive of the company saw some of his films. Under this contract, Spielberg would direct Duel, his first TV movie, and his first movie to gain widespread critical attention. The TV film was even released as a feature film in some countries. Stephen

Malcolm X's life and achievements

2006-05-23T23:37:03-04:00

Malcolm X was a powerful man who brought the light into many people’s eyes and changed the world as much as he possibly could. A lot of people now a days look up to Malcolm X as they look up to Martin Luther king, which may i add, these two men had known each other and inspired each other. These two men had a lot in common. They changed the world and how people think. Which you can see as of today, the nation accepts everyone for who they are in the inside, and ignore the outside appearance and color of skin. Perhaps most of the country, as we cant ignore, there are still some racial problems that can be an ongoing event that will probably never end. Malcolm X was a man who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind, and speak the truth, his inner thoughts. As we all know even though Malcolm X has done a lot of good to this country and led many people to the right direction, he has also done quite a few bad in his life. Malcolm little was born in Omaha, Nebraska in the year 1925. During this time of his birth Calvin Coolidge was president of the United States. His father was a Baptist minister, and dedicated his life preaching about God, telling his people how they were taken away from the country to act upon as slaves. Well because of Malcolm X’s father preaching, it bothered the white Christians, and therefore, the KKK known as the Ku Klux Klan would come after him and threaten them to leave town. His father was the kind of man who believed they would never be given the rights they deserve in America and that they should all go back to their country where they know white man could not hold the power against them. They were a family of nine kids. Malcolm was the seventh child followed by a little brother and sister born right after when they moved to Milwaukee. They didn’t quite stay there for so long and Earl had bought a house in Lansing, Michigan. Soon enough their house was burnt down by the KKK and led to Earl building his own house with his own bare hands for him and his family about two miles away. They were basically the only blacks in the neighborhood. In 1931 Malcolm starts

Lester. B. Pearson contributions

2006-05-18T04:48:23-04:00

Lester B. Pearson was born on April 23, 1897 in a Toronto hospital and died on December 27, 1972 at the age of 75. Pearson was an important contributor to Canadian history because he demonstrated peace to the world, he contributed to the Suez Crisis of 1956, and he helped establish Canada's reputation as a great peacekeeper. Peace was significantly demonstrated towards the world by Pearson's efforts. Pearson established the first modern peacekeeping operation, UNEFI (United Nations Emergency Force). This operation's goal was to resolve conflicts and establish lasting peace. For this, Pearson received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his innovative thinking and long-term commitment to peace. There is now a Canadian International Peacekeeping Training Center named after Pearson that was established to support and enhances Canadian contribution to international peace, security and stability. Lester B. Pearson contributed to Canadian history with his work for the Suez Crisis of 1956. The Suez Canal is a fundamental waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. The Egyptian president, Nasser, with the influence from the USSR, nationalized the canal in July of 1956. Immediately Britain and France planned an attack and helped Israel by sending troops down through the Suez Canal with them. Russia backed Nasser up with weapons and equipment and encouraged Nasser to protect the Suez. UN forces got involved in the conflict when threat of another World War was evident. Pearson called for an immediate ceasefire along the Suez and worked out a compromise. He also designated Canadian troops to serve in such a collective force and proposed a United Nations Emergency Force to stabilize the danger zone. These actions prevented any kind of war at that time. If Pearson had not stepped in with his proposal, there could have been a World War III. Pearson primarily established Canada's reputation as a great peacekeeper in the 20th century. Since Pearson was a Canadian diplomat he had much control over Canada as a peacekeeper. Canada actively supported the UN in promoting collective security around the globe, which showed their behaviour as a responsible, influential middle power. As a result, from the start Canada participated in joint efforts to soothe world trouble spots. Canada has the right to be proud of the inspirations and intentions made known by Pearson. He has, without a doubt, expressed Canada's commitment to

Lester. B. Pearson

2006-05-18T04:47:09-04:00

Lester B. Pearson lived from 1897-1972. He was born on April 23 1897, in Newtonbrooke Ontario (now part of Toronto). He died on December 27 1972. He was born the son of a Methodist parson. As a child he worked very hard in school, and he became one of the minority of high school graduates who went on to college. In his studies he went to Victoria College and the Methodist College inside the University of Toronto. In his free time he played hockey and baseball. He then became a medical doctor in the Royal Flying Corps. He was Private Pearson in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. This took him to numerous foreign countries from 1915-1917. When he returned he went to Oxford University under the guidance of the poet Robert Graves. When he graduated he enrolled for the assignment of the Royal Flying Corps. He then began taking flight training but as fate would have it he was hit by a London Transport Bus. He remained in the hospital until he revived in the spring of 1918. In November 1918 he enrolled in the University of Toronto again. On June 5 1919 he graduated. Like many other young veterans he was at a loss for something to do. Law was a respectable profession at the time so he ground away at the ungrateful task of articling for law. After a week he decided that business was more promising. He worked at a number of places but in the end he decided to teach at the University of Toronto. He taught history in the University of Toronto from 1924-1928. All his students said he was a very unique teacher. In March 1924 one of his students, Maryon Moody decided to ensure getting her degree by becoming engaged to her teacher. And it worked. On August 22, 1925 Lester Pearson and Maryon Moody got married in Winnipeg. From there on they lived just outside of Toronto. Later he signed up for a position in The Canadian External Affairs Department. The government officials at first thought he had some sort of mental disorder due to the way he dressed and acted. In 1928 he got a position in the Canadian Department of External Affairs despite their beliefs. At the time Pearson had

Henry Ford

2006-04-26T04:57:27-04:00

[Henry Ford: A Man of the Century The 2006 Porsche 911 that I would love to own would not even be in existence were it not for the fortitude and ingenuity of men like Henry Ford who lead the way in the automotive industry. The Ford Motor Company and Henry Ford with his engineer’s mind and spirit of inventiveness changed American history. Henry Ford was a man with an interesting private life as well being a man who pushed to make his dreams come true and did not take “no” for an answer which is what a great inventor and business man needs. Henry Ford was responsible for the assembly line way of manufacturing. In the plant that was built in Highland Park, Michigan to produce the Model T the first assembly line was built. All of the equipment was installed beginning in 1908 and the plant went into production in 1910 the idea was that one person could become very good at doing one thing by doing it over and over and be proud of their work. The assembly line change was what headed the Ford Motor Company to huge sales and profits over the next several years. Charles Sorensen, and Clarence Avery could possibly have been responsible for the idea of the assembly line way of manufacturing, but with Henry Ford’s engineering background he was definitely involved in some way along with these top men of his. Many credit him with the idea alone so it isn’t known if it was collaboration or not. Ford didn’t promote this first car by announcing that he would provide a public demonstration of the capabilities of the car like Charles B. King did who was the first man to drive a car through Detroit. Ford called the car the “quadricycle” and gave that demonstration on Memorial Day in 1896. Basically, there was not a soul that cared, no newspaper wrote an article and this strange car of his wasn’t the first or the best, so back to the drawing board Henry Ford went. Ford’s second car was released in 1899, and he even got a little press with the arrival of this one. In the July 29 edition of the Detroit Journal there was not only an interview but also nice pictures of the demonstration.

JFK Assasination

2006-04-05T03:40:53-04:00

Conspiracy? "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country." –John Fitzgerald Kennedy. As President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy set out to redeem his campaign pledge to get America moving again he had no idea that he would soon be stopped. He was one on the nation’s most effective presidents since Franklin Delano Roosevelt; however he would never get to finish his term in office. On November 22, 1963 at approximately 12:00 pm President Kennedy arrived in Dallas, Texas on board Air Force One. Less than two hours later, at 1:00 pm, JFK was declared dead at Parkland Hospital in Dallas Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested at approximately 1:45 pm at a theater in Dallas. America had many questions such as why Oswald had done it and if he had, had he been a lone assassin or was it a conspiracy to remove President Kennedy from office. Theories began surface very quickly especially after what occurred on November 24, 1963. While Oswald was being transferred to the Dallas County Jail a man by the name of Jack Ruby shot and killed him. Forty three years later many Americans are still wondering what exactly occurred on that November afternoon. In the days following the tragedy the newly sworn in president, Lyndon Johnson quickly put together what is now know as the “Warren Commission,” and hoped that every theory that was created after the death of JFK would quickly be eliminated. The theory that the country has been led to believe is the “Magic/Single Bullet Theory,” which proposes that the bodies of JFK and John Connally were injured by the same bullet, that had been fired from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository by Lee Harvey Oswald. “The Single Bullet Theory,” is important because if true, it removed the need for another shooter from the back to account for the fact that Kennedy and Connally responded to the shots in less than the minimum re-firing time of 2.3 seconds. It was officially concluded by the Warren Commission that Lee Harvey Oswald was a crazy, lone gunman, who shot the President three times, had no ties to the CIA or the government. Through the years, however, hundreds of conspiracy theories have developed, and with good reason. Many had motives to kill the JFK, including the CIA, the mafia, extremists, and even JFK’s

How the Universe was created

2006-03-23T18:22:46-04:00

University of Pristina Faculty of Electronics and Computing Department of: Computing and Telecommunication Besim A. Ismaili Everything comes from nothing "What choice did God have in creating the Universe? - ALBERT EINSTEIN Abstract This will be a resume of space-time existence, starting from the time of creation to the daytime. On this paper, our basic interest will be the old questions about the Universe and the new answers about them. All the project will be separated on the domain of time in three sequences: Pre-Big Bang, Big Bang and The Universe. A big part of this paper will be dedicated for the question: ˜what is happen before Big Bang?™, which is a very good calculated project where the result is still before us. This belong to the first sequence of our separation. It will be described by new theories and concepts, where more important are: The theory of Active Points (Similar to Singularity Theory), The theory of Accumulation Points, The concept of the Universe centre, The concept of space evolution dimensions, etc. The second part is a short enormous process that

Nicole Kidman Biography

2006-03-22T18:07:19-04:00

A statuesque Australian redhead with creamy alabaster skin and blue eyes that cast a slightly mischievous air, Nicole Kidman had become established in her native land as a rising talent before she ventured to the USA where she met her future husband Tom Cruise during the filming of 1990's "Days of Thunder". Born in Hawaii to a biochemist and psychologist father and an activist nursing instructor mother, Kidman spent her first years living in the Washington, DC, area. By the time she was three, she and her parents had returned to Australia and settled in conservative, upper-middle-class suburb of Sydney. As a toddler, she was enrolled in ballet classes and at age four got a taste of theatrical life by stealing her school's Christmas pageant, garnering laughs as a sheep who upstaged the Nativity scene. By the age of 10, Kidman had been enrolled in drama school and four years later made her first real impression as a frizzy-haired teen in the Australian holiday perennial "Bush Christmas" (1983). By that time, she had become a regular on the TV series "Five Mile Creek", appearing in the show's final 12 episodes. Her profile rose even higher after an award-winning performance in the miniseries 1985 "Vietnam" which first teamed her with director John Duigan. She continued her rise in the comedy "Emerald City" (1988), delivering a nice turn as the girlfriend of a script supervisor (Chris Hayward) who catches the attention of a screenwriter (John Hargreaves). That film was followed by a terrific portrayal of a young woman who is duped into becoming a drug smuggler, gets caught and is imprisoned in the gripping TV drama "Bangkok Hilton" (1989). That same year, Kidman broke through to international art-house audiences offering one of her finest performances as the traumatized young wife of a middle-aged doctor (Sam Neill) coping with the accidental death of their only child by embarking on a yachting trip that turns threatening when they rescue a stranger (Billy Zane) in the superb thriller "Dead Calm". The actress reteamed with director John Duigan for his excellent "Flirting" (1990) to essay a snooty schoolgirl. By the time the film reached US shores in 1991, though, Kidman had already become known as the actress who snared superstar Tom Cruise after co-starring with him in the race-car drama "Days of Thunder" (1990). Their whirlwind courtship and subsequent marriage proved fodder for the gossip columns and

Biography on Condoleeza Rice

2006-03-22T02:33:17-04:00

Description of Early Life Dr. Condoleezza Rice was born November 14, 1954, in Birmingham, Alabama, and is an only child. Condoleezza means in Italian “with sweetness”. Dr Rice is also known by her nickname “Condi”. Dr Rice’s parent’s names are Angelena Rice and Reverend John Wesley Rice. Condaleezza’s father was a minister at Westminster Presbyterian Church, and her mom was a music teacher. Before Dr. Rice was school age her mother, Angelena, gave Condi piano lessons and a full schedule of learning in different subjects. She learned how to read fluently at age five. Condi took less interest with her friends, instead she learned French, and piano with her mother. Condi’s father John taught her the game of football, which she still takes an interest in today. As an African American child in Birmingham she had been discrimintaed against because of her skin color. When Condi was little her mom took her to buy a dress in a store. Condi picked out the dress, and she walked with her mom to the dressing room. A white sales lady came and said to Condi and her mom your changing room is over there. She pointed to the storage room. Angelena ,Condi’s mom ,demanded that she would not have her daughter change there nor would she buy the dress from the store. The sales person let Condi try it on in the changing room. The sales person was gaurding the door so no one would see Condi and her mom. Another racial incident that happened to Condi took place in her hometown. In 1963,Condi was standing in her dad’s church when she felt the floor shake. A Ku Klux Klan bomb went off at a nearby Baptist Church killing four young black girls. One of them was Condi’s classmate Denise McNair. Condi graduated from St. Mary Academy High School with a 4.0. She started college at the University of Denver at age 15. At 19, Condi earned her B.A. in political science from the University of Denver. In 1975, Condi recieved her Master's Degree from the University of Notre Dame. In 1981, she was 26, and she received her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Challenges Condaleezza Rice has had many challenges in her life. The most important challenge that she overcame was the color of her skin. Condi grew up in the 1950’s South

Biography on Condoleezza Rice

2006-03-22T02:33:01-04:00

Black Sox Scandal

2006-03-19T09:51:27-04:00

Chicago Black Sox Scandal The 1919 World Series is home to the most notorious scandal in baseball history. Eight players from the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the series against the Cincinnati Reds. Details of the scandal and the extent to which each man was involved have always been unclear. It was, however, front-page news across the country and, despite being acquitted of criminal charges, the players were banned from professional baseball for life. If anything can be said in their favor the players on Charles Comiskey's 1919 Chicago White Sox team had plenty to complain about. Together they formed the best team in baseball, yet they were paid a paltry sum compared to what many players on other teams received. Comiskey's contributions to baseball are unquestionable, but he was very selfish when it came to salaries and also liked to rule his team with an iron fist. The White Sox owner paid two of his greatest stars, outfielder "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and third baseman Buck Weaver, only $6000 a year, despite the fact that players on other teams with half their talent were getting $10,000 or more. For Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte, there was another source of irritation: in the fall of 1917, when Cicotte approached a 30-win season that would win him a promised $10,000 bonus, Comiskey benched the star pitcher rather than be forced to come up with the extra cash. The players had few options in dealing with their owner. Because of baseball's reserve clause, any player who refused to accept a contract was prohibited from playing baseball on any other professional team. Its no wonder ball players become bitter with owners. To make matters worse, the White Sox players did not get along with each other. The team was divided into two factions; one led by second baseman Eddie Collins and the other by first baseman Chick Gandil. Collins's faction was educated, sophisticated, and able to negotiate salaries as high as $15,000. Gandil's less polished group, who only earned an average of $6,000, bitterly resented the difference. In 1918, with the country disrupted by World War I, interest in baseball dropped to an all-time low. The 1919 World Series was the first national championship after the war, and baseball and the nation were eager to get back to “regular” life. Postwar enthusiasm for baseball soared. National interest in the Series was so high

Benjamin Franklin Biography

2006-02-16T03:45:24-05:00

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17, 1706. He was one of the seventeen children of Josiah Franklin, a soap maker. Josiah’s second wife, Abiah Folger mothered young Benjamin. As a child, Benjamin loved to read and at twelve years of age was apprenticed to his older brother, James, who was a printmaker. The family decided this would be best for young Benjamin after his father could only afford one year of studies in clergy for his son. James soon after started The New England Courant, the first newspaper in Boston to include opinionated articles written by James’s friends. At only fifteen, Benjamin wanted to be included in these chronicles. He created a fictional character known as “Silence Dogood” and wrote daily letters in regard to advice and criticisms toward the town. His creation was greatly admired by readers and soon young Benjamin confessed. His brother loathed and ignored him while his friends supported him; manifesting a great jealousy between the two brothers. Soon after, smallpox hit Boston and caused a great deal of religious debate with vaccination. Though the majority of the people believed that these vaccinations only worsened the conditions. However, they did not believe that James’s mockery of the clergy was just. He was thrown in prison for his prints and the company was left to Benjamin. However, upon his release, he was not grateful to his brother and took over. Young Franklin knew that this was not the lifestyle he wanted and reacted to this by running away. He arrived in Philadelphia and used the last of his money to buy some rolls. He was wet and messy when his future wife, Deborah Read, met him on October, 6, 1723. She never imagined marrying him until 7 years later. Eventually, Franklin found work once again as an apprentice printer. He did so well that the governor of Pennsylvania promised to set him up in business if he went to London for print stamps and fonts. However, upon his arrival, the governor changed his mind, leaving young Franklin in England, once again printmaking. Upon his returning to Philadlephia, he opened up his own business on a loan and worked nonstop. Soon enough, the whole town became aware of his diligent lifestyle. Franklin was never caught

Hitler Biography

2006-01-21T06:49:13-05:00

Biography - Hitler Hitler's Early Life - Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, the fourth child of Alois Schickelgruber and Klara Hitler in the Austrian town of Braunau. Two of his siblings died from diphtheria when they were children, and one died shortly after birth. Alois was a customs official, illegitimate by birth, who was described by his housemaid as a "very strict but comfortable" man. Young Adolf was showered with love and affection by his mother. By 1900, Hitler's talents as an artist surfaced.Adolf's father died in 1903 after suffering a pleural hemorrhage. Adolf himself suffered from lung infections, and he quit school at the age of 16, partially the result of ill health and partially the result of poor school work. In May 1913, Hitler, seeking to avoid military service, left Vienna for Munich, the capital of Bavaria, following a windfall received from an aunt who was dying. In January, the police came to his door bearing a draft notice The document threatened a year in prison and a fine if he was found guilty of leaving his native land with the intent of evading conscription. Hitler was arrested on the spot and taken to the Austrian Consulate. Upon reporting to Salzburg for duty, he was found "unfit...too weak...and unable to bear arms." Hitler's World War I Service - When World War I was touched off by the assassination by a Serb of the heir to the Austrian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Hitler's passions against foreigners, particularly Slavs, were inflamed. He was caught up in the patriotism of the time, and submitted a petition to enlist in the Bavarian army. After less than two months of training, Hitler's regiment saw its first combat near Ypres, against the British and Belgians. Hitler narrowly escaped death in battle several times, and was eventually awarded two Iron Crosses for bravery. He rose to the rank of lance corporal but no further. In October 1916, he was wounded by an enemy shell and evacuated to a Berlin area hospital. After recovering, and serving a total of four years in the trenches, he was temporarily blinded by a mustard gas attack in Belgium in October 1918. Communist-inspired insurrections shook Germany while Hitler was recovering from his injuries. Some Jews were leaders of these abortive revolutions, and this inspired hatred of Jews as well as Communists. On November 9th, the Kaiser abdicated and

Peter the Great - Absolute Monarch

2006-01-15T19:24:30-05:00

Peter the Great An “absolute monarch” is a king or queen who is completely and totally in control over every aspect of the life of his people. The period of exploration and discovery in Europe (i.e. the 1400’s through the 1700’s) was a time of many absolute monarchs. Many of them were great examples of this, but none exemplified the qualities of an absolute monarch quite like Peter the Great of Russia. Peter changed the way all of Russia operated by changing the way it was ruled. He knew that his country was behind the rest of the world in culture and in technology. He also knew that the countries that were leading the world were those to the west, so he did everything he could to “westernize” his people. Peter took over the throne after a power struggle among the ruling family, however he was only 10 years of age when he gained control. He was forced to rule with his mentally retarded half brother, Ivan. He did not gain complete control until after his mother’s death. Peter’s first move to westernize his country was to go out into the world and bring back the culture and technology of the outside world, something no other ruler of his country had ever done. He brought back with him hundreds of workers from the Netherlands and England to improve the technology of his country. Though Peter was very concerned with the well being of his country, he was also very strict. When he returned, he put down a revolt by ordering the public massacre of 1,200 rebels. Peter then began to rebuild his army. He armed his soldiers with the technology he brought back from his journey and they were trained by the best of the West for their long war against Sweden. Thanks to Peter’s leadership and the new technology that he brought into his country, the Russians defeated the Swedes and gained territory. The result of this treaty that ended this war was to give Peter’s nation control over area along the Gulf of Finland, which is where the city of St. Petersburg was established. A great part of this victory was due to the new Russian navy, which Peter established. If it had not been for Peter re-training and supplying the army with

Brunellski

2006-01-06T06:58:33-05:00

Brunellski There is no doubt that those in every city who by their merits obtain fame become a blessed light to those who are born after them. For there is nothing that arouses the minds of men, and makes them indifferent to the hardships of study, so much as the thought of the honour and advantage that the labour may bring them. This Lorenzo di Cione Ghiberti, otherwise Di Bartoluccio, knew well. He in his first years was put to the art of the goldsmith, but delighting more in the arts of sculpture and design, he studied colours and also cast little figures in bronze. About this time the Signory of Florence, with the Guild of the Merchants, seeing that there were at that time many excellent sculptors, both Florentines and strangers, determined that they would make the second pair of gates for S. Giovanni, the oldest and the chief church of that city. So they called upon all the best masters in Italy to come to Florence and make trial of their skill, requiring them to produce a subject picture worked in bronze, like one of those which Andrea Pisano had made in the first gate. Bartoluccio Ghiberti thereupon wrote to Lorenzo his son, who was then working in Pesaro, urging him to return to Florence, for this was an opportunity of making himself known and showing his skill. These words so moved Lorenzo that although Pandolfo Malatesti and all his court were heaping him with caresses, and would scarcely let him go, he took his leave of them, and neither promise nor reward would detain him, for it seemed to him to be a thousand years before he could get to Florence. So setting forth he came safely to his own city. Many strangers had already arrived and made known their coming to the consuls of the guild. They made choice of seven, three being Florentines and the rest Tuscans, ordaining for them a certain provision of money, and requiring that within a year each one should finish one subject in bronze of the same size as those of the first gate. And the subject was Abraham sacrificing Isaac his son, for they thought that it contained all the difficulties of the art, landscape, figures nude and draped, and animals. Those who took part in the contest were Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, Donatello, and Lorenzo, all Florentines; and Jacopo

A Biography Vladimir Lenin

2006-01-03T07:31:46-05:00

A Biography: Vladimir Lenin Tense with expectation, the founder of Russian communism returned from exile to St. Petersburg on April 16, 1917, in a sealed railroad car supplied by his country’s age-old enemy, Germany. The homeland, to which he returned, was ravaged by war and starvation. Near collapse and anarchy, Russia was primed for Vladimir Ilyich Lenin’s impassioned message: “The people need peace, the people need bread, the people need land. We must fight for the social revolution!” For the next seven years, Lenin gave his countrymen that revolution, one of the most pivotal events of the 20th century. He also gave them chaos, longer bread lines, and a legacy of terror that, while reminiscent of earlier despots in his nation’s history, was unique in its vast scale. A master strategist, he combined practicality and idealism to achieve his end, a new kind of utopianism, which sacrificed community to coercion and forbade dissent. Lenin’s single-party dictatorship would marry the intellect to the gun like no other before it, forever changing the global political order. By the time of Lenin’s death in 1924, the bulwark of Soviet-style totalitarianism — mass executions, the secret police, intellectual repression, arbitrary violence, and concentration camps — stood firm. Even as the son of a hereditary nobleman, Lenin’s philosophy was molded leftward. Born on April 22, 1870, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was immersed as an adolescent in his family’s dedication to bettering the lot of the common folk. Perhaps because his parents were teachers, he was also drawn to a life of the mind. He played the piano and excelled at chess, being equally magnanimous in victory and defeat. While he studied law at the University of St. Peters-burg, his older brother Aleksandr was hanged for plotting to assassinate Czar Alexander III. By the time Lenin passed his final examination, he was already a convert to Marxist theory. As an international activist and a member of the radical Union of Struggle, he was arrested in 1895 and sent to Siberia, where he completed his first major theoretical work, The Development of Capitalism in Russia. It reflected his growing belief that some spark was needed to radicalize the consciousness of his nation’s workers. Upon his release, Lenin spent the next 17 years mostly in western Europe, editing socialist organs such as Iskra (The Spark). In 1902, his influential tract, “What Is To Be Done?,” appeared, postulating a secret vanguard of professional

Masaccio

2006-01-02T03:49:08-05:00

Masaccio The renaissance was a time of great reform and prosperity, especially in the art aspect of it. Most famous paintings seen in museums are from the renaissance period. Many techniques that were used in Renaissance times are still used today. This was a time where many great artists from around the world made some of their best works. Some of these artists are Michelangelo, Jan Van Eyck, and Masaccio. Masaccio was one of the first great painters of the Italian Renaissance. He was born in San Giovanni Valdarno, a small town near Florence, on December 21, 1401. He was strongly influenced by Donatello and Brunelleschi. From Brunelleschi he learned of mathematical proportions that are crucial to his revival of the principles of scientific perspective. From Donatello he gained knowledge of classical art that led him away from the widespread Gothic style. All of Masaccio’s works are religious in nature-altarpieces or church murals. Massacio’s work later influenced such great artists as Michelangelo and Raphael. He is remembered mostly because of his innovative use of perspective. One work that Masaccio has made is Man In A Red Turban. When this painting was made the profile was the most popular type of portrait. This is because important features can be showed with great detail from the side view. Another work is Plate of Nativity. This is a round plate with a nativity on the front and a small dog on the back. It has good architectural perspective, color sequences, and geometrical patterns. Masaccio’s work is very different from works of China. The Chinese art is statues that are standing still with no color or motions while Masaccio’s paintings are very colorful and indicate movement. In addition, the two works are different forms of art. One is a small sculpture and the other is a painting. The art in the Middle Ages was not in the Cathedrals but rather the actual Cathedral itself. These are different because the Cathedral takes much more planning and money. Money is a crucial aspect in art and in the Middle Ages the Church was the only one with money so they paid artists to build great buildings called Cathedrals. Compared with art from ancient Greece, Masaccio’s art shows that art has evolved. The Statue from Greece show no expression or emotion.

George Frideric Handel

2006-01-02T03:40:12-05:00

George Frideric Handel George Frideric Handel was born on Febuary 23, 1865 in Halle, Germany. Halle is a city in upper Saxon, on the Saale rive about 150 kilometers southwest of Berlin. He was very interested in music at an early age. Although his father discouaraged his interest in music, his mother provided alot of support for him, and he led a life of music. At the age of twelve George was the assistant organist at the cathedral of Halle. Although Handel was able to show that he could master multiple intruments, his father wanted him to become a lawyer. When he was 17, his father made him go to the University of Halle to study law. Within a year, Handel left the university in 1703 to go to Hamburg to study music. In Hamburg he played the violin in the opera orchestra. He also composed two operas for the Hamburg theatre. Later, in around 1706, George went to Italy, where he stayed until 1710. While he was there, he traveled alot. He went to places like Florence, Venice, Rome, and Naples. While in Italy Handel met some people that would become a big influence on his musical career. He played for several patrons in this time. Handel then returned to Germany to become the musical director of the elector of Hanover. Later that same year, he visited England, and he never resumed his position for Hanover. In 1714, Handel’s former employer, became King George I of England began to bestow special favors on George, who was now living in his permanent home in England. His home was in London, and in 1727 he became an English citizen. While in England, Handel continued to compose in his Italian style, but he also began incorperating the style of English music, especially English coral music. Handel became the leading composer and director of Italian operas in England, and may be considered the most important composer of the entire baroque period. Later in his life, Handel stopped writing Italian operas, and began to focus on English oratorio. He started these in around 1740. Most of his oratorio were based on the old testament. Handel’s oratorios were three-act dramatic works, sort-of like operas, but they were profermed in concert without staging or action.

Beethoven, Ludwig van

2005-12-30T05:03:40-05:00

Beethoven Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827), German composer, generally considered one of the greatest composers in the Western tradition. Born in Bonn, Beethoven went to Vienna in 1792 to study under Austrian composer Joseph Haydn. In Vienna, he dazzled the aristocracy with his piano improvisations and became a successful freelance composer. In the first decade of the 19th century Beethoven expanded the musical language bequeathed by Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and revealed his complete assimilation of the Viennese classical style. Beethoven's fame reached its zenith during these years, but a hearing impairment he had first noted in 1798 steadily worsened. He performed in public only rarely, making his last appearance in 1814. By 1818 Beethoven was virtually deaf. Although he withdrew from all but a steadily shrinking circle of friends, his prestige was still so great that during his last illness he received huge outpourings of sympathy. Musical Development Beethoven's major output consists of 9 symphonies, 7 concertos, 17 string quartets, 32 piano sonatas, 10 sonatas for violin and piano, 5 sonatas for cello and piano, an opera, 2 masses, several overtures, and numerous sets of piano variations. His works of the decade from 1802 to 1812 represent an expansion of the tighter forms of Haydn and Mozart, as is apparent in the Eroica Symphony and the Piano Concerto no. 5 (Emperor, 1809), as well as in Symphony no. 5 (1808). The few works of the years after 1812 revived and expanded the more relaxed musical structures Beethoven had employed in the 1790s. In 1818 he returned to the tightly structured heroic style in his Piano Sonata in B-flat Major op. 106 (Hammerklavier), a work of unprecedented length and difficulty. The works of Beethoven's last period are marked by an individuality that later composers would admire but could scarcely emulate. In the Ninth Symphony and the Missa solemnis Beethoven gave expression to an all-embracing view of idealized humanity. In the five string quartets of 1824 to 1826, Beethoven achieved an ideal synthesis between popular and learned styles and between the humorous and the sublime. Judged inaccessible in their time, the string quartets have become- as has so much of Beethoven's output- yardsticks against which all other musical achievements are measured. Influence Beethoven towered over the 19th century, embodying the heroic ideal and the romantic perception of the composer as an artist who pursues a personal vision beyond the creation of music ordered by a patron. However, Beethoven's immediate musical

Robert Louis Stevenson

2005-12-30T04:47:47-05:00

Robert Louis Stevenson Stevenson was a well known Scottish essayist, poet and author of fiction and travel books, known especially for his novels of adventure. Characteristic for Stevenson's novels is power of invention, psychological depth, and skillful use of horror and supernatural elements. Arguing against realism, Stevenson underlined the "nameless longings of the reader", the desire for experience. Stevenson was born in Edinburgh as the son of Thomas Stevenson, joint-engineer to the Board of Northern Lighthouses. Since his childhood Stevenson suffered from tuberculosis and as an adult there were times when he could not wear a jacket for fear of bringing on a haemorrhage of the lung. In 1867 he entered Edinburgh University to study engineering, but changed to law and in 1875 he was called to the Scottish bar. During these years his first texts were published in The Edinburgh University Magazine (1871) and The Portofolio (1873). Among Stevenson's own early favorite books, which influenced his imagination and thinking, were Shakespeare's Hamlet, Dumas's adventure tale of the elderly D'Artagan, Vicomte de Bragelone, and Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Also Montaigne's Essais and the Gospel according to St. Matthew were very important for him. Instead of practicing law, Stevenson devoted himself into writing travel sketches, essays, and short stories for magazines. An account of his canoe tour of France and Belgium was published in 1878 as AN INLAND VOYAGE, and TRAVELS WITH A DONKEY IN THE CERVENNES appeared next year. In 1879 Stevenson moved to California with Fanny Osbourne, whom he had met in France. They married in 1880, and after a brief stay at Calistoga, which was recorded in THE SILVERADO SQUATTERS (1883), they returned to Scotland, and then moved often in search of better climates. Stevenson gained first fame with the romantic adventure story TREASURE ISLAND, which appeared in 1883. Among his other popular works are KIDNAPPED (1886), THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1886), and MASTER OF BALLANTRAE (1889). He also contributed to various periodicals, including The Cornhill Magazine and Longman's Magazine, where his best-known article 'A Humble Remonstrance' was published in 1884. It was a replay to Henry James's 'The Art of Fiction' and started a lifelong friendship between the two authors. Stevenson saw that the novel is a selection of and reorganization of certain aspects of life - "life is monstrous, infinite, illogical, abrupt and poignant; a work of art, in comparison, is neat,

THOMAS HOBBES

2005-12-28T06:11:12-05:00

THOMAS HOBBES Introduction Thomas Hobbes was born in 1588, and was the son of an English vicar who fathered three children with his wife. When Thomas was still a young boy, his father was involved in a confrontation with another parson and was forced to leave his home, wife, and children. Thomas Hobbes’ paternal uncle took charge of the care of the children, and he took a keen interest in young Thomas. Thomas was reading and writing at age four, acquired functional knowledge of Latin and Greek at age six, and went off to study at Oxford at the age of fifteen (Ebenstein & Ebenstein, 1991). Hobbes studied at Oxford for five years, and it is said that he was nonchalant about the course of study which he thought was “arid and old-fashioned” (Ebenstein & Ebenstein, 1991: 398). After graduating from Oxford, Hobbes worked as tutor and companion for the son of Lord Cavendish. Lord Cavendisn later became the first Earl of Devonshire, and the son whom Hobbes tutored was the same age as Hobbes. Through his association with this aristocratic family, Hobbes became personally acquainted with influential men in business and politics, and got to know the great scientists of the period. His acquaintances included such men as Galileo, Bacon, Descartes, and Harvey. According to Ebenstein & Ebenstein (1991), Hobbes traveled extensively and spent about twenty years on the European continent, with much of this time spent in Paris. While in France, he came to recognize the new developments in philosophy and science. Paris would become his home for a decade when he fled England during the conflict between Parliament and the Crown in the 1640s. The historic struggle between the English king and Parliament is a well-chronicled story. To understand the context in which Hobbes was writing, one has to understand the political climate and reality of the period. The battles between the English executive and legislature goes back to the 1200s when the kingdom was ruled by King John, a descendant of William the Conqueror. Under the monarchy of King John, England lost its continental portion of the kingdom, which included Normandy. The taxing power of the king had become a major factor in the ongoing confrontations between the Crown (the executive) and the Parliament (the legislature). The king was engaged in a civil war with the English aristocracy, which consisted of barons and other nobles; and to

Why Rosa Parks Deserves Respect & Recognition

2005-12-28T05:11:23-05:00

Why Rosa Parks Deserves Respect & Recognition When asked to compose an essay about one individual that deserves respect and recognition as a leader, the first person that comes to mind is Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks is a strong willed and straight forward person. She has been called the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movements" and one of the most important citizen of the 20th century, she has also been called one of the greatest Civil Rights leaders ever. Mrs. Parks was a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, she refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white passenger. She was tried and convicted of violating a local ordinance. Rosa Parks is an example of courage and determination, an inspiring symbol for all African Americans to remain free. She helped to make her fellow African Americans aware of the history of the Civil Rights Movement to the best of her ability. This pioneer in the struggle for racial equality is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Martin Luther King, Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize. Mrs. Parks helped blacks pass tests that had been set up to make it difficult for them to pass. Rosa Parks was a major factor in the fight for equal rights. She had enough courage not to give up her seat that day in 1955 on the city bus to that white person that was no better than she, when seen through the eyes of those on the right track. She also helped start a boycott that kept blacks off city buses for a year. That boycott took part in the fight to equal rights. Her subsequent arrest and boycott became a powerful symbol of peaceful resistance for the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks exhibits many leadership qualities that I can relate to. One being, she stood up for herself and she also stood up against racism. It was harder for her because she was a woman. I, myself can relate to that being of the female descent. In those days things were harder for women and still at this very moment it is still hard. Another leadership quality this lady that is owed great appreciation has is the fact that she gives everybody a positive outlook on life. She seems to be one of those

Why Rosa Parks Is An Important African American

2005-12-27T02:31:08-05:00

Why Rosa Parks Is An Important African American When asked to compose an essay about one individual that deserves respect and recognition as a leader, the first person that comes to mind is Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks is a strong willed and straight forward person. She has been called the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movements" and one of the most important citizen of the 20th century, she has also been called one of the greatest Civil Rights leaders ever. Mrs. Parks was a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, she refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white passenger. She was tried and convicted of violating a local ordinance. Rosa Parks is an example of courage and determination, an inspiring symbol for all African Americans to remain free. She helped to make her fellow African Americans aware of the history of the Civil Rights Movement to the best of her ability. This pioneer in the struggle for racial equality is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Martin Luther King, Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize. Mrs. Parks helped blacks pass tests that had been set up to make it difficult for them to pass. Rosa Parks was a major factor in the fight for equal rights. She had enough courage not to give up her seat that day in 1955 on the city bus to that white person that was no better than she, when seen through the eyes of those on the right track. She also helped start a boycott that kept blacks off city buses for a year. That boycott took part in the fight to equal rights. Her subsequent arrest and boycott became a powerful symbol of peaceful resistance for the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks exhibits many leadership qualities that I can relate to. One being, she stood up for herself and she also stood up against racism. It was harder for her because she was a woman. I, myself can relate to that being of the female descent. In those days things were harder for women and still at this very moment it is still hard. Another leadership quality this lady that is owed great appreciation has is the fact that she gives everybody a positive outlook on life. She seems to be one of

Essay On Thomas Edison

2005-12-27T02:29:11-05:00

Essay On Thomas Edison “He led no armies into battle, he conquered no countries, and he enslaved no peoples. Nonetheless, he exerted a degree of power the magnitude of which no warrior ever dreamed. His name still commands a respect as sweeping in scope and as World-wide as that of any other mortal – a devotion rooted deep in human gratitude and untinged by the bias of race, color, politics, or religion.” (Edison’s Homepage) Thomas Edison was a man of great intellect who expanded the vast freedom of knowledge that present day inventors appreciate. Thomas Edison was born in Milan Ohio, on February 11, 1847. There are many stories about what Edison was like as a child. They all show that from an early age, Edison was curious about the world around him and always tried to teach himself through reading and experiments. It was during Edison’s teenage years that he began to experiment with different things and to tinker with objects. Moreover, In 1869, when Edison was twenty-two years old, he patented his first invention and advertised that he “would hereafter devote his full time to bringing out his inventions.”(Edison 67) It wasn’t too long after this that Thomas Edison exhibited publicly his incandescent electric light bulb, which was his most important invention and one requiring the most careful research and experimentation to perfect. After testing over two thousand materials Thomas Edison had made a filament that had worked. Edison repeated a recent experiment he had done but this time with coarse sewing machine thread. The thread had been “carbonized” and fixed into placed. The thread filament had then fused into a bar of “sunlight” when the current of electricity had been applied. It was after this that Edison had been totally convinced that he had what it took to produce the most socially acceptable form of “artificial” lighting in existence. Unfortunately, Edison would soon learn that the task of prosperously applying the benefits of an incandescent bulb in a real world setting would be far more challenging than doing so in his laboratory. He now faced the huge task of having to invent, manufacture, and perfect- in a standardized form – hundreds of highly efficient and affordable components that the earth had never seen… From the generators, regulators, and meters at the central generating plant to the outlets, switches, lamps, and sockets in the homes of consumers

Charles "Lucky" Luciano - National Crime Syndicate

2005-12-27T01:54:02-05:00

Charles "Lucky" Luciano (1897-1962) National Crime Syndicate Leader Charles "Lucky" Luciano, without doubt the most important Italian-American gangster this country ever produced, left a far greater impact on the underworld than even the illustrious Al Capone. In 1931, Luciano created what can be called the American Mafia by wiping out the last important exponents of the Sicilian-style Mafia in this country. Together with Meyer Lansky, Luciano was also a founder of the Mafia's "parent" organization, the national crime syndicate, a network of multi-ethnic criminal gangs that has ruled organized crime for more than half a century, a criminal cartel which has bled Americans of incalculable billions over the years. Luciano was born Salvatore Lucania near Palermo in Sicily and was brought to this country in 1906. In 1907, he logged his first arrest for shoplifting. During the same year, he started his first racket. For a penny of two a day, Luciano offered younger and smaller Jewish kids his personal protection against beatings on the way to school; if they didn't pay, he beat them up. One runty kid refused to pay, a thin little youngster from Poland, Meyer Lansky. Luciano attacked him and was amazed when Lansky gave as good as he got. They became bosom buddies after that, a relationship that would continue long after Luciano was deported back to Italy. In 1916, Luciano was a leading member of the Five Points Gang and named by police as the prime suspect in a number of murders. His notoriety grew through his teen years, as did his circle of underworld friends. By 1920, Luciano was a power in bootlegging rackets (in cooperation with Lansky and his erstwhile partner Bugsy Siegel) and had become familiar with Joe Adonis, Vito Genovese and, most important among Italian gangsters, Frank Costello. Luciano was amazed by the old-line mafiosi who counseled him to stay away from Costello, "the dirty Calbrian." But Costello led Luciano astray - by ritual mafioso standards - by introducing him to other ethnic gangsters like Big Bill Dwyer and Jews like Arnold Rothstein, Dutch Schultz and Dandy Phil Kastel. Luciano was much impressed by the way Costello bought protection from city officials and the police, which Lansky had already been telling Luciano was the most important ingredient in any big-time criminal setup. Rather than heed the admonitions of Mustache Petes, Luciano believed instead the old line mafiosi were the problem and

The life of Guido Nincheri Canada's Michelangelo

2005-12-26T03:10:53-05:00

Canada's Michelangelo - The life of Guido Nincheri "I'm tired of people coming back from Europe and telling me how beautiful the churches are. We've forgotten what we've got here." mac1996 Between 1915 and 1973 the Italian-Canadian painter Guido Nincheri devoted his life to producing stained glass windows and frescoes for more than one hundred churches across North America. Although honoured in Montreal's three hundred and fiftieth anniversary as a builder of the city, few Canadians know of the identity of this craftsman. The purpose of this paper is to uncover the story of this unrecognized artist and evaluate the significance of his contributions to Canadian society. Born in Tuscan, in the small town of Prato, in Italy, on Sept. 29th ,1885, Guido Nincheri was born to a wealthy textile broker, Pretro, and his wife, Maria. Nincheri, inspired by his passion for the arts, decided not to maintain his father's textile company and left Prato when he was eighteen to study architectural design and art composition. After obtaining his Bachelor of Arts in Florence, he continued to do post-graduate work from 1908 to 1912. In his years of post-graduate work he was commissioned to do several murals in the Palazzo Nanni and in the salon of Marco Vecciho. He received recognition, by these commissions, and won numerous medals in competitions for architectural design and artistic compositions. On April 21st ,1913,Guido married his wife Giulia, in Florence. In December of that year, Guido and Giulia decided to take their honeymoon in Argentina, only to be stranded in Boston because of the outbreak of World War One. With no way to return home Guido turned to French Canadian Montreal. In Montreal he quickly landed a job as a stage prop painter in the renowned opera house Chateau Dufresne. The opera house still stands at the corner of Berbooke St. E and Pie IX Blvd. While working at the opera house in 1926, Nincheri attempted his first fresco painting at the Chapel Socurs Des Noms de Jesus et Marie and agreed to defer his fee there, for two years . In this fresco Guido depicted one hundred and twenty well-known biblical stories. His excellent craftsmanship eventually led to him being recommended by the clergy in various parishes and he soon was being shuttled back and forth between Montreal and small towns throughout Quebec, during the 1920's. By portraying these biblical stories through

Edgar Allan Poe Biography

2005-12-25T23:27:20-05:00

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809. His parents were two struggling actors. After he was born, his father abandoned him. His mother died before he was three. This left Edgar Allan Poe a foster child. Poe’s father was an alcoholic and an indigent actor. Poe’s mother was a remarkably talented actress. She was sick with tuberculosis, and at the age of 24 she died. Poe’s memories of his mother were of when she died in a painful way on a straw mattress. Edgar was the second of their three children. When Poe’s mother died, he was left alone. He was taken as a foster child into the home of John Allan. John took Poe to Great Britain where Poe was educated. During the fall of 1823, when Edgar was 14, one of his classmates, Rob Standard, introduced Poe to his mother, Jane Standard. Edgar went to her when he had problems at home or school. In many ways, she became his mother. Poe graduated with the highest honors of his class for high school. After high school, Poe served in the U.S Army under a false name, Edgar A. Perry, and an incorrect age. After the Army, he attended West Point from 1830-31. After that, he went to Baltimore to live with his aunt. Poe then married his cousin. Poe’s style of writing might have come from the fact that the death of his mother haunted him for his life. He wrote an essay, “Theory of Composition,” in which he writes, “And equally is it beyond doubt that the lips best suited for such a topic are those of a bereaved lover”. Poe wrote those in memory of his mother who died at a young age. Poe attended the University of Virginia to study law. He then went to Boston where he published “Tamer lane” another poems. During the fall of

Paganini's Compositional Style Its Impact and Challenge

2005-12-25T00:58:13-05:00

Paganini This benefit concert marks only the second time in history that the legendary violin, made by Joseph Guarneri del Gesu (pronounced "Jezu") (1705? - 1744) in 1743, which belonged to Nicolo Paganini (October 27, 1782 - May 27, 1840) will be played in a full recital on the American continent. Eugene Fodor will perform. The first time it was heard in the U.S. was in 1982, in New York, as part of Paganini's bicentennial celebration, when his 24 Caprices for unaccompanied violin were played on it. Paganini's genius extended the technical, emotional and artistic expression of performance art to such a degree that it could be argued it flung open the portals of the Romantic era. His influence extended to nearly every form of art and literature. All of Europe was galvanized by this "Modern Orpheus" -- as he was known -- in his works of masterful classical compositional precision, beautiful original themes and operatic flavor. These were performed with Paganini's electrifyingly faultless playing of whole passages of new innovations, which included ravishing multiple stopping at dazzling speed, astonishing bow technique, dozens of consecutive rapid plucked notes (left hand pizzicato), fiendishly difficult double harmonics, and expressive, dramatic variation of tonal colors in all registers. His concerts always included a full composition performed entirely on one string -- the fourth, with its mesmerizing silver-wound richness thus fully accomplishing his intent to present violin playing as an extension of the human voice, but with technical resources far beyond vocal imagining. His fame will never be equaled and his gift to creative imagination can hardly be fully appreciated. His compositions provided technical solutions which were utilized in nearly every great successive violin concerto. His presence changed the lives and destinies of countless artists, including Chopin, Berlioz and Schumann, and served as a starburst of wonder and upliftment to the masses in times of prosperity as well as during oppression and plague. He played many concerts for charity, several times braving exposure to Bubonic plague. His influence is felt to this day by every serious musician who strives to reach his or her true potential. Schubert, who sold his silver and china in order to buy tickets for his friends to hear Paganini, said "I heard an angel sing when Paganini played his Adagio" and "An artistic comet of this magnitude will

Genghis Khan

2005-12-25T00:41:35-05:00

Genghis Khan The old world had many great leaders. Alexander the Great, Hannibal and even Julius Caesar met with struggle on their rise to power. Perhaps Genghis Khan was the most significant of all these rulers. To prove that Genghis Khan was the greatest ruler, we must go back to the very beginning of his existence. We must examine such issues as; Genghis’s struggle for power/how his life as a child would affect his rule, his personal and military achievements and his conquests. Genghis Khan was originally born as Temujin in 1167. He showed early promise as a leader and a fighter. By 1206, an assembly of Mongolian chieftains proclaimed him Genghis Khan. Which meant Universal or invincible prince. This was a bold move for the assembly. They obviously saw some leadership qualities in Genghis that others didn’t. When Genghis Khan was little, his chieftain father poisoned. With no leader left, the tribe abandoned Genghis and his mother. They were left alone for many years to care for themselves. Throughout these years, his family met many hardships such as shortage of food and shortage of money. Though unable to read, Genghis was a very wise man. His mother told him at a very early age the importance of trust and independence. "Remember, you have no companions but your shadow" Grolier Encyclopedia. (1995) CD ROM This quote was to mean to Genghis, don’t put to much trust in anyone, trust no one but yourself and if you must go your own way then do so. In 1206, Genghis Khan proclaimed the ruler of Mongolia. Genghis was a very respected leader. Like other leaders he knew what his people wanted. They want everything that is good and nothing that is bad. Genghis knew he could not promise this so instead he pledged to share both the sweet and the bitter of life. Genghis did not want to end up being poisoned like his father so instead he made alliances, and attacked anyone who posed a serious threat. Through this method of leadership, Genghis¹¹s army grew to the point where they were unbeatable. Genghis contributed alot of items to the Chinese and even western civilizations. Perhaps his greatest contribution was a code of laws that he declared. Since Genghis couldn’t read or write, these law were documented by one of his followers. His laws were carried on by people though the many generations to

Benjamin Franklin

2005-12-22T22:16:22-05:00

Benjamin Franklin Bio Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17, 1706. He was one of the seventeen children of Josiah Franklin, a soap maker. Josiah’s second wife, Abiah Folger mothered young Benjamin. As a child, Benjamin loved to read and at twelve years of age was apprenticed to his older brother, James, who was a printmaker. The family decided this would be best for young Benjamin after his father could only afford one year of studies in clergy for his son. James soon after started The New England Courant, the first newspaper in Boston to include opinionated articles written by James’s friends. At only fifteen, Benjamin wanted to be included in these chronicles. He created a fictional character known as “Silence Dogood” and wrote daily letters in regard to advice and criticisms toward the town. His creation was greatly admired by readers and soon young Benjamin confessed. His brother loathed and ignored him while his friends supported him; manifesting a great jealousy between the two brothers. Soon after, smallpox hit Boston and caused a great deal of religious debate with vaccination. Though the majority of the people believed that these vaccinations only worsened the conditions. However, they did not believe that James’s mockery of the clergy was just. He was thrown in prison for his prints and the company was left to Benjamin. However, upon his release, he was not grateful to his brother and took over. Young Franklin knew that this was not the lifestyle he wanted and reacted to this by running away. He arrived in Philadelphia and used the last of his money to buy some rolls. He was wet and messy when his future wife, Deborah Read, met him on October, 6, 1723. She never imagined marrying him until 7 years later. Eventually, Franklin found work once again as an apprentice printer. He did so well that the governor of Pennsylvania promised to set him up in business if he went to London for print stamps and fonts. However, upon his arrival, the governor changed his mind, leaving young Franklin in England, once again printmaking. Upon his returning to Philadlephia, he opened up his own business on a loan and worked nonstop. Soon enough, the whole town became aware of his diligent lifestyle. Franklin was never

Andrew Carnegie Biographical Essay

2005-12-04T02:05:32-05:00

Andrew Carnegie Biography From what I know off hand about Andrew Carnegie is that he was the richest man in the world. I know that he has built many libraries and they are still around today. Andrew Carnegie was a very smart man I think because he said many smart things this is a Quote I found that Andrew Carnegie said, “Only in popular education can man erect the structure of an enduring civilization.” Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, on November 25, 1835. The son of a weaver, he came with his family to the United States in 1848 and settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. At age thirteen, Carnegie went to work as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill. He then moved rapidly through a succession of jobs with Western Union and the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1865, he resigned to establish his own business enterprises and eventually organized the Carnegie Steel Company, which launched the steel industry in Pittsburgh. At age sixty-five, he sold the company to J. P. Morgan for $400 million and devoted the rest of his life to his philanthropic activities and writing, including his autobiography. Many persons of wealth have contributed to charity, but Carnegie was perhaps the first to state publicly that the rich have a moral obligation to give away their fortunes. In 1889 he wrote The Gospel of Wealth, in which he asserted that all personal wealth beyond that required to supply the needs of one's family should be regarded as a trust fund to be administered for the benefit of the community. Carnegie set about disposing of his fortune through innumerable personal gifts and through the establishment of various trusts. In his thirties, Carnegie had already begun to give away some of his fast-accumulating funds. His first large gifts were made to his native town. Later he created seven philanthropic and educational organizations in the United States, including Carnegie Corporation of New York, and several more in Europe. One of Carnegie's lifelong interests was the establishment of free public libraries to make available to everyone a means of self-education. There were only a few public libraries in the world when, in 1881, Carnegie began to promote his idea. He and the Corporation subsequently spent over $56 million to build 2,509 libraries throughout the English-speaking world. After termination of this program in 1917, the Corporation continued for about forty years an interest

George Lucas’ Biography and Filmography

2005-12-04T02:04:33-05:00

George Lucas’ Biography and Filmography You wouldn't think he'd become what he now is from his early days. He was fascinated in comic books, especially "Buck Rogers" and "Flash Gordon." And though this might allude to the Star Wars movies he still didn't know what to do with his life by the time he became a teenager. Bored with the tedium and out-of-date teaching methods, he was a poor student and found excitement in car racing. Only a hint of this past is found in his movie's fast pace and constant energy as well as the use of jumpsuits (X-wing fighter uniforms). Lucas's hobby of car racing abruptly came to a halt when he was rammed broadside by another car off the race track. The other car was going so fast it plowed itself and George's car into a tree at 60 miles an hour. By a fortunate quirk of fate, his seatbelt was defective and he flew free of the car. Though he was injurred, if he had remained in the car the impact would have killed him. Instead of being able to attend his own high school graduation he lay in the hospital. It was at this time he came to the realization that he had to find a purpose in his life and fulfill it. Education and THX 1138 He attended the University of Southern California, majoring in film. He mistakenly enrolled in the university, thinking "film" meant "photography," but once he began to work in motion pictures he knew this was what he loved. He proved to be so good at it that he won a scholarship from Warner Brothers to study film making at the studio. He was where he met Francis Ford Coppola and became good friends despite their opposite personalities. Idealistic about creating new types of movies than the conventional studios were permitting, they founded American Zoetrope. This new type of studio encouraged young film makers and funded experimental films with the support of Warner Brothers. Unfortunately rough times were ahead for Lucas and Zoetrope. When Lucas released his first film, THX 1138, Warner Brothers was outraged. THX 1138 did not follow the standard narrative style, instead moving the story along with images rather than by extensive characters and dialogue. The images were startling, the sound rich and the ideas behind it compelling, but these were not the things that become blockbusters. Warner Brothers resented

Biography of George Bush Sr

2005-12-04T01:44:54-05:00

Biography of George Bush Sr George Herbert Walker Bush was born on June 12, 1924 in Milton, Massachusetts. His father Prescott Sheldon Bush was a bank manager who was elected senator in 1952. His mother is Dorothy Walker Bush. George Bush grew up in a family atmosphere with his three brothers and his sister at Greenwich, Connecticut, a suburb of New York, before studying in one of the best private boarding schools of the country. When George Bush received his degree from the Phillips Academy of Andover, Massachusetts, he was already admitted at Yale, but the United States entered into the Second World War. George Bush joined the Navy and at the age of eighteen and became the youngest naval pilot (from 1942 to 1945). Thus according all evidence, he was the last President of the United States to have fought during the Second World War. In September 2, 1944, during his 58th mission, his aircraft was shot down by the enemy over Chichi Jima island. Fours hours later, he was rescued in the middle of the Pacific Ocean by the crew of the U.S.S. Finback, an American submarine, to whom he owes his life. He was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross and sent back home. A few months before the end of World War Two he married Barbara Pierce of Rye (New York) on January 6, 1945. He entered Yale and outshone in both at academics and Baseball. When he left in 1948, George Bush moved from New England to Midland, Texas, after having refused a post in his father's company. At Texas, he worked for Dresser Industries. The old family silver he had served him to create an oil company named Zapata in 1954, which made him rich. In 1959, he settled down in Houston.Mr. and Mrs. Bush had six children. They are George, Robin (who died of leukemia in 1953), John, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. Fortune and family well settled, "Poppy" (Bush's nickname) turned, like his father, toward politics within the ranks of the Republican party which was almost nonexistent in the South. In 1964, he became the President of the Republican party in Harris and the same year, he campaigned for the Senate but without success. After his initial failure, he tried again in 1966 at the House of Representatives in the 7th district of Houston. He was elected and re-elected in 1968 and convinced his

The Italian Futurist, Poet F.T. Marinetti Founder of Futiris

2005-12-04T01:37:10-05:00

The Italian Futurist, Poet F.T. Marinetti Founder of Futirism Futurism (1909-1944) was perhaps the first movement in the history of art to be engineered and managed like a business. Since its beginning, Futurism was very close to the world of advertising and, like a business, promoted its product to a wide audience. For this reason, Futurism introduced the use of the manifesto as a public means to advertise its artistic philosophy, and also as a polemic weapon against the academic and conservative world. The poet F.T. Marinetti, founder of the movement, wrote in his first manifesto of February 1909, "Up to now, literature has exalted a pensive immobility, ecstasy, and sleep. We intend to exalt aggressive action, a feverish insomnia, the racer's stride, the mortal leap, the punch and the slap. We affirm that the world's magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. . . We will destroy the museums, libraries, academies of every kind, will fight moralism, feminism, every opportunistic or utilitarian cowardice." Futurism, as opposed to Cubism, an essentially visual movement, found its roots in poetry and in a whole renovation of language, and featured the concept of the New Typography. Since 1905, Marinetti had promoted from the pages of his magazine Poesia (Poetry) the idea of verso libero (free-verse), which was intended to break the uniformity of syntax of the literature of the past. Then, just after the launch of the Futurist movement, verso libero evolved into the parole in libertà (words-in-freedom), the purpose and methodology of which were outlined in a manifesto dated 1913 and bearing the long title Destruction of Syntax/Imagination without Strings/Words-in-Freedom. In this manifesto Marinetti stated: "Futurism is grounded in the complete renewal of human sensibility that has generated our pictorial dynamism, our antigraceful music in its free, irregular rhythms, our noise-art and our words-in-freedom . . . . By the imagination without strings I mean the absolute freedom of images or analogies, expressed with unhampered words and with no connecting strings of syntax and with no punctuation." These last lines of the quotation were already included in a previous manifesto of May 1912, Technical Manifesto of Futurist Literature, where Marinetti proposed that writers "banish punctuation, as well as adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions." Actually, an elimination of punctuation had already been practiced by Mallarmé in his poems "Un coup des Dés jamais n'abolira le Hasard," published in Paris in

Duke Ellington

2005-11-28T17:13:10-05:00

The Duke By the time of his passing, Duke Ellington was considered amongst the world’s greatest composers and musicians. The French government honored him with their highest award, the Legion of Honor, while the government of the United States bestowed upon him the highest civil honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He played for the royalty and for the common people and by the end of his fifty-year career, he had played over 20,000 performances worldwide. He was the Duke. Edward Kennedy Ellington was born into the world on April 28, 1899 in Washington, D.C. Duke’s parents Daisy Kennedy Ellington and James Edward Ellington served as ideal role models for young Duke and taught him everything from proper table manners to an understanding of the emotional power of music. He was called “Duke” because he was something of a dandy, with a love of fancy clothes and an elegant style. He retained those traits throughout his life. The secret of the Ellington style was that it was no mere style at all but simply the manifestation of what he was made of within. Duke’s first piano lessons came around the age of seven or eight and appeared to not have that much lasting effect upon him. It seemed as if young Duke was more inclined to baseball at a young age. Duke got his first job selling peanuts at Washington Senator’s baseball games. This was the first time Duke was placed as a "performer" for a crowd and had to first get over his stage fright. At the age of fourteen, Duke began sneaking into Frank Holliday’s poolroom. His experiences from the poolroom taught him to appreciate the value in mixing with a wide range of people. As Duke’s piano lessons faded into the past, Duke began to show a flare for the artistic. Duke attended Armstrong Manual Training School to study commercial art instead of an academically-oriented school. Duke began to seek out and listen to ragtime pianists in Washington and during the summers, where he and his mother vacationed in Philadelphia or Atlantic City. While vacationing in Asbury Park, Duke heard of a hot pianist named Harvey Brooks. At the end of his vacation Duke sought Harvey out in Philadelphia where Harvey showed Duke some pianistic tricks and shortcuts. Duke later recounted that, "When I got home I had a real yearning to play. I

Geoffrey Chaucer: The Man, The Myth

2005-11-28T00:21:38-05:00

Geoffrey Chaucer, one of English Literature’s best-known writers, has influenced many people through his writing, and also fueled the curiosity of those same people as well. Geoffrey Chaucer was a relatively normal man, except for the minor fact that no one knows a precise date of his birth or the manner of his death. He wrote poetry and short stories as amusement while he passed the time that he spent working for his country. He traveled to many other countries on diplomatic engagements. While traveling he spent a lot of time writing. In this period of time he wrote many famous works, such as The Canterbury Tales. Many of his works, like The Canterbury Tales, were about people that he encountered in his everyday life; there are even poems linked to his marriage. “For example, in The Book of the Duchesse Chaucer speaks of a ‘sicknesse/That I have suffred this eight yeere’ and says his cure is no nearer: there is only one physician who can heal him (Howard, 98).” Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London, England between 1340 and 1345; an exact date has yet to be determined. His father was a successful wine merchant and was also deputy to the king’s butler. Chaucer’s education level was never revealed, but evidence shows that he could read French, Latin, and Italian. Chaucer did many different types of civil jobs for the monarchy. He did diplomatic customs and served as Clerk of the King’s Works, later he was elected as justice of the peace. In 1359, Chaucer was captured by the Ardennes during the siege of Reims, King Edward III paid Chaucer's ransom of 16 pounds. In 1366, he married Phillipa Roet, daughter of Sir Gilles de Roet. The marriage was arranged by Phillipa's foster mother, ironically named, Queen Phillipa. The two [Chaucer and Phillipa], as it shows in some sketchy records, allegedly had three children, Lewis, Thomas, and Elizabeth. It is for Chaucer's second son that the Treatise on the Astrolabe was written. Chaucer died mysteriously on October 25, 1400; no one knows the exact cause of death, though some speculate that he was murdered. During Richard II’s reign Chaucer supported him completely, but when Henry, Richard’s cousin, and Thomas Arundel overthrew Richard there may have been a problem with Chaucer’s loyalty. “Henry, Richard’s cousin, had no real claim to the throne and no real popular support. But he was

Betsy Ross

2005-11-23T21:20:12-05:00

[color=red:560e52d795]Betsy Ross[/color:560e52d795]Spring of 1776 The most peculiar thing happened to me today. I was sitting in my shop sewing some clothes when some much unexpected guests walked in. It was three men from a flag committee from Congress. One of the men was the well known General George Washington. I could not help but wonder why they would want to see me. The gentleman sat me down and told me something very important. “Betsy, we would be honored if you would sew the American flag. “ Colonel Ross then went on to explain that he knew I was a true patriot and could be trusted

Gary Paulsen

2005-11-23T21:10:43-05:00

[color=blue:5315997e08]Gary Paulsen[/color:5315997e08]Gary Paulsen was born on May 17, 1939. Gary was forced to grow up fast. Gary’s family never had much money while he was growing up. Gary had a miserable home. Both his parents were drunks. His dad worked in the Military and Gary moved various times because of his father’s job. Sometimes Gary would sell newspapers in an alley or help at the bowling alley to make a little bit of money. When things got unbearable Gary would either run away or was taken to relative’s houses to stay for a while. Gary hated school. He had a D- average and wasn’t good at athletics either. He also had a bad reputation for getting in fights with other peers. One night Gary was selling newspapers in the twenty below temperatures, and saw the public libraries reading room bathed in beautiful golden light. At that point very few people had given Gary anything. Both his parents were drinking and it was a very rough run. He went in to get warm and to his astonishment the librarian asked him if wanted a book. He said sure in a sort of cocky tone and then she said to him “bring it back when you’re done and you can get another one.” First is took him a month to read a book, then two weeks, then a week, and pretty soon he was reading two books a week. She would give Gary westerns, science fictions, and everyone once in a while a classic. She didn’t care if Gary wore the right clothes or dated the right girls; none of those prejudices existed in the library. Hiding from his parent’s arguments, Paulsen would often retreat to their small apartment basement, snuggle beside the furnace with a book, milk, and some peanut butter sandwiches and read into the night. The librarian didn’t realize when she gave Gary a library card she had handed him the world. Gary barely managed to graduate high school. After high school he went to college for a short time but then quit to join the army. There he worked with missiles and was positive his future lay in electronics. But after a while he realized their must be more to life than sitting behind a computer screen all day. So, faking an impressive resume he scored an associate editor’s job with a men’s magazine. Shortly after his bosses discovered

Julius Eriving

2005-10-30T19:29:10-04:00

Julius Erving was born in Hempstead, Long Island. His father left the family when Julius was only three. His mother worked as a domestic to support her three children. The family lived in a public housing project, and life was difficult, Mrs. Erving worked to instill a sense of self worth in her children, and young Julius realized his gift for basketball could be a ticket to a better life. By age ten, Julius was averaging eleven points a game with his Salvation Army team. When Julius Erving was 13, his mother remarried, and the family move to the nearby town of Roosevelt. There, Julius maintained a high academic average and played on the high school team, all county and all-Long Island teams competing in state-wide tournaments. Erving acquired the nickname “the Doctor” while still at Roosevelt High. His teammates would later alter this to “Dr. J.” The basketball coach at Roosevelt High, Ray Wilson, introduced young Julius to Coach Jack Leaman of the University of Massachusetts. After high school, Erving entered the university, where Ray Wilson was hired as assistant coach the following year. At Massachusetts, Erving broke freshman records for scoring and rebounding, leading his team through an undefeated season. The next year, he had the second best rebound tally in the country. Over the summer, he joined an NCAA all-star team touring Western Europe and the Soviet Union. He was voted most valuable player on the tour. Julius Erving left the University to go professional after his junior year. He is one of only seven players in the history of NCAA basketball to average over 20 points and 20 rebounds per game. In 1971, Julius Erving began his professional career with the Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Association. The ABA was fighting an uphill to gain the same recognition enjoyed by the more established National Basketball Association. Julius Erving, or Dr. J, as fans now called him, did more than anyone else to win that recognition for the new association. In his first pro season, Dr. J, ranked sixth in the ABA in scoring, third in rebounding. He was voted ABA Rookie of the Year at the close of the season. The following year, he lead the ABA in scoring, averaging 31.9 points per game. In 1973, Dr. J attempted to sign with the Atlantic Hawks of the NBA, and found himself on the middle of a complicated legal wrangle. The Squires claimed he

The Things They Carried

2005-10-06T05:25:30-04:00

Men in the Vietnam War go through different actions like being ambushed and attacking the enemy which may make them feel different emotionally. These men deal with everyday death and other horrific conditions of the war. The soldiers in the novel The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, have been put through emotional and physical situations in and out of the battle field. To keep themselves from breaking into post traumatic stress or any other kind of emotion, the men joke about death instead of letting it have an effect on them, feel misplaced anger, and ponder over memories to help remember good things. When feeling down one may feel a need to laugh and make jokes about the bad or good situations that are happening. In this case the men joke about the deaths of other soldiers. For Instance, Curt Lemon’s died by a tossing a smoke grenade with Rat Kiley, the shade of some trees and stepped into the sunlight and onto a rigged mortar round. “I remember pieces of skin and something wet and yellow that must’ve been the intestines. The gore was horrible and stays with me. But what wakes me up twenty years later is Dave Jensen singing “Lemon Tree” as we threw down the pars”(83). Regardless how anyone died making jokes is one action to keep these men entertained. Instead of looking at the reality of death itself, little comments were made by the soldiers to how it was caused. Kiowa made a comment how Ted Lavender died “he was zapped while zipping“. “They used a hard vocabulary to contain the terrible softness. Greased they’d say. Offed, lit up zapped while. It wasn’t cruelty, just stage presence. They were actors. When someone died, It wasn’t quite dying because in a curious way it seemed scripted, and because they had their lines mostly memorized, irony mixed with tragedy, and because they called it by other names, as if to encyst and destroy the reality of death itself. They kicked corpses. They cut off thumbs. They talked grunt lingo”(20). Humor may be the only emotion to be used as a comfort to the soldiers aside from killing. The men wore a disguise, like a mask to cover feelings of calmness that wouldn’t be shown. These mask‘s are not real just more of a barrier to keep there feelings from being expressed. In the same way, Azar

Nat Turner - A Heroic and Respected Black

2005-10-02T17:40:45-04:00

Nat Turner - A Heroic and Respected Black Nat Turner was born October 2, 1800 in Southampton County, Virginia. He was born on the farm of Benjamin Turner. According to legend, his mother tried to kill him as soon as he was born to spare him a life of slavery, but she was tied to her bed until she calmed down. It has been said that Nat's mother was an African queen from the kingdoms of the upper Nile, and that she was forced to march for one thousand miles to the Atlantic. We do know it is true that she was taken from Africa while in her teens and was renamed Nancy. Not much is known about his father, except that he was a second-generation slave. His mother and grandmother taught him about his African heritage. While he was young, a traditional African search of his bodily bumps and marks proved that he would be a prophet. Nat learned to read and write when he was a child. It was illegal in Virginia to teach a slave to read, out of fear that they would read abolitionist writings and begin revolts, but somehow he learned. He himself said that the alphabet "came to him" in a vision, finding the letters burned into leaves on the ground. Maybe some old slaves taught him. Most likely, his master's family taught him. Nevertheless, when Benjamin found out about his reading, he encouraged it-as long as it was only the Bible. His grandmother, Bridget, had become a Christian and passed on the religion to Nat, which gave him all the more reason to read the Bible. He liked to read the Old Testament because he didn't like what the New Testament was about (forgiveness, but the whites didn't show that). Once he became a Christian, religion and freedom were in his mind. He was in the fields one day when he apparently heard a voice telling him to seek the Kingdom of Heaven, which he interpreted as the end of slavery. He believed his whole life that it was his destiny to lead all of his fellow slaves to freedom, and for most of his life, he planned his revolt. Upon Benjamin Turner's death, Benjamin's son, Samuel, inherited Nat. Virginia fell into a depression around that time, and Samuel hired an overseer to push the slaves harder. Nat ran away. For two weeks, he was hunted by dogs and

Martin Luther King, Jr. - A True Advocate of Peace

2005-09-21T03:54:00-04:00

Martin Luther King, Jr. - A True Advocate of Peace One of the world's best known advocates of non-violent social change strategies, Martin Luther King, Jr., synthesized ideas drawn from many different cultural traditions. Born in Atlanta on January 15, 1929, King's roots were in the African-American Baptist church. He was the grandson of the Rev. A. D. Williams, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist church and a founder of Atlanta's NAACP chapter, and the son of Martin Luther King, Sr., who succeeded Williams as Ebenezer's pastor and also became a civil rights leader. Although, from an early age, King resented religious emotionalism and questioned literal interpretations of scripture, he nevertheless greatly admired black social gospel proponents such as his father who saw the church as a instrument for improving the lives of African Americans. Morehouse College president Benjamin Mays and other proponents of Christian social activism influenced King's decision after his junior year at Morehouse to become a minister and thereby serve society. His continued skepticism, however, shaped his subsequent theological studies at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, and at Boston University, where he received a doctorate in systematic theology in 1955. Rejecting offers for academic positions, King decided while completing his Ph. D. requirements to return to the South and accepted the pastorate of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. On December 5, 1955, five days after Montgomery civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to obey the city's rules mandating segregation on buses, black residents launched a bus boycott and elected King as president of the newly-formed Montgomery Improvement Association. As the boycott continued during 1956, King gained national prominence as a result of his exceptional oratorical skills and personal courage. His house was bombed and he was convicted along with other boycott leaders on charges of conspiring to interfere with the bus company's operations. Despite these attempts to suppress the movement, Montgomery bus were desegregated in December, 1956, after the United States Supreme Court declared Alabama's segregation laws unconstitutional. In 1957, seeking to build upon the success of the Montgomery boycott movement, King and other southern black ministers founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As SCLC's president, King emphasized the goal of black voting rights when he spoke at the Lincoln Memorial during the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom. During 1958, he published his first book, Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. The following year,

Gustave Courbet

2005-09-18T06:14:22-04:00

Gustave Courbet Gustave Courbet was born on June 10, 1819 in Ornans, France and died on December 31, 1877. He once said, "I cannot paint an angel because I have never seen one," therefore, Courbet was a realist. In 1839, he entered the studio of Charles Steuben, where his artistic skills would be polished. Courbet met Virginia Binet and had a son by her in 1847. Two years later, in 1849, Gustave returned to Ornans from Holland where his father had prepared a studio for him. In 1850, Binet left Gustave and took their son with her. Courbet was born into a farming family and wanted to be successful in order to be recognized by the public. However, for the first ten years of his artistic career, Courbet did not profit from his artwork; he would have to depend on his family for financial support. Courbet’s L’Atelier du Peintre was created in 1855. According to, Modern European Art, “Atelier is not a realist picture; it does not show what Courbet’s studio was actually like while he was at work…” (p. 13). Through this painting, Courbet would be able to express himself; “the painting was to be an artistic testimony…it demonstrates that the artist can draw only from his own experiences, that all his acquaintances are subservient to his own creative drive” (p. 14). L‘Atelier du Peintre later influenced two early works of the impressionist Edouard Manet; the first, The Old Musician and the second, La Musique aux Tuileries. In addition, in 1855, when The Artist's Studio: A Real Allegory Concerning Seven Years of My Artistic Life was refused by the Art Academy, Courbet decided to start his own exhibition, Salon des Refusés, in a tent and charged admission. At this time, the cities in Europe were growing and the industrial revolution was in full swing. Gustave Courbet painted The Artist’s Studio because he was in need of money. However, money was not the only reason for L‘Atelier du Peintre; he desired prestige, recognition, and most of all belonging. Courbet felt lonely: "behind this laughing mask of mine which you know, I conceal grief and bitterness, and a sadness…in the society in which we live, it doesn't take much to reach the void.” Due to multiple rejections of his works by the art academy, Courbet felt

Frederick Douglass What it's like to be a Slave and Hero

2005-09-18T00:30:54-04:00

Frederick Douglass - What it's like to be a Slave and Hero Frederick Douglass was born with no possessions, not even himself. He knew of his mother and siblings, but was never allowed to form a relationship with any of them. A white man named Captain Anthony, who is assumed to be Douglass' father, owned his mother as a slave. The circumstances under which Douglas was born offered him absolutely no money, no social influence and no political power. Lives of slaves were cruel: they received little or no food, little clothing, and no place to sleep, as well as were overworked and weak from fatigue. Slaves, who broke rules, were often beaten or whipped, sometimes even shot. At the age of seven Douglass was shipped off to Baltimore to work for Hugh Auld, a relative of the family. Sophia Auld, Hugh's wife, was not used to being a slave owner. She was disturbed by Douglass' inability to act independently, so she began to teach him to read. Douglass quickly learned how to read and write. He read everything he could get hold of which led him, eventually, to his freedom. He was still black, but using his writing skills to share his intelligence with the world once he was free took Douglas from the bottom of the social ladder to a much higher ring increasing his overall success. Eventually, Sophia started to act like a slave owner and treated Douglass as other slaves were treated. He learned from reading the newspapers about the abolitionists. From reading and learning about the abolitionists, he became determined to escape to the north. Due to the death of his owner, Captain Anthony, there were many property disputes. So, Douglass was transferred back and forth between Baltimore and the South. He ended up as a slave to a man by the name of Thomas Auld, who sent him to a slave breaker, Edward Covey. Douglass barely lived through the experience, but his desire to escape allowed him to out last any task. He devised an escape plan with a couple of other slaves, but Auld, feared that Douglass would be killed which would make Douglass of no value to himself, so he shipped Douglass back to Hugh and Sophia in Baltimore. When he got back to Baltimore, Douglass was granted permission from Hugh Auld to hire out the extra time trading, and caulking after

Jacques Cartier Biographical Essay

2005-08-25T22:24:37-04:00

Jacques Cartier Biography Essay French navigator Jacques Cartier is recognized as the European discoverer of the St. Lawrence River. Born in 1491 at St. Malo, Brittany, Cartier made three voyages to North America between 1534 and 1542. On the first (1534), he thoroughly explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence, claimed the Gaspe Peninsula for France, and took two Laurentian Iroquois home with him to learn French. On the second voyage (1535-36), he used the two Indian interpreter-guides to pilot him up the St. Lawrence River to Stadacona (the site of modern Quebec). He continued to Hochelaga (Montreal) without them but was discouraged from continuing farther west by the rapids and cold weather. Wintering in Stadacona, 25 members of his crew died from scurvy before the discovery

The Life and Death of Edgar Allen Poe

2005-08-23T08:02:03-04:00

The Life and Death of Edgar Allen Poe The Early Years Edgar Allen Poe was born on January 19, 1809 to two struggling actors, David and Elizabeth Poe. When his father died at the age of 36, Edgar was left alone with his pregnant mother. He traveled with his mother and sister from theatre to theatre, often sleeping backstage. When his mother died of Tuberculosis on December 11, 1811 at the young age of 24, Edgar and his sister, Rosalie, were orphaned. Edgar was only two years old. His sister was sent to live with Mrs. Mackenzie when she was one, Edgar went to live with John and Frances Allen, and Edgar's older brother, William, was already living with their grandfather, David Poe, Sr., because at the time of his birth, David and Elizabeth could not afford to care for him. Edgar moved to Richmond, Virginia with the Allens, where he had many luxuries that he had never had before. He had his own bedroom in the apartment above John Allen's store, Ellis & Allen, and even servants to help him wash before bed and put away his clothes. Growing up, Edgar never got along with his foster father, often arguing with him, and rarely showing his affection. John Allen once even described his son as "miserable, sulky, and ill-tempered". There was also the matter of Edgar's alcoholism, which brought shame upon his foster family and friends, even his beloved first fiancee, Sarah Elmira Royster, eventually refused to see him. One night after a particularly bitter argument with Mr. Allen, he decided to leave his home and go to Boston. After an unpleasant month in Boston, Edgar was once again on the road. After having a few poems published and withdrawing from a millitary academy he eventually wound up in Baltimore, Maryland, penniless. He soon found that his relatives there were as poor as he was. Even so, they welcomed him into their homes and hearts. He stayed for a while in the home of his aunt, Maria Clemm. Also living with Mrs. Clemm were her two children, Henry, 13, and Virginia, Poe's cousin and future wife, who was nine, his paralyzed grandmother, and his dying brother William, 24. He tried unsuccessfully to get a job at several newspapers, and seeing an ad for $100 for the best short story sent to the Philadelphia Saturday Review, proceeded to writing short stories. Even though

Johann Sebastian Bach Biographical Essay

2005-08-18T09:35:58-04:00

Biography of Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the greatest composers in Western musical history. More than 1,000 of his compositions survive. Some examples are the Art of Fugue, Brandenburg Concerti, the Goldberg Variations for Harpsichord, the Mass in B- Minor, the motets, the Easter and Christmas oratorios, Toccata in F Major, French Suite No 5, Fugue in G Major, Fugue in G Minor ("The Great"), St. Matthew Passion, and Jesu Der Du Meine Seele. He came from a family of musicians. There were over 53 musicians in his family over a period of 300 years. Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany on March 21, 1685. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was a talented violinist, and taught his son the basic skills for string playing; another relation, the organist at Eisenach's most important church, instructed the young boy on the organ. In 1695 his parents died and he was only 10 years old. He went to go stay with his older brother, Johann Christoph, who was a professional organist at Ohrdruf. Johann Christoph was a professional organist, and continued his younger brother's education on that instrument, as well as on the harpsichord. After several years in this arrangement, Johann Sebastian won a scholarship to study in Luneberg, Northern Germany, and so left his brother's tutelage. A master of several instruments while still in his teens, Johann Sebastian first found employment at the age of 18 as a "lackey and violinist" in a court orchestra in Weimar; soon after, he took the job of organist at a church in Arnstadt. Here, as in later posts, his perfectionist tendencies and high expectations of other musicians - for example, the church choir - rubbed his colleagues the wrong way, and he was embroiled in a number of hot disputes during his short tenure. In 1707, at the age of 22, Bach became fed up with the lousy musical standards of Arnstadt (and the working conditions) and moved on to another organist job, this time at the St. Blasius Church in Muhlhausen. The same year, he married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach. Again caught up in a running conflict between factions of his church, Bach fled to Weimar after one year in Muhlhausen. In Weimar, he assumed the post of organist and concertmaster in the ducal chapel. He remained in Weimar for nine years, and there he composed his first wave of

Biography of Martin Luther King Jr. Essay

2005-08-18T09:27:23-04:00

Martin Luther King Jr. Biography and Research Paper In his life, Martin Luther King Jr. accomplished many amazing things for the African-Americans in the United States and all over the world. He helped spread freedom and democracy throughout the world, even though he primarily concentrated on the well-being of the United States. Through all of the tough decisions he had to make, and all of the situations he had to overcome, Dr. King stuck to his morals and ethics. Martin Luther King Jr. was born January 15, 1929 into a middle class family in Atlanta Georgia. He was the son of a minister and was very intelligent. He entered high school at age 13. In the 11th grade, he entered an oratorical contest sponsored by the Negro Elks in a distant Georgia town. Martin jr. spoke on "The Negro and the Constitution" and one a prize for his speech. On the way back to Atlanta, he and his teacher reviewed the exciting events of the day. Presently the bus stopped and some whites got on. There were no seats left so the bus driver ordered Martin and his teacher to get up and stand. King refused to budge. The driver threatened him and called him a "black son-of-a-bitch," until at last he heeded his teacher's whispers and he got out of his seat. For the rest of the trip home, he and his teacher were jostled around as the bus traveled down the highway. King later said, "It was the angriest I have ever been in my life." After the 11th grade, King left high school and went to Morehouse college which was accepting exceptional high school juniors to fill its depleted ranks because of the world war. He was only 15 when he enrolled. King graduated in the spring of 1948 at age 19. He elected to then attend the Crozer Seminary in Pennsylvania. After four years at Crozer, he decide to attend the prestigious School of Theology at Boston University. It was here that King would get his PhD., meet his future wife, Corretta Scott, and learn the ways of Ghandi. Martin read all that he could about Ghandi and he was very impressed by Ghandi's ways and his success. Ghandi believed in peaceful protest and Dr. King also though that this would be effective. After receiving his PhD, many churches expressed interest in having Dr. King become their head minister. Dr. King

Al Capone - The Truth

2005-08-18T07:18:25-04:00

Al Capone - The Truth Quite a lot has been written and said about Al Capone in newspaper and magazine articles, books, and movies that is completely false. One of the most common fictions is that like many gangsters of that era, he was born in Italy. Absolutely not true. This amazing crime czar was strictly domestic -- taking the feudal Italian criminal society and fashioning it into a modern American criminal enterprise. Certainly many Italian immigrants, like immigrants of all nationalities, frequently came to the New World with very few assets. Many of them were peasants escaping the lack of opportunity in rural Italy. When they came to the large American port cities they often ended up as laborers because of the inability to speak and write English and lack of professional skills. This was not the case with Al Capone's family. Gabriele Capone (not Caponi as often claimed) was one of 43,000 Italians who arrived in the U.S. in 1894. He was a barber by trade and could read and write his native language. He was from the village of Castellmarre di Stabia, sixteen miles south of Naples. Gabriele, who was thirty years old, brought with him his pregnant twenty-seven-year-old wife Teresina (called Teresa), his two-year-old son Vincenzo and his infant son Raffaele. Unlike many Italian immigrants he did not owe anyone for his passage over. His plan was to do whatever work was necessary until he could open his own barber shop. Along with thousands of other Italians, the Capone family moved to Brooklyn near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It was a stark beginning in the New World. 95 Navy Street was a cold-water tenement flat that had no indoor toilet or furnishings. The neighborhood was virtually a slum, given its proximity to the noisy Navy Yard, its many sailors and the vices that sailors seek when they're off duty. Gabriele's ability to read and write allowed him to get a job in a grocery store until he was able to open his barber shop. Teresina, in spite of her duties as a mother of a growing brood of boys, took in sewing piecework to add to the family coffers. Her third child, Salvatore was born in 1895. Her fourth son and the first to be born and conceived in the New World was born January 17, 1899. His name was Alphonse. What kind of people were these two, giving birth to one

Ringo Starr Biography From Birth Through The Beatles

2005-08-15T08:34:01-04:00

A First Person Ringo Starr Biography From Birth Through The Beatles [i:6bebcd7f12]A Brief and Hopefully Accurate Summary of the Life and Times of Ringo Starr.[/i:6bebcd7f12] I, Ringo Starr, was born on July seventh, 1940. I was named after my father. I was the only child of Richard Starkey and Elsie Gleave. The two had met while working together at a local bakery. They eventually married in 1936. My family resided at 9 Madryn Street, a six-room terrace house in a poor and rough working class section of Liverpool known as the Dingle. My father had left home when I was 3 years old. In 1944, My mother and I moved to 10 Admiral Grove, a smaller, less expensive terrace house around the corner. I called 10 Admiral Grove home until I moved to London with the Beatles. Determined to support herself and me, Elsie went to work as a barmaid, often leaving me in the care of neighbors or my paternal grandparents. At the age of five, I started school at St. Silas Infants School, but my school career hit the first of many snags when, at age six, I developed appendicitis. My appendix ruptured resulting in peritonitis and a ten week coma. My mother was told on several occasions that I would not live, but eventually, to the doctor's surprise, I came round and slowly began to mend. After six months, recovery was within sight, but then disaster struck. I fell out of the hospital bed necessitating an additional six month hospital stay. When I was finally released, I found that I was very behind in his school work. I couldn't read or write, so a neighbor child, Marie Maguire, was recruited to help teach me. I never cared much for school, and the fact that I was so far behind didn't help. I would often play truant, a fact that no doubt influenced my dismal showing on the Review exam. Since I didn't pass the Review, I didn't even take the Eleven Plus exam and, as a result, wound up at Dinglevale Secondary Modern School at age eleven. In 1953, with my enthusiastic blessing, Elsie married Harry Graves. That same year I developed pleurisy. Complications resulted in another hospitalization, this one lasting two years. Despite all these hardships, I, by all accounts, remained a contented easy-going individual if somewhat quiet and thoughtful. When I emerged from the hospital at fifteen, I knew

Autobiography of Steven Spielberg

2005-08-15T08:01:21-04:00

First Person Perspective Biography of Steven Spielberg I'm Steven Spielberg and I was born in Cincinnati on December 18, 1947, but I was mainly raised in New Jersey and Arizona. When I was 12 years old I used my dads 8mm camcorder and made a movie. I continued to make films with the camcorder for five more years until I went on a trip to Universal Studios. I was 17 years old and I broke away from the main tourist group to see the sound stages. I bumped into the head of Universal's editorial department, Chuck Silvers. We talked for about an hour and he wanted to see some of my 8mm films. When I showed them to him he said they were good but he could only wish me luck. So the next day I put on a suit and borrowed my fathers suitcase and walked in the front gate of Universal Studio's like I did it every day. One reason I got away with this is because the guard thought I was the owners son. I bought some plastic name tags at a camera store and I found an empty office. Then I put my name in the building directory. Everyday that summer I hung out with directors, writers, and editors. After talking to all of these movie makers I found out that nobody really liked my movies. The next fall I asked some of the executives at Universal how I can get my films noticed. They said I should put my films on 16 or 35mm film. So I did. I made a 20 minute movie about a boy and a girl hitch-hiking from the dessert to the Pacific. The day after it was shown at Universal, Sidney Sheinberg, the head of Universal's T.V. production department, gave me a seven year contract to work on T.V. series. The first few years of the contract were fun, but after a while I didn't want to direct T.V. shows. In 1971 I got a chance to make my first real movie. It was Called Duel and it was about a salesman who was harassed by a truck driver. Even though the movie didn't make much money and wasn't popular, it was my first movie and I had a lot of fun. During the next 10 years I directed 4 of the top 10 movies ever made, including Jaws, Close Encounters

Famous Baskteballer Michael Jordan's Biography

2005-08-14T00:15:14-04:00

Michael Jordan Biography The early years. Michael Jordan was one of five children born to James and Delores Jordan. He was born February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn. The Jordans' felt that the streets of Brooklyn were unsafe to raise a young family of five children. Instead of trying to endure the streets of Brooklyn, the Jordan family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. James got a job in Wilmington as a mechanic and Delores got a job as a teller at United Carolina Bank. The Jordan's always stressed the value of manners to their children. The above examples typified Michael Jordan's early years. Michael's first love. Michael always had an eye for baseball. He played as an outfielder and as a pitcher. When he was twelve, he was the top player in his league. Michael had his picture placed in the Morning Star, which is Wilmington's newspaper. By the age of fifteen, he wasn't the star in baseball he once was. He was still very good, but he had lost some of his focus. Later, in his high school career, he dropped baseball to pursue another interest. Basketball and Michael. When Michael was younger he adopted the game of basketball. Mike used to work with his father in the garage. While working with his father, Michael picked up the habit of sticking his tongue out in an intense situation. When Michael reached the ninth grade, he tried out for basketball. Coach Lynch, Michael's coach, cut Michael which in turn may have made the best player alive today. Michael then took practicing basketball to another level. He played his brother Larry whenever he could. Michael never expected what would come in the near future. The College Years. Michael Jordan went to the University of North Carolina as a basketball recruit. Even though Jordan at 6'5' was a man with potential, he still studied very hard in an attempt to get a good education, while competing in sports. Mike wasn't expected to be a star of the Tar Heels, since they had players such as James Worthy, Sam Perkins, and Al Wood. By the end of the 1981-82 season, Jordan, as a freshman, was an everyday starter. Carolina reached the Final

Helen Adams Keller Amazing Story

2005-08-04T06:48:20-04:00

Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was a deafblind American author, activist and lecturer. Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Her disabilities were caused by a fever in February, 1882 when she was 19 months old. Her loss of ability to communicate at such an early developmental age was very traumatic for her and her family and as a result she became quite unmanageable. Keller was born at an estate called Ivy Green, on June 27, 1880. She was not born blind and deaf, but was actually a typical, healthy infant. It was not until nineteen months later that she came down with an illness that the doctors described as an acute congestion of the stomach and the brain. Keller did not have the illness for a long time, but the illness left her blind, deaf, and unable to speak. By age seven she had invented over sixty different signs that she could use to communicate with her family. In 1887, her parents, Captain Arthur H. Keller and Kate Adams Keller, finally contacted Alexander Graham Bell, who worked with deaf children. He advised them to contact the Perkins Institute for the Blind, then in South Boston, Massachusetts. They delegated the teacher Anne Sullivan, who was then only 20 years old, to try to open up Helen's mind. It was the beginning of a 49-year period of working together. Sullivan demanded and got permission from Helen's father to isolate the girl from the rest of the family in a little house in their garden. Her first task was to instill discipline in the spoiled girl. Helen's big breakthrough in communication came one day when she realized that the motions her teacher was making on her palm symbolized the idea of "water" and nearly exhausted Sullivan demanding the names of all the other familiar objects in her world (including her prized doll). Anne was able to teach Helen to think intelligibly and to speak, using the Tadoma method: touching the lips of others as they spoke, feeling the vibrations, and spelling of alphabetical characters in the palm of Helen's hand. She also learned to read English, French, German, Greek, and Latin in braille. In 1888, Helen attended Perkins Institute for the Blind. In 1894, Helen and Anne moved to New York City to attend the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf. In 1898 they returned to Massachusetts and Helen entered the The Cambridge School

Ben Franklin A Man Of Virtue

2005-08-04T06:36:52-04:00

Ben Franklin, A Man Of Virtue Besides being one of America’s greatest leaders and examples Ben Franklin was more than that, he was an idealist. The greatest and most interesting example is found in his rules to live by or 13 virtues. In this day and age, and quite possibly in that one, it is very refreshing to hear about a man who wants to live life by following a code of honor. Topics like Temperance, Frugality, Chastity, and Humility are all values that have become increasingly less visible in today’s society and Ben Franklin has given us this memoir not only as a record of his life, but as a reminder of what we should be striving for. Although

Commander Adolf Hitler

2005-08-04T06:33:39-04:00

Adolf Hitler is one of the world's most infamous dictators. His childhood strongly shaped his personality, along with many factors that determined the kind of person he became. Hitler had a difficult childhood. His father was an illegitimate child, and it is thought that Adolf's grandfather was Jewish. This possible Jewish blood made Hitler's father angry, and he took his anger out on his children, especially Adolf. As he grew older, I think Hitler thought that the death of every single Jew could hide the fearful, brutal, and embarrassing memory of his father. I think Hitler felt that it was up to him to rid himself and Germany of Jewish blood. Another event that happened in his life was that his mother died when he was a teenager, and that probably gave him a feeling of grief, loss, and maybe even anger in his life. Adolf had two dreams as a young boy. He had first wanted to become a Catholic priest, but when he discovered art, he found his new dream. Hitler was not a good student, and he disliked all of his teachers but one. His history teacher was a strong German nationalist and a follower of the Pan German movement. This meant that he believed in the superiority of the light skinned European race and scorned races who, in the Pan German's eyes, were inferior, mainly Jews. This teacher could also have had an effect on Hitler. After dropping out of school at age 16, Hitler pursued his dream of becoming an artist. He went to Vienna and applied to a prestigious art school. When he got turned down, he stayed in Vienna for about 5 years, living in poverty. I think that Hitler's stay in Vienna had a huge effect, because it was there that he learned about things like anti-Semitism. The city had many different ethnic groups, and racism was common. There were many Jewish immigrants, and it had the largest Jewish population of any city in Europe. The Jews were hated because they had their own custom, dress, and religion, which made them stand out to others in Germany. Newstands in Vienna had many anti-Semitism pamphlets, and Adolf probably developed his hatred for Jews here. The pamphlets also could have given him an outlet for his anger and disappointment. Hitler at first tried to dodge the

Maria Eva aka Evita - Molding Argentine

2005-08-04T06:31:32-04:00

Born as Maria Eva Duarte de Peron, but known better as "Evita," Eva Peron aided in shaping Argentine politics as it is in the present day. Fifty years subsequent to her death, her impact is still felt. Eva was born in 1919, and was the youngest of five children. Her destitute family was devastated when Juan Duarte, Eva's father, passed away in 1926. Eva's mother moved Eva and her siblings to Junin and settled in a tiny, one-room home. All of Eva's family had to work as cooks for a rich family in order to support themselves. It has been said that Eva in no way understood the wealthy because of her experience as a servant. At the age of 14, Eva had a small part in a play called "Student's Arise." At this point, she knew she wanted to be an actress. She eventually ran off to Buenos Aires when she was 15. It was almost impossible for her to find acting jobs because of her age; therefore, she was exceptionally poor, and frequently went without food. Luckily, a prosperous manufacturer fell in love with her, and she then acquired her own radio show. Evita began to make numerous friends in high places. Several of the causes she spoke about on her radio show allowed a lot of individuals to see her opinion. Two of the important people who joined her causes were the Argentinean president and Colonel Imbert, the Minister of Communications, who controlled the radio stations in Argentina. At a fundraising event, Eva met Colonel Juan Domingo Peron, the man behind the new government. She ended up departing from the occasion with him by her side. Peron and Eva became married, even though Eva was half his age. Person eventually became the Minister of Labor and Welfare, and was persuaded by Eva that the power ought to be possessed by the workers of the nation. Peron instituted minimum wages, better living conditions, salary increases and protection from employers for the laborers. Eva was very supportive and active in her husband's political career, and therefore the workers were very grateful for the Perons. In fact, they were so grateful, over 200,000 people marched to the capital and demanded that Peron be their new president. Evita instituted the Social Aid Foundation, which helped build hundreds of hospitals and schools, along with supplying money to the unfortunate. She ultimately traveled to Europe

British Scientist, Charles Robert Darwin

2005-08-02T06:30:50-04:00

Charles Robert Darwin was born in 1809 and lived until 1882. He was a British scientist, who laid the foundation of modern evolutionary theory. He belived that all life was developed through natural selection. His work influenced modern sciences. Darwin was born born in England, on February 12, 1809, he was born into a rich family with five kids. After graduating from college at Shrewsbury in 1825. Darwin went to the University of Edinburgh to study medicine. In 1827 he dropped out of medical school and entered the University of Cambridge, in preparation for becoming a clergyman of the Church of England. After graduating from Cambridge in 1831. At theage of 22 Darwin was taken aboard the English survey ship HMS Beagle, he was going on a

President Stephen Grover Cleveland

2005-08-02T06:29:14-04:00

On March 18, 1837 in the small town of Caldwell, New Jersey, Stephen Grover Cleveland was born the fifth of a soon to be family of nine. His father was a minister, and raised Grover (he preferred Grover to Stephen) on Bible verses, and fine literature such as Shakespeare. During his childhood he moved around quite a bit. First they moved to the town of Fayetteville, and then to Clinton, New York. There he was enrolled in a school called the Clinton Liberal Institute. However his schooling did not last very long. At the age of 14 he dropped out of school and got a job as a clerk at a general store in Fayetteville. Grover regretted this decision and decided that he wanted to go to college and become a lawyer. However because of financial troubles he was able to achieve this goal until later in his life. He had several jobs until he landed the one that would change the rest of his life. Grover became the clerk at a local law firm called Rodgers, Bowen, and Rodgers. Here he learned the “in’s and out’s” of the legal system. He was eventually admitted to the New York bar. At this point in his life he became extremely interested in politics, especially Democratic politics. In 1870 he decided to run for Sheriff of the city of Buffalo, and he won the election. While sheriff, he found that the political leaders were cheating the prisoners out of their food. Enraged by this Grover immediately put an end to it. This was foreshadowing to how he would react to scandal and injustices during his presidency. When Cleveland was elected President he was well aware of the responsibility he held as being the first Democratic president sense the Civil war. As president he worked hard on reforming the federal government. He first hired better government officials, and put an end to the political scandal that had corrupted the government. He also was extremely wise with money. He made sure that the Navy got the best ships possible for the least amount of money. He also demanded and forced the railroads to return 81 million acres of government land that they had taken illegally. Often times he sat at his desk late into the night studying every bill Congress passed. He ended up vetoing more then 300 of them. This earned him the name

Charles Darwin Biography

2005-08-01T07:48:20-04:00

The Life of Charles Darwin Charles Darwin was born on Feb. 12. His full name is Charles Robert Darwin. He died on April 19,1882.Darwin was an English naturalist known for his theory of evolution and for its operation, known as Darwinism. His evolutionary theories, mostly in two works: On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859) and The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871)-have had an important influence on scientific thought. Charles was the son of Robert Darwin, who had one of the largest medical practices outside of London, and the grandson of the physician Erasmus Darwin, and of the artisan-entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood. Darwin enjoyed a secure position in the upper middle class that provided him with social and professional advantages. Darwin's mother died when he was eight years old. He enjoyed a fairly good childhood with his sisters and an older brother. During school he was interested in specimen collecting and chemical investigations. Though while at the Shrewsbury school, where he was an uninspired student, Dr. Samuel Butler, publicly criticized Darwin for wasting his time with chemical experiments. At age 16 he was sent to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where he was disgusted by surgery performed without anesthetics. During his two years in Scotland, Darwin benefited from a friendship with the zoologist Robert Grant, who introduced him to the study of marine animals.<Tab/> Disappointed by Darwin's lack of interest for medicine, his father sent him to the University of Cambridge in 1827 to study divinity. At the time Darwin remained true to the standard beliefs of the Church of England. He enjoyed hunting, shooting, riding, and sporting friends. Guided by his older cousin William Darwin Fox, Darwin met the circle of Cambridge scientists led by the botanist John Stevens Henslow. Soon a regular at Henslow's open houses, Henslow encouraged Darwin's interest in science and confidence in his own abilities. On leaving Cambridge in the spring of 1831 Darwin, at Henslow's recommendation he accompanied Adam Sedgwick, professor of geology at Cambridge, on a three-week tour of North Wales to learn geologic fieldwork. In August 1831, at Henslow's recommendation to the Admiralty, Darwin was invited to sail as the naturalist on HMS Beagle. The ship was to survey the east and west coasts of South America and continue to the Pacific. At first Darwin's father refused permission because it was dangerous and would not advance

Dirk Nowitzki Biography, Immigration Success Essay

2005-08-01T07:47:17-04:00

Dirk Nowitzki Biography, Famous Immigrant Essay For my immigrant project, I interviewed Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk Nowitzki is the 25 year-old superstar forward/center of the Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association. In order to paint a picture of Dirk in your mind, imagine a man 12 inches taller than the average man with long blonde hair. Dirk stands at just over 7'0 tall, and 240 pounds. Some say he is the next Michael Jordan, just a half-foot taller. Dirk Nowitzki was born in Wurzburg, Bavaria, Germany, on June 19, 1978. Growing up with athletic parents, it was not hard for Dirk to excel in sports, particularly handball, basketball, and tennis. His mother, Helga, was a very talented basketball player herself. When basketball, rather than handball, proved Dirk's true passion, there was a momentary disappointment on the part of the elder Nowitzki, but it soon faded. While in his early teens, Dirk suffered a fever during which he experienced a notable "growth spurt." He wondered about how tall he may be, so his parents took him to a doctor. The doctor informed them that Dirk would surpass approximately 6'7 by his 16th birthday. This almost certainly confirmed his fate as a basketball player. During 1993, around his 15th birthday, Dirk met his mentor, former national player Holger Geschwindner, whose unconventional, think outside-the-box approach to training enhanced Dirk's talent but expanded it, utilizing such other areas of learning as music, fencing, and ballet to improve his skills. Nowitzki was now a complete, well-rounded basketball player that many teams would kill to have. Dirk graduated from the Rontgen-Gymnasium school, and then spent a mandatory year in the German Army, where he would later say he learned what it was he wanted in life. In 1998, he played in the Nike Hoop Summit, where the multi-talented player impressed NBA scouts. Dirk Nowitzki now considered the prospect of immigrating to America, to pursue his passion for basketball. He was placed in the 1998 NBA draft, so he immigrated to the United States in 1998. Dirk was drafted in first round, pick number 9 of the draft to the Milwaukee Bucks, but he was quickly traded to the Dallas Mavericks. General Manager Don Nelson predicted Dirk would be Rookie of the Year. It was not to be that simple for the young immigrant. First, the season had been postponed by a labor dispute, which delayed the beginning of the season

General Chuck Yeager

2005-08-01T06:47:53-04:00

General Chuck Yeager U.S. Air Force pilot Charles ("Chuck") E. Yeager was born on February 13, 1923, in Myra, West Virginia. Yeager was the first person to fly a plane faster than the speed of sound. His father was a driller for natural gas in the West Virginia coal fields. As the United States began mobilizing for World War II, Yeager enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1941 at the age of 18. In 1943 he became a flight officer, a non-commissioned officer who could pilot aircraft. He went to England where he flew fighter planes over France and Germany during the last two years of the war. In his first eight missions, at the age of 20, Yeager shot down two German fighters. On his ninth mission he was shot down over German-occupied France, suffering flak wounds. He bailed out of the plane and was rescued by members of the French resistance who smuggled him across the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain. In Spain he was jailed briefly but made his way back to England where he flew fighter planes in support of the Allied invasion of Normandy. On October 12, 1944, Yeager took on and shot down five German fighter planes in succession. On November 6, flying a propeller-driven P-51 Mustang, he shot down one of the new jet fighters the Germans had developed, the Messerschmidt-262, and damaged two more. On November 20 he shot down four FW-190s. By the end of the war, at which time he was 22 years old, he was credited with having shot down 13.5 German planes (one was also claimed by another pilot). In 1946 and 1947 Yeager was trained as a test pilot at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. He showed great talent for stunt-team flying and was chosen to go to Muroc Field in California, later to become Edwards Air Force Base, to work on the top-secret XS-1 project. At the end of the war, the U.S. Army had found that the Germans had not only developed the world's first jet fighter but also a rocket plane that had tested at speeds as fast as 596 miles an hour. Just after the war, a British jet, the Gloster Meteor, had raised the official world speed record to 606 miles per hour. The next record to be broken was to attain the speed of sound, Mach 1, which was what the XS-1

Disecting the Life of Frederick Baily AKA Frederick Douglass

2005-08-01T06:19:27-04:00

Born Frederick Baily, Frederick Douglass was a slave, his birthday is not pin pointed but known to be in February of 1818. He was born on Holmes Hill Farm, near the town of Easton, Maryland. Harriet Baily was Frederick's mother. She worked the cornfields surrounding Holmes Hill. As a boy, he knew little of his father except that the man was white. As a child, he had heard rumors that the master, Aaron Anthony was his father. Frederick's mother was required to work long hours in the fields, so he lived with his grandmother, Betsey Baily. Betsy Baily lived in a cabin a short distance from Holmes Hill Farm. Her job was to look after Harriet's children until they were old enough to work. "Frederick's mother visited him when she could, but he had only a hazy memory of her." He did not think he was a slave during the years with his grandmother. When Frederick was six he was put to work on the Lloyd Plantation. This was the last he saw of his grandmother as he realized that he was now a slave. He learned that the master, Aaron Anthony, would beat his slaves if they did not obey order. Luckily for Frederick he was picked to be Daniel Lloyd's friend, the youngest son of the plantation's owner. Frederick also found a friend in Lucretia Auld, the master's daughter. One day in 1826 Lucretia told Frederick that he was being sent to live with her brother-in-law, Hugh Auld, who managed a ship building company in Baltimore. When Frederick got to the Auld home his only duties were to run errands and care for the Auld's infant son, Tommy. Frederick liked the work and grew to love the child. Sophia Auld was the master's wife, she often read the bible to her son and Frederick. She started to teach Frederick to read and write but soon after the master learned of this and forbid it. Frederick only learned the abhalbit and some words. So he learned the rest by himself. Soon Frederick bought a local paper and learned about abolitionist. This changed his views on many things but was soon sent back to work on a plantation, this time to Thomas Auld's new farm near the town of Saint Michaels. Frederick was sad to leave Baltimore because he had recently become a teacher to a group of other young blacks. Frederick

Frederick Douglass Reformer, Author, Speaker

2005-07-29T06:49:23-04:00

Frederick Douglass - Reformer, Author, Speaker Frederick Douglass was the leading spokesman of African-Americans in the 1800s. He became a well-known reformer, author, and speaker. Frederick Douglass spoke about the situation that African Americans had to deal with everyday. His powerful speeches influenced many people, including President Abraham Lincoln. Frederick Augustus Washington Baily was believed to be born in 1818 in Tuckahoe, Maryland. He was born as a slave. When Frederick was eight, he was sent to one of his master’s relatives to work. He now lived in Baltimore, Maryland. Frederick educated himself there with the help of his new master’s wife. In 1838 Frederick ran away from his master and went to Bedford, Massachusetts. Frederick did not want to be captured so he changed his name to Frederick Douglass. In Bedford, Frederick worked as a caulker. The other caulkers refused to work with him because he was black. Frederick then had many other unskilled jobs, such as: cleaning up garbage and making cellars. In 1841, Frederick spoke at a meeting of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society. He told them what freedom meant to him. The society liked his speech so much that they hired Frederick to talk about his life as a slave. In the 1840’s, Frederick fought against whites and blacks being in separate train cars. He also fought against religious discrimination. Frederick walked out of a church that would not let blacks join the service until the whites were finished. In 1845, Frederick wrote an autobiography called Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. After he wrote his book, he went to England. He was afraid that people would find out who he really was and that he was a runaway slave. In England, he continued to talk against slavery. Frederick found friends that would buy his freedom from slavery. In 1847, Frederick came back to America and started an anti-slavery newspaper in Rochester, New York. This newspaper was called the North Star. In the 1850’s, Frederick fought against hiring white immigrants instead of Black Americans. He also fought against separating whites and blacks in Rochester schools. Frederick helped runaway slaves become free. His house was a station on the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves. Frederick helped get Black

Henry Philippe Petain’s Life

2005-07-27T05:30:27-04:00

Henry Philippe Petain’s Life Henry Philippe Petain was born into a family of peasants in Cauchy-a-la-Tour on April 24, 1856. Petain played an important role in World War II and he is recognized for his achievements. He was known for being the head of the Vichy government by using military tactics. His whole life revolved around the military, trying to make it stronger. At the age of twenty, Petain joined the French Army. He attended a military academy, St. Cyr, and graduated at the age of 31. He later became a teacher at the Ecole de Guerre Military School. There, he studied the Russo-Japanese War and thought of some military tactics that he would later use. He believed that a powerful defense would consist of an increased number of shots made with modern weapons would cause the enemy to retreat. Many believed the opposite of his ideas, including Ferdinand Foch (Spartacus). At the beginning of World War I, Peatain was near retirement but still fought in the war but only was a colonel of infantry. During the first couple of months, he began to advance very rapidly in rank. By the middle of 1915, he became a general of the Second Army. All of his soldiers trusted him because he seldom made mistakes. In February of 1916, Joseph Joffre ordered him to defend the fortress of Verdun. He stopped Germany’s attack that lasted six months. Petain directed the French armies in the offensives that later ended the war (Sacklunch). Many with higher power trusted his ideas of not waging an offensive war and started the construction of the Maginot Line during World War II. In May of 1940, Premier Paul Reynaud invited Petain to join the cabinet. Everyone wanted to hear what he had to say about the situation where the French Military had collapsed. He told the cabinet that it would be useless to resist and told them to sign an armistice. On June o16, 1940, the armistice was signed. The French Government then moved to Vichy France, and area that was unoccupied. On July 10, 1940 Petain was voted power to construct a constitution. He then declared himself the head of the Vichy government, and the head of the state. Petain was playing a game with Germany, because

Biography Of Frank Norman

2005-07-27T05:07:57-04:00

Biography Of Frank Norman On the 18th September 1923, Frank Norman was born a son to Clarence and Louie Norman. At that time, Adolf Hitler’s “Beer Hall Putch” in Munich fails, sending him to prison, a German Shepard becomes the first canine film star, an earthquake destroys 2 thirds of Tokyo and a whooping cough vaccine had been developed. Clarence Norman owned a sweet shop, giving Frank an almost perfect start to life. How can you go wrong with an assortment of thousands of different sweets downstairs! You can imagine the stories that brought up. There were the ones about throwing up after eating too many sweets, of course, and the ones about him and his friends sneaking down after dark to eat. When his dad got a new job at the water board, he was in tears. It took him a good week to get over losing the novelty of living over a sweet shop. However, he carried on with life, and joined the boy’s brigade. He had the idea from “the day he was born” to be able to fight in the army, and this was the closest he could get at the age of 10. In 1935, he had something, or someone else to worry about. His parents had a little girl, called Vera. She was the pride and joy of his family, but, less than a year later, she died very suddenly. This was down to heart failure, or a heart murmur, he was never told properly, because he was “too young to understand”. He didn’t really remember her very well, and learnt to forget, because it was such a tragedy. He got a place at a highly commended grammar school, Hampton grammar school. At this school he was able to get the qualifications he needed to earn the money he needed. After he left school, he started to work at York House, in an accounts department. This was where he was to meet the love of his life, Elona Heavey. This relationship was suddenly cut off however, after the outbreak of war. He deserted her for the army. He even lied about his age, getting in a year early, at the age of 17. Chosen for officer, sent off to an officer training camp and that was where Frank was prepared for WW2. However, Frank blew his chances of going straight to war, for the most stupid reason. During

Francis Bacon

2005-07-27T04:39:55-04:00

Francis Bacon was the son of Nicolas Bacon, the Lord Keeper of the Seal of Elisabeth I. He entered Trinity College Cambridge at age 12. Bacon later described his tutors as "Men of sharp wits, shut up in their cells of a few authors, chiefly Aristotle, their Dictator." This is likely the beginning of Bacon's rejection of Aristotelianism and Scholasticism and the new Renaissance Humanism. His father died when he was 18, and being the youngest son this left him virtually penniless. He turned to the law and at 23 he was already in the House of Commons. His rich relatives did little to advance his career and Elisabeth apparently distrusted him. It was not until James I became King that Bacon's career advanced. He rose to become Baron Verulam, Viscount St. Albans and Lord Chancellor of England. His fall came about in the course of a struggle between King and Parliament. He was accused of having taken a bribe while a judge, tried and found guilty. He thus lost his personal honour, his fortune and his place at court. Loren Eiseley in his beautifully written book about Bacon The Man Who Saw Through Time remarks that Bacon: "...more fully than any man of his time, entertained the idea of the universe as a problem to be solved, examined, meditated upon, rather than as an eternally fixed stage, upon which man walked." This is the title page from Bacon's Instauratio Magna which contains his Novum Organum which is a new method to replace that of Aristotle. The image is of a ship passing through the pillars of Hercules, which symbolized for the ancients the limits of man's possible explorations. The image represents the analogy between the great voyages of discovery and the explorations leading to the advancement of learning. In The Advancement of Learning Bacon makes this analogy explicit. Speaking to James I, to whom the book is dedicated, he writes: "For why should a few received authors stand up like Hercules columns, beyond which there should be no sailing or discovering, since we have so bright and benign a star as your Majesty to conduct and prosper us." The image also forcefully suggests that using Bacon's new method, the boundaries of ancient learning will be passed. The Latin phrase at the bottom from the Book of Daniel means: "Many will pass through and knowledge will be increased." Bacon saw himself as the inventor

Andrew Jackson Bio

2005-07-26T05:58:04-04:00

More nearly than any of his predecessors, Andrew Jackson was elected by popular vote; as President he sought to act as the direct representative of the common man. Born in a backwoods settlement in the Carolinas in 1767, he received sporadic education. But in his late teens he read law for about two years, and he became an outstanding young lawyer in Tennessee. Fiercely jealous of his honor, he engaged in brawls, and in a duel killed a man who cast an unjustified slur on his wife Rachel. Jackson prospered sufficiently to buy slaves and to build a mansion, the Hermitage, near Nashville. He was the first man elected from Tennessee to the House of Representatives, and he served briefly in the Senate. A major general in the War of 1812, Jackson became a national hero when he defeated the British at New Orleans. In 1824 some state political factions rallied around Jackson; by 1828 enough had joined "Old Hickory" to win numerous state elections and control of the Federal administration in Washington. In his first Annual Message to Congress, Jackson recommended eliminating the Electoral College. He also tried to democratize Federal officeholding. Already state machines were being built on patronage, and a New York Senator openly proclaimed "that to the victors belong the spoils. . . . " Jackson took a milder view. Decrying officeholders who seemed to enjoy life tenure, he believed Government duties could be "so plain and simple" that offices should rotate among deserving applicants. As national politics polarized around Jackson and his opposition, two parties grew out of the old Republican Party--the Democratic Republicans, or Democrats, adhering to Jackson; and the National Republicans, or Whigs, opposing him. Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and other Whig leaders proclaimed themselves defenders of popular liberties against the usurpation of Jackson. Hostile cartoonists portrayed him as King Andrew I. Behind their accusations lay the fact that Jackson, unlike previous Presidents, did not defer to Congress in policy-making but used his power of the veto and his party leadership to assume command. The greatest party battle centered around the Second Bank of the United States, a private corporation but virtually a Government-sponsored monopoly. When Jackson appeared hostile toward it, the Bank threw its power against him. Clay and Webster, who had acted as attorneys for the Bank, led the fight for its recharter in Congress. "The bank," Jackson told Martin Van

B.B. King, Famous Blues Singer and Guitarist

2005-07-26T05:10:47-04:00

B.B. King, Famous Blues Singer and Guitarist King was a blues singer and guitarist. His full name is Riley B. King. He was born September 16, 1925, near Indianola, Mississippi. An important aspect in King's life was, of course, when he was first exposed to the blues. 'I guess the earliest sound of the blues that I can rremember was in the fields while people would be pickin' cotton or choppin' or somethin,' " he told Living Blues . " When I sing and play now I can hear those same sounds that I used to hear then as a kid." B.B. King's first musical influence came through religion. He was a member of the Church of God In Christ. He was forbidden to play blues at home. He sang in spiritual groups like the Elkhorn Singers and the Saint John's Gospel Singers. A relative who was a guitarist and a preacher showed King his first chords on the instrument. As a teenager he began playing streetcorners for coins, combining gospel songs with the blues. When he started making more money playing in one night then he would in a week on the farm, he decided to head to Memphis. After a few years, King went back to Indianola to work and repay some debts, eventually returning to Memphis to stay. King's trademark is the trilling vibrato he developed in an attempt to duplicate the stinging sound of the steel slide. With the help of the late Sonny Boy William- son he began singing radio commercials and became a disc jockey. Later he played in small clubs, and then in larger venues in the mid-1960's. He has toured extensively through- out the United States and around the world, appearing in concerts, at blues festivals, on television, and in films. How did Riley B. King receive the nickname B.B. King? Well, he was known as " the blues boy from Beale Street," later shortened to B.B. "Riley B. King is the world's preeminent blues guitarist. There is hardly a rock, pop, or blues player anywhere who doesn't owe him something." Frank Sinatra and Nat Cole are two who use the "B.B. King style of blues." Finally, I leave you with a quote. In a Rolling Stone interview King stated; " I was always afraid to say that I was a blues singer. Because it looked like people kind of looked down on

A Blast from the Past: Albert Einstein

2005-07-25T06:46:06-04:00

A Blast from the Past: Albert Einstein Of all the scientists to emerge from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries there is one whose name is known by almost all living people. While most of these do not understand this mans work, everyone knows that his impact on the world is astonishing. Yes, many people have heard of Albert Einsteins General Theory of Relativity, but few people know about the intriguing life that led this scientist to discover what some have called The Greatest Single achievement of human thought! JB: So here with us today is Alert Einstein, So Albert... do you mind me asking you to tell us a little about your childhood? Einstein: No not at all, lets see here... I was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14th of 1874. I was raised mostly in Munich, Germany. One very odd thing that my mother told me was that I didn't speak until I was three years old. My father owned a small electrochemical shop, once it failed in 1890 then my dad moved us to Million, Italy. JB: I understand that in you’re attempt to attend Princeton you failed the entrance exam, then once you studied you attended anther school instead. what was that all about? Can you tell us? Einstein: Um. O.K. Yes, as a matter of fact I did fail the Mathematical Portion of the exam. I found anther college near by, I attempted to attend I was accepted. This new place was named the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. This new college was located in Zurich, Italy. In 1896 I started my freshman year of college. Even though I commonly missed classes due to me testing theories, and such. I passed all my examinations with the reviewing of my friends' notes; thus I graduated in 1900 JB: According to my sources you became a naturalized Swiss citizen in 1901. Can you tell us why you became a Naturalized Swiss Citizen? Einstein: The main reason for me becoming a naturalized citizen, was because in order for me to be accepted in society, and to vote also. JB: Once you graduated from college, what did you do for money, and a place to stay? Einstein: Well after my graduation a friend of mine told me that there was an opening for a Technician Assistant. I seized the opportunity; there I made a decent living. Saving my money as I went had enough money to pay the

Langston Hughes Writer, Editor, Lecturer

2005-07-18T06:12:40-04:00

Langston Hughes - Writer, Editor, Lecturer James Mercer Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, on February 1, 1902, to James Nathaniel Hughes, a lawyer and businessman, and Carrie Mercer (Langston) Hughes, a teacher. The couple separated shortly thereafter. James Hughes was, by his son's account, a cold man who hated blacks (and hated himself for being one), feeling that most of them deserved their ill fortune because of what he considered their ignorance and laziness. Langston's youthful visits to him there, although sometimes for extended periods, were strained and painful. He attended Columbia University in 1921-22, and when he died he, left everything to three elderly women who had cared for him in his last illness, and Langston was not even mentioned in his will. Hughes mother went through protracted separations and reconciliations in her second marriage (she and her son from this marriage would live with him off and on in later years. He was raised by alternately by her, by his maternal grandmother, and, after his grandmother's death, by family friends. By the time he was fourteen, he had lived in Joplin; Buffalo; Cleveland; Lawrence, Kansas; Mexico City; Topeka, Kansas; Colorado Springs; Kansas City; and Lincoln, Illinois. In 1915, he was class poet of his grammar-school graduating class in Lincoln. From 1916 to 1920, he attended Central High School in Cleveland, where he was a star athlete, wrote poetry and short stories (and published many of them in the Central High Monthly), and on his own read such modern poets as Paul Laurence Dunbar, Edgar Lee Masters, Vachel Lindsay, and Carl Sandburg. His classmates were for the most part the children of European immigrants, who treated him largely without discrimination and introduced him to leftist political ideas. After graduation in 1920, he went to Mexico to teach English for a year. While on the train to Mexico, he wrote the poem "the Negro Speaks of Rivers", which was published in the June 1921 issue of The Crisis, a leading black publication. After his academic year at Columbia, he lived for a year in Harlem, embarked on a six-month voyage as a cabin boy on a merchant freighter bound for West Africa. After its return, he took a job on a ship sailing to Holland. After being robbed on a train in Italy and working his passage back to New York in November of 1924, Hughes moved in with his mother

The extraordinary life of Frederick Douglass

2005-07-18T06:08:36-04:00

The extraordinary life of Frederick Douglass According to Plato the Soul is apart from the body. The soul cannot endure the pains of the body. As a slave endures physical harm their soul must not be affected. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass, once a slave is born or brought into slavery, they will stay a slave until death part them. As a slave one does not possess much since one has surrendered and devoted himself to pleasing their masters. That is why a slave must sustain their hardship and never render their soul or spirit. At a young age Frederick Douglass, lost his mother. The woman who had brought him to life was still a stranger to him even at her death. When he was a slave he wasn't capable of recalling any dates, like all slaves they were kept uneducated and ignorant. In his narrative, Douglass described the cruelty that slave owners have imposed upon their own slaves as well as others. Douglass describes the monthly allowance of food, which consisted of " eight pounds of pork or its equivalent in fish, and a bushel of corn meal" (17). The slaves were given their clothing yearly and the children were barely clothe due to their lack of work in the field. The slaves owned nothing but their spirit; they were deprived of any happiness or abundance of food. Many of the slaves passed their days singing, in order to render their heart from pain. "Every testimony [in their singing] was a testimony against slavery and a prayer to God for deliverance from their chains" (19). Working in the fields was the hardest job a slave would endure apart from their punishments. Douglass didn't experience that wickedness of slavery right away. Rather, Douglass' first job was with the Auld's, a family that treated him like a human. It was at this instant that Douglass' life would change for the better as well as the worse. At the Auld's he learned to alphabet, which persuaded him to continue his education although deprived from it. In learning the alphabet his mistress "had given me the inch, and no precautions would prevent him from taking it ell" (31). He realized education and knowledge was to his advantage, he was capable of reading newspapers and had "resolved to run away" (34). Douglass had been one of the

A Powerful Figure - Mahatma Gandhi

2005-07-11T06:26:04-04:00

A Powerful Figure - Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in the town of Porbander in the state of what is now Gujarat on 2 October 1869. He had his schooling in nearby Rajkot, where his father served as the adviser or prime minister to the local ruler. Though India was then under British rule, over 500 kingdoms, principalities, and states were allowed autonomy in domestic and internal affairs: these were the so-called 'native states'. Rajkot was one such state. His father died before Gandhi could finish his schooling, and at thirteen he was married to Kasturba who was even younger. In 1888 Gandhi set sail for England, where he had decided to pursue a degree in law. Though his elders objected, Gandhi could not be prevented from leaving; and it is said that his mother, a devout woman, made him promise that he would keep away from wine, women, and meat during his stay abroad. Gandhi left behind his son Harilal, then a few months old. In London, Gandhi encountered theosophists, vegetarians, and others who were disenchanted not only with industrialism, but with the legacy of Enlightenment thought. They themselves represented the fringe elements of English society. Gandhi was powerfully attracted to them, as he was to the texts of the major religious traditions; and ironically it is in London that he was introduced to the Bhagavad Gita. Here, too, Gandhi showed determination and single-minded pursuit of his purpose, and accomplished his objective of finishing his degree from the Inner Temple. He was called to the bar in 1891, and even enrolled in the High Court of London; but later that year he left for India. After one year of a none too successful law practice, Gandhi decided to accept an offer from an Indian businessman in South Africa, Dada Abdulla, to join him as a legal adviser. Unbeknown to him, this was to become an exceedingly lengthy stay, and altogether Gandhi was to stay in South Africa for over twenty years. The Indians who had been living in South Africa were without political rights, and were generally known by the derogatory name of 'coolies'. Gandhi himself came to an awareness of the frightening force and fury of European racism, and how far Indians were from being considered full human beings, when he when thrown out of a first-class railway compartment car, though he held a first-class ticket, at Pietermaritzburg. From this

William Wordsworth Biography

2005-07-10T00:58:05-04:00

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth in Cumberland, England, on April 7, 1770; William was the second of five children in a middle-class family. His father, John Wordsworth was a lawyer for the powerful Sir James Lowther. When William was eight years old his mother died and his family was split up, William went with his older brother Richard to Hawkshead Grammar School. At this point in William's life after his mother death his father was not a big part of his life. As a young boy with freedom he roamed the Lake District, and attend the Hawkshead School and got a great education. William's father died in 1783, leaving the five kids with no parents and no money. William went off to St. John's College, Cambridge. He did not graduate with honors. In 1789 the French Revolution erupted William impregnated a woman by the name of Annette Vallon instead of joining the war he scurried back to the Lake District to secure an income and return to her, but he never did. In 1793 his first published work appeared: Descriptive Sketches and An Evening Walk. At this point in William's life he needed to find a way to get a steady income because his family was not going to help him. Living in the Lake District, Wordsworth had acquaintance that also lived in the Lake District, a man named Raisley Calvert who was very well off. William had been a good friend to Calvert, so when Calvert who was very sick died he left Wordsworth a bit of money to help William on his way. William went back to London with a little money in his hand. Wordsworth became a disciple of the philosopher William Godwin. He lived a very idealistic, bohemian life, encountering and engaging with many of the most brilliant minds of the moment. While staying in London he met with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William got a chance to live in a small country cottage with his beloved sister, Dorothy, which is what she has always wanted to do. Then William and his sister moved to Racedown Lodge in Dorset, and a correspondence between Coleridge and William began. Dorothy became his muse, editor, and secretary. William, Coleridge and Dorothy became very close and inseparable working together, traveling and writing. After a tour of Germany the three moved to the Lake District, into a cottage in

Deion Sanders Biography

2005-07-08T16:02:44-04:00

"I never wanted to be mediocre at anything. I wanted to be the absolute best," says Deion Sanders Deion Sanders is the only player to have appeared in a Super Bowl and World Series. For his first five seasons in the NFL, Deion Sanders played for the Atlanta Falcons, who dressed in black and white.Starting with the Falcons, Sanders has been selected for the Pro Bowl eight times. Those colors fit him well. With Sanders, there are no shades of gray. Strutting into the end zone on a long return, he inspired just as many cheers on Sunday as he did critics on Monday. "Some people will come out to see me do well," he said. "Some people will come out to see me get run over. But love me or hate me, they're going to come out." Sanders is the only man to have played in a Super Bowl and a World Series. While nowhere near as proficient in baseball as he was in football, Sanders was an outstanding base stealer who was a mediocre hitter. Back to the NFL: In 1996 with the Dallas Cowboys he became the first regular starter on offense and defense in 34 years. But make no mistake, with eight Pro Bowl selections as a cornerback, defense is where Sanders earns his big bucks. After intercepting 30 passes in his first six seasons, quarterbacks stopped throwing his way. Sanders, who earned back-to-back Super Bowl rings with the San Francisco 49ers and Cowboys, is a big-play guy. He holds the NFL record for career returns for touchdowns with 19 (nine on interceptions, six on punts, three on kickoffs and one on a fumble). He also has three touchdown receptions. Off the field, his value comes in being "Prime Time." A prominent pitchman for Nike and Visa, he cashes in on a flamboyant, jewelry-laden persona that is not limited to the playing field. As a Florida State senior, Sanders arrived for the climactic home game against Florida in a white limousine. He emerged wearing a tuxedo. "How do you think defensive backs get attention?" Sanders said. "They don't pay nobody to be humble." He was born Aug. 9, 1967, in Fort Myers, Fla. By the time he was eight, he was playing organized baseball and football. At North Fort Myers High School, Sanders played cornerback and quarterback. He was all-state in football, baseball and basketball. After scoring 30 points in a basketball game, a friend

The Life of Charles Barkley

2005-07-08T15:44:08-04:00

"My idol a lot of times is Charles Barkley. I wish I could say what he says," says Wayne Gretzky The approval meter always had two ends and no center, just the way Charles Barkley liked it. You either enjoyed Barkley's rough and tumble basketball style and his shoot-from-the-hip mouth, or you hated it. The wide-bodied forward left no room for middle ground. Charles Barkley, chosen fifth in the 1984 draft by the 76ers, was named to the NBA all-rookie team. His coaches, for the most part, loved him. They marveled at his deft touch, his extraordinary rebounding skills -- he averaged 10 or more rebounds a game in 15 of his 16 NBA seasons -- and his clutch play. They learned to live with his outbursts that often led to technical fouls and fines. "With Charles, you've just got to accept the whole package," said his Philadelphia 76ers coach, Jimmy Lynam. "He's an emotional player, and that emotion is what makes him great." Barkley, whose all-star career ended in 2000, rarely saw moderation as part of his game, or his life. He blew kisses to opposing fans while at Auburn and grinned when they'd poke fun at his eating habits by delivering pizzas to the court. "I really don't eat that much," said the 6-foot-4½ Round Mound of Rebound, whose playing weight fluctuated between 250 and 280 pounds in college. "I just, more or less, tend to eat all the time." In the NBA, Sir Charles frolicked with team mascots during timeouts, berated referees and chatted up cheerleaders. He talked almost non-stop. "That makes the game easier for me," he said, "because I'm always relaxed." Barkley's impulsive manner created waves, though the media and many fans liked his frankness and humor. In 1991, he suggested that the 76ers would retain Dave Hoppen because the club didn't want an all-black team, igniting a racial firestorm in Philadelphia. That same year, in his aptly named autobiography, "Outrageous," he cited the shortcomings of some league players, including teammates. He once joked after a tough game that he felt like going home and beating his wife, and pickets from women's groups soon appeared outside the Spectrum. "I don't think of myself as giving interviews," said the 1993 NBA Most Valuable Player. "I just have conversations. That gets me in trouble." He said frequently that he had no regrets for anything he said or did, except for a 1991 night in New Jersey when

BIOGRAPHY on Michael Jackson

2005-07-08T15:30:39-04:00

BIOGRAPHY on Michael Jackson The Bio History of Michael Joseph Jackson began when he was born on the 29th of August 1958 in Gary, Indiana. He was the 7th of nine children. (brothers: Sigmund "Jackie", Toriano "Tito", Jermaine, Marlon, Steven "Randy", and sisters Rebbie, Janet and La-Toya Jackson Michael began his musical career at the age of 5 as the lead singer of the Jackson 5 who formed in 1964. In these early years the Jackson 5, Jackie, Jermaine,Tito,Marlon and lead singer Michael played local clubs and bars in Gary Indiana and moving further afield as there talents grew and they could compete in bigger competitions. From these early days Michael would be at the same clubs as big talented stars of there days, such as Jackie Wilson and would be learning from them even back then. In 1968 the Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers discovered the Jackson five and from there they got an audition for Berry Gordy of Motown Records. The Jackson 5 signed for Motown and moved to California. Their first 4 singles, "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There" all made US No1 hits. The Jackson 5 recorded 14 albums and Michael recorded 4 solo albums with Motown. The Jackson 5 stayed with Motown until 1976, wanting more artistic freedom they felt they had to move on and signed up with Epic. The group name Jackson 5 had to be changed as it was owned by Motown, so they reverted to The Jacksons as they had be known in the early days. Brother Jermaine married Berry Gordy's daughter and stayed with Motown. Youngest brother Randy joined in his place. The Jacksons had a number of hit recordsand in total made 6 albums between the years of 1976 and 1984. In 1977 Michael made his first film debut when he starred in the musical 'The Wiz' playing Scarecrow with Diana Ross in the lead role of Dorothy. It was at this time Michael met Quincy Jones who was doing the score for the film. Michael teamed up with Quincey Jones as his producer for his first solo album with Epic Records. The album titled "Off The Wall" was a big success around the world and the first ever album to release a record breaking 4 No1 singles in the US. In 1982 Michael Jackson released the world's largest selling album of all

The Game aka Jayceon Taylor's Biography

2005-07-08T15:13:03-04:00

The Game is from the birthplace of Gangsta’ Rap, Compton, CA. But this is a new, different Westside story, one that joins with the Eastside while paying respects to rap’s hardcore pioneers of the ‘80s, NWA. The Game, a former gangbanger who turned to rap after being shot five times and left for dead, is about peace not war. Working closely with Dr. Dre on his debut album; This Game is for real. The Game Vol. 1, (Aftermath/G Unit/Interscope), the debut album from The Game (a/k/a Jayceon Taylor), announces the arrival of the most significant West Coast gangsta rapper since Snoop Dogg more than a decade earlier. With guest spots from 50 Cent, Nate Dogg and several others, as well as producers from Dr. Dre to Kanye West to Just Blaze and tracks such as “Like Father Like Son,” “Church For Thugs,” “Dreams,” “Where I’m From” and “Westside Story,” The Game Vol. 1 resurrects the truth, spirit and hope of hardcore rap. “A lot of rap today is bubblegum bullshit that says nothing and means nothing to anybody living in the ‘hood,” says the 24-year-old with a tattoo of NWA’s Eazy-E on his right forearm. “I’m not knocking anybody’s hustle but I can’t feel what’s in hip-hop today. Everybody’s rapping but they’re not saying anything. NWA, Biggie, 2Pac, Snoop and Jay-Z all had something to say then Biggie, Pac and Eazy died and it was devastating. We almost let rap die until the Great White Hype (Eminem) saved hip-hop and 50 dropped the gangsta wake-up call. I feel like it’s my turn now and I can fill the shoes.” What all three have in common is the guiding hand of Dr. Dre, Compton’s own and one of the founding members of NWA. “The best moment I’ve had in rap was walking into his studio in 2002 and Dre saying he heard a mix tape of my freestyles and wanted to sign me,” says Game. “Trying to act cool? I was frozen. I’m still starstruck with Dre. He’s been almost 20 years at the top. That I get to soak up the game from a musical genius like him gives me a 20-year head start on everybody else. He’s like the father I never had. Everything about a father throwing a baseball to his son in the suburbs, that’s what NWA was to me. They were the only role models I

Essentials of Business Management: Wal-mart Case Study

2005-07-04T03:40:25-04:00

Essentials of Business Management: Wal-mart Case Study When Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart store in 1962, it was the beginning of an American success story that no one could have predicted. A small-town merchant who had operated variety stores in Arkansas and Missouri, Walton was convinced that consumers would flock to a discount store with a wide array of merchandise and friendly service. Hence, Wal-Mart's mission is to deliver big-city discounting to small-town America. Sam's Roots From humble, hard-working roots, Sam Walton built Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. into the largest, fastest-growing, and most profitable retailer in the world. A child of the Depression, Sam always worked hard. He would milk the cows, and by the age of eight, he started selling magazine subscriptions. When he turned 12, Sam took on a paper route that he continued well into his college days to support himself. Walton began his retail career at J.C. Penney in Des Moines, Iowa in 1940 making just $75 per month. In 1945, Sam borrowed $5,000 from his wife and $20,000 from his wife's family to open a Ben Franklin five and dime franchise in Newport, Arkansas. In 1950, he relocated to Bentonville, Arkansas and opened a Walton 5&10. Over the next 12 years they built up and grew to 15 Ben Franklin Stores under the name of Walton 5&10. Sam had plenty of new ideas. He liked to deal with the suppliers directly so he could pass the savings on to the customers. He later brought a new idea to Ben Franklin management that they should open discount stores in small towns. They rejected his idea. The First of 3054 Sam and his brother James (Bud) opened their first Wal-Mart Discount City store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962. Walton and his wife Helen had to put up everything they had, including their house and property to finance the first 18,000 square-foot store. With gradual growth over the next eight years, they went public in 1970 with only 18 stores and sales of $44 million. While other large chains lagged behind, Wal-Mart soon grew rapidly in the 1970's, due to their highly automated distribution centers and computerization. By 1980, they were up to 276 stores with revenues of over $1.2 billion. Sam Walton's guiding philosophy for his stores from the beginning was to offer consumers a wide selection of goods at a discounted price. The company saved money by

EDDIE MURPHY - EXCELLENCE IN AN ENTERTAINER

2005-07-03T21:02:44-04:00

EDDIE MURPHY - EXCELLENCE IN AN ENTERTAINER Before you begin reading, I hope you will ask yourself what the word excellence means to you. Because excellence is what best describes Eddie Murphy. Eddie is by far one of the best entertainers of all time. Starting from when I was very little I have grown to love him and everything he has done to become what he is today. That is why I chose to read Eddie Murphy - Entertainer. This book is an excellent source for learning about Eddie's life and experiences. Deborah Wilburn, the author of this book seems to be very fond of Eddie Murphy, just like so many other people are including myself. She writes about black people and their achievements. This is a good thing because still to this day racism can sometimes hurt the talent of great people no matter what race they are. That is why I have great respect for this author and others like her. There is great detail about Eddie's life from past to present that she provided in this book and it is very organized. It was Eddie's laugh that always cracked me up the most. No matter how bad his put-downs were or how funny his gestures would be, his laugh would always top them off. This laugh was his way of reminding audiences that he was going for their laugh and he got it. Starting in 1976 when Eddie was in tenth grade he hosted a talent show for his school. It was at that time that he marked the beginning of his extremely talented career that would last for years, even decades to come. From the first moment after Eddie had finished hosting the show that night people thought he was simply hilarious. That is when he decided he would start his official career. He first started out at nightclubs doing standup every weekend. He did this to make a little money so that he could help his mom pay the bills. That is something that amazes me. At the age of fifteen he was doing standup comedy at local nightclubs making around three hundred dollars a week! This is usually a normal monthly earning for a working teen! After a few years of performing standup at nightclubs, the "big gig" had suddenly showed its face in Eddie's career. A spot was available in the Saturday Night Live cast.

Angela Yvonne Davis - A True Civil Rights Activist

2005-07-03T01:49:05-04:00

Angela Yvonne Davis - A True Civil Rights Activist gela Yvonne Davis was born January 26, 1944, to B. Frank, a teacher and businessman, and Sally E. Davis, who was also a teacher. Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, at a time of great political unrest and racism in the United States. As a child, Davis's parents had many Communist friends and she subsequently joined a Communist youth group. Davis traveled to Germany in 1960, where she spent two years studying at the Frankfurt School under acclaimed teacher Theodor Adorno. From 1963 to 1964, Davis attended the University of Paris. Davis, then returned to the United States and attended Brandeis University, in Waltham, Massachusetts. After earning her B.A. (magna cum laude) in 1965, Davis flew to Germany, where she conducted graduate research. Upon returning to the U.S., Davis enrolled at the University of California at San Diego, where she began pursuing her master's degree, which she received in 1968. It was at the University of California at San Diego that Davis began closely studying the Communist party. In 1968, Davis became a member of the Communist party, as well as a member of the Black Panthers. It was her involvement in these radical groups that caused Davis to be watched very closely by the United States government. After teaching for only one year, it was also these radical associations that resulted in her dismissal from her position as assistant professor of philosophy at the University of California at Los Angeles. In 1970, Davis became only the third woman in history to appear on the FBI's most wanted list. Davis was charged by the authorities with conspiracy to free George Jackson with a bloody shootout in front of a courthouse in California. The FBI also asserted that Davis armed prisoners in the Marin County courthouse with guns that were registered in her name. After the warrant was issued for her arrest, Davis spent two weeks evading police. During this time, a sign went up in windows of houses and businesses all across the United States. The sign read, "Angela, sister, you are welcome in this house." Finally, Davis was discovered in a Greenwich Village hotel, and was formally charged with murder and kidnapping, even though she didn't actually take part in the shootout in Marin County, California. Davis spent sixteen months behind bars, until her subsequent acquittal on all charges. After her

Bill Gates Bio

2005-06-21T05:51:49-04:00

William (Bill) H. Gates III is co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft Corporation, the world's leading provider of software for personal computers. Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955. He and his two sisters grew up in Seattle. Their father, William H. Gates II, is a Seattle attorney. Mary Gates, their late mother, was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent and chairwoman of United Way International. Gates attended public elementary school before moving on to the private Lakeside School in North Seattle. It was at Lakeside that Gates began his career in personal computer software, programming computers at age 13. In 1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman, where he lived down the hall from Steve Ballmer, who is now Microsoft's president. While at Harvard, Gates developed a version of the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer - the MITS Altair. BASIC was first developed by John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz at Dartmouth College in the mid-1960s. In his junior year, Gates dropped out of Harvard to devote his energies full-time to Microsoft, a company he had started in 1975 with his boyhood friend Paul Allen. Guided by a belief that the personal computer would be a valuable tool on every office desktop and in every home, they began developing software for personal computers. Gates' foresight and vision regarding personal computing have been central to the success of Microsoft and the software industry. Gates is actively involved in key management and strategic decisions at Microsoft, and plays an important role in the technical development of new products. Much of his time is devoted to meeting with customers and staying in contact with Microsoft employees around the world through e-mail. Under Gates' leadership, Microsoft's mission is continuously to advance and improve software technology, and to make it easier, more cost-effective and more enjoyable for people to use computers. The company is committed to a long-term view, which is reflected in its investment of some $2.6 billion for research and development during the current fiscal year. In 1995 Gates wrote The Road Ahead, his vision of where information technology will take society. Co-authored by Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft's chief technology officer, and Peter Rinearson, The Road Ahead held the No. 1 spot on the New York Times' bestseller list for seven weeks, and remained on the list for a total of 18 weeks. Published in more

Al Capone, the Mobster

2005-06-21T05:37:05-04:00

Al Capone is one of the world's most known mobsters. Learn more about his life. Al Capone is one of the most historically known mobsters in the Untied States. He was born in 1899 at Brooklyn, New York. His family had migrated from the Old Country to have a fresh start with more money and more power in the United States. They were hoping for a better life. Capone quit school in the sixth grade. Although he did not get much schooling, he was very smart. He was friends with a well known gang in the area, of which Johnny Torrio was the leader. Torrio had invited Capone to join their pack in 1920 and move with them to Chicago. Capone accepted. Along with joining the Torrio’s mob, Capone had connections with Colosimo mob, which made him a very important key. Due to Capone’s help, the two gangs joined up on business adventures. A lot of the business was bootlegging beer and home brewing it. Just five short years after Capone joined the gang, Torrio got wounded and could not longer lead the gang. Capone was given the responsibility of taking charge. Soon his mob was greatly feared and drove out all the competion within the area. People who disagreed with Capone about whose territory was whose soon ended up dead, thus causing much fear in the form of respecting Capone’s wishes. The suburb of Cicero was known as Capone’s territory. On February 14, 1929 Capone’s gang took out a rival gang, Moran Mob. Capone’s gang posed as police officers attempting to search them and pulled out gun fire. Police tried to place Capone himself there, but at the time he was in Florida, therefore no proof was found of him having any involvement. The FBI started looking into Capone’s affairs after he failed to show up in court for a suponea. Capone’s lawyer corresponded with them, telling the courts Capone was ill and could not make the date. The trial was pushed back a few months and finally Capone showed up. There was proof that he was not ill the entire time, taking many mini-vacations along the way. After he stated in court all he was required, he was then arrested for contempt of court for not showing up for so long. He was bailed out with a $5000 bond. Of May that same year he was arrested for carrying

Bruce lee biography

2005-06-21T05:35:05-04:00

A biography of Bruce Lee's early years, before being acclaimed the "greatest martial artist of all times." Bruce Lee. It’s one of the most recognizable names in the world. Many people know that Lee was a budding motion picture star at the time of his death. Others recognize Lee for his great foresight and innovative contributions to the martial arts. But few people know of Lee’s tumultuous struggle to overcome racism and bridge the gap between White and Asian Americans. Lee was actually born in America. The year was 1940, the “Year of the Dragon,” according to the Chinese calendar. His parents were touring the U.S. as performers with the Hong Kong Cantonese Opera, when the time arrived for Bruce’s birth. He was born on November 27, in the Jackson Street Hospital, at approximately 6:00 a.m., which coincidently was also the “Hour of the Dragon.” He was given the name, Lee Jun Fan. Bruce (a name he would later adopt upon returning to the United States) was barely three months old when he made his debut in the theatrical world. He was “given” the part in a production, playing the part of a female infant. A few months later, Bruce’s parents returned to Hong Kong and resumed their performing careers. At age 6, Bruce auditioned for, and was given a role in a Hong Kong movie entitled, “The Beginning of a Boy.” Bruce was only 6 years old and “smitten by the acting bug.” Not long after, he auditioned for a starring role in another Hong Kong production, “The Makings of a Man.” He was not yet 10. In 1952, Bruce was enrolled in La Salle College, in Hong Kong. He had just turned 12 and his life was about to take a pivotal turn. The next year, Bruce was set upon by a small group of street thugs and severely beaten. Vowing to never again be a victim, he sought out Sifu Yip Man, a noted Hong Kong Master of Wing Chun Kung Fu. Despite his notoriety as a teacher, Yip Man took on very few students, but Bruce was persistent and was eventually accepted into the Kung Fu school. Bruce proved to be a hard working and capable martial arts student. And as his confidence grew, so did his other interests. He discovered dancing and soon became a celebrated performer. He would capture the Royal Crown Cha Cha

David Beckham Bio

2005-06-21T05:29:59-04:00

David Robert Joseph Beckham OBE (born May 2, 1975) is an English footballer born in Leytonstone, London. He is a midfielder for Real Madrid and captain of the English national team. He is noted for the quality of his crossing and ability to hit free-kicks and corners, particularly long-range free-kicks. He is married to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham. He started his career at Manchester United, where he spent over a decade. Manchester United 1991-2003 Beckham first signed a YTS (youth training scheme) contract (this is similar to an apprenticeship) with Manchester United in 1991, and made his League debut in 1995, aged 19. The next year he came to wider public notice when playing against Wimbledon; having spotted the opposition goalkeeper, Neil Sullivan, had come forward off his line, he kicked a lob from the halfway line that went over the keeper into the net. As the controversial Eric Cantona was suspended for a large part of the 1995-96 season due to an assault on a spectator Beckham became the focus of the Manchester United marketing effort and helped the side to the Premiership and FA Cup trophies and to their dominance of domestic football. In the 1998-99 season, he was part of the United team that won the "treble" - Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, a feat unprecedented in English football, which earned the club's manager, Alex Ferguson, a knighthood. Beginning with the 2001-02 season the relationship between Ferguson and Beckham began to deteriorate though the factors contributing to this had less to do with Beckham's performance on the pitch and more to do with the continual pressures of agents and sponsors and a continuous series of leaked stories apparently originating from Victoria Beckham. This conflict reached a peak during the 2002-3 season with 'The Battle of the Boot' when after losing a match to Arsenal an enraged Fergusson reportedly castigated team members in the dressing room and then kicked a football boot that struck Beckham over the eye requiring stitches. After this episode transfer stories appearing to originate with Victoria were rife, linking Beckham with Chelsea and Barcelona. Beckham's last match for Manchester United was the final league match against Everton at Goodison Park in which he scored the winner, his last act as a player was lifting the Barclay's Premiership trophy at the match's conclusion. In total Beckham scored 86 goals in 397 games for Man

Shaquille O'Neal biography

2005-06-21T05:24:44-04:00

Shaquille O'Neal biography You know him on the basketball court, the silver screen and the recording studio - Shaquille O'Neal! At 7'1 and 315 pounds he is hard to miss and impossible to dis(respect). Commonly known as the player that took over the top spot after Michael Jordan's retirement, Shaq has come a long way from his humble beginnings as a "military brat". Born on March 6, 1972, in a poor area of Newark as Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal, Shaq's childhood was spent with his parents, Lucille and Philip O'Neal. He has two sisters, Lateefah and Ayesha. He also has one brother, Jamal. Shaq and his family grew up on Army bases in New Jersey, Georgia, Germany and San Antonio. Growing up in different places did not allow Shaq to establish long-term childhood relationships. Making friends did not come easy for a 13 year old at 6'5". Making enemies did not come easy either. Shaq was simply an outcast during his childhood, because of his stature. In order to fit in, he entered into mischievous behavior by carrying out various childhood pranks. As his childhood pranks escaladed and he got into more trouble, Shaq changed strategies. He decided to play sports such as baseball, football and basketball. Still not in control of his ever-growing body, he did not excel in these sports. In the 9th grade he was cut from the basketball team. Lucky for Shaq, his father was transferred and Shaq ended up in San Antonio at Robert G. Cole Senior High School. He earned a place on the team and took his team to 68-1. That year he averaged 32 points, 22 rebounds and 8 blocked shots per game! Winners never quit and neither did Shaq. He continued to practice during high school and improved his game. After high school, he wrote the coach at LSU and told him that he was interested in playing for the team. Coach Brown accepted his request and Shaq became an asset to LSU. Shaq joined the NBA draft his junior year at LSU and was picked up by the Orlando Magic in the first round as the first pick! In his first year with the Magic, he was awarded the Rookie of the Year award. He was also chosen for that year's All-Star game. In his second year with the Magic, the team made it all the way to the finals for

Thomas Edison Biography

2005-06-21T03:40:48-04:00

Thomas Edison Biography One of the outstanding geniuses in the history of technology, Thomas Edison earned patents for more than a thousand inventions, including the incandescent electric lamp, the phonograph, the carbon telephone transmitter, and the motion-picture projector. In addition, he created the world's first industrial research laboratory. Born in Milan, Ohio, Edison was an inquisitive child. By the time he was 10 he had set up a small chemical laboratory in the cellar of his home after his mother had aroused his interest in an elementary physical science book. He found the study of chemistry and the production of electrical current from voltaic jars especially absorbing and soon operated a homemade telegraph set. In 1868 he obtained a position in Boston as an expert night operator for Western Union Telegraph Company; by day he slept little, however, for he was gripped by a passion for manipulating electrical currents in new ways. Borrowing a small sum from an acquaintance, he gave up his job in the autumn of 1868 and became a free-lance inventor, taking out his first patent for an electrical vote recorder. In the summer of 1869 he was in New York, sleeping in a basement below Wall Street. At a moment of crisis on the Gold Exchange caused by the breakdown of the office's new telegraphic gold-price indicator, Edison was called in to try to repair the instrument; this he did so expertly that he was given a job as its supervisor. Soon he had remodeled the erratic machine so well that its owners, the Western Union Telegraph Company, commissioned him to improve the crude stock ticker just coming into use. The result was the Edison Universal Stock Printer, which, together with several other derivatives of the Morse telegraph, brought him a sudden fortune of $40,000. With this capital he set himself up as a manufacturer in Newark, New Jersey, producing stock tickers and high-speed printing telegraphs. In 1876 Edison gave up the Newark factory altogether and moved to the village of Menlo Park, New Jersey, to set up a laboratory where he could devote his full attention to invention. He promised that he would turn out a minor invention every ten days and a big invention every six months. He also proposed to make inventions to order. Before long he had 40 different projects going at the same time and was applying for as many as 400

Biography of John Dalton, Chemist and Physicist

2005-06-20T00:55:28-04:00

Biography of John Dalton, Chemist and Physicist John Dalton was a British chemist and physicist. He was born on September 5, 1766, in the small town of Eaglesfield in England. Then at 12 years old Dalton opened his own school in Eaglesfield. Due the poor pay he closed his school down after two years. The 12 years that Dalton was helping his brother at Kendall, he worked on improving himself. He also worked on his math and science skills. When Dalton was 26 he bought his mother some stockings. He thought they were blue but really they were scarlet. His brother also thought that the stockings were blue. Dalton was the first person to record colorblindness. In Daltons first book, Meteorological Observations and Essays, he stated that each gas exists and acts independently and purely physically, rather than chemically. Then

Malcolm X - One of the Best Autobiographies Ever!

2005-06-20T00:18:11-04:00

I vaguely remember when I was a teenager (1990, maybe) watching an episode of Charles S. Dutton's short-lived television show Roc in which his nephew had read The Autobiography of Malcolm X and wanted to become a Muslim. I recall the moral of this episode was something like: never allow another's passion for their religion to influence your choice to become a follower of that religion, as you should always join up for the right reasons, and that should always be borne out of your own self-awareness. Recently, when thinking about the point in my life when I first heard the name "Malcolm X," I thought about this episode. But, no, wait. Surely I heard about Malcolm X back in Mrs. Buckner's fourth grade social studies class, during that week we studied the famous figures in black history. Was his image there, sandwiched in between the large, laminated flash cards of Sojourner Truth and George Washington Carver? Yes, I believe he was, now that I think about it. I still to this day take a lot from that week, associating Carver with peanut butter and Harriet Tubman with the Underground Railroad. The only thing I remember thinking about Malcolm X was where in the world a man would get a single letter as a last name. So, I was exposed to Malcolm X for the first time back in fourth grade. Being arguably the most volatile and interesting personality that we studied during that week, why do I not remember anything more about him? Perhaps in 1984, public schools in Kentucky did not know how to handle Malcolm X. How do you explain to a group of young students (mostly white and overwhelmingly Christian) what Minister Malcolm stood for? Here was a man who was not a Christian, damned the government at every opportunity, and was betrayed and murdered in cold blood by his own race (albeit, with government assistance) in a bitter power-struggle. That is a can of worms that Mrs. Buckner, though courageous enough, knew she could not open back then. But now is the time, I think, for Minister Malcolm to be exposed. As a father and future teacher, I think Minister Malcolm's legacy is exactly what we should be teaching children, whether they be black, white, brown, yellow, or red, to borrow a familiar refrain from his speeches. Malcolm X has left something for everyone if

Edgar Allan Poe

2005-06-19T05:54:10-04:00

Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 as Edgar Poe. He was the second son to Elizabeth Arnold Poe and David Poe. Both parents were actors, and shortly after Poe’s birth, his father deserted his family around 1810. Edgar became an orphan before the age of three years, when his mother died on December 8, 1811 in Richmond, Virginia at the age of twenty-four years. His father died at the age of twenty-seven years old. After his mother’s death, the childless couple, John and Frances Allan, took in Poe; his paternal grandparents took in brother William Henry; and foster parents cared for sister Rosalie. Allan was a strict and unemotional tobacco merchant and his wife was overindulgent. Poe was educated by the Allan’s aid, in private academies, excelling in Latin, in writing verse and declamation. However, regardless of his education, he was looked down upon by the upper class of society, perhaps because Poe was never legally adopted by the Allan’s, nonetheless he was regarded as an outsider by the Richmond elite. However, being the child of former actor’s could have also added to his reputation of not fitting in with Richmond’s culture at that time. The loss of his mother at an early age definitely affected Poe, “The angels, whispering to one another, Can find, among their burning terms of love, None so devotional as that of ‘Mother’” (To My Mother). In Tamerlane, he not only wrote about his father, but he wrote about his mother too. He had more respect for his mother than he did for his father. In Tamerlane he speaks much nicer of his mother. “O, she was worthy of all love! Love – as in infancy was mine – ‘Twas such as angel minds above Might envy; her young heart the shrine on which my every hope and thought…” (Tamerlane). He thought of life with his mother and how it might have been. In 1831 Poe moved to Baltimore to live with his aunt, Maria Clemm. There he fell in love and married her daughter and his cousin Virginia Clemm, who was not even fourteen at the time. Ten years later she also died of tuberculosis. He dearly loved his wife and after she died his life just went to pieces. In “The Raven”, the character

Charlemagne Charles the Great Biography

2005-06-17T09:05:36-04:00

Charlemagne Biography Charlemagne is also known as “Charles the Great.” He was the most famous ruler in the Middle Ages. He was the king of the Franks from 768- 814 and the emperor of the Romans from 800- 814. Charlemagne’s kingdom included most of western and central Europe. He was born in 742 and died in 814. Charlemagne was a tall man for that time at over six feet. He had a thick neck, red hair, and blue eyes. Some words that describe him would be ambitious, strong, and brutal. Charlemagne was a very smart man. He could speak and read in Latin, and even though he tried to write in Latin, he never learned how. Charlemagne was born on April 2, 742. His father was “Pepin the Short.” In 751, Charlemagne’s father dethroned the last Merovingian king, and took the throne for himself. In a promise to the pope to protect his lands, Pepin the Short was crowned King of the Franks by Pope Stephen II in 754. When Charlemagne’s dad died in 768, Pepin the Short’s kingdom was divided into two parts. Charlemagne and his brother Carloman each got part of the land. Even though Carloman was younger, he got a bigger part of the land. Three years later in 771, Carloman died and Charlemagne received all of his brother’s land. He united the two sections together, and was now the only leader of the Frankish Empire. Soon after his brother’s death, Charlemagne started to expand his empire. His empire in 771 went from Austrasia in the north to Septimania in the south. Its border in the east was Nordgau and the border in the west was Aquitaine. Charlemagne’s biggest and longest fight was against the Saxons. The Saxons lived in northwest Germany. This was Charlemagne’s first move to expand his kingdom. He picked the Saxons to attack because they were the last people in the area that were non- Christian, and because they had attacked the Frankish borders many times. Charlemagne made Saxony one his provinces. He put Christian churches there and made the Saxons convert to Christianity. The Saxons did not like this, so they revolted. Before Charlemagne could force his rule there permanently, he had to capture their leader,

EE Cummings LIfe and Poetry

2005-06-17T07:53:41-04:00

E.E. Cummings E. E. Cummings, who was born in 1894 and died in 1962, wrote many poems with unconventional punctuation and capitalization, and unusual line, word, and even letter placements - namely, ideograms. Cummings’ most difficult form of prose is probably the ideogram; it is extremely terse and it combines both visual and auditory elements. There may be sounds or characters on the page that cannot be verbalized or cannot convey the same message if pronounced and not read. Four of Cummings’ poems - l(a, mortals), !blac, and swi( - illustrate the ideogram form quite well. Cummings utilizes unique syntax in these poems in order to convey messages visually as well as verbally. Although one may think of l(a as a poem of sadness and loneliness, Cummings probably did not intend that. This poem is about individuality - oneness. The theme of oneness can be derived from the numerous inezces and forms of the number ‘1’ throughout the poem. First, ‘l(a’ contains both the number 1 and the singular indefinite article, ‘a’; the second line contains the French singular definite article, ‘le’; ‘ll’ on the fifth line represents two ones; ‘one’ on the 7th line spells the number out; the 8th line, ‘l’, isolates the number; and ‘iness’, the last line, can mean “the state of being I” - that is, individuality - or “oneness”, deriving the “one” from the lowercase roman numeral ‘i’. Cummings could have simplified this poem drastically (“a leaf falls:/loneliness”), and still conveyed the same verbal message, but he has altered the normal syntax in order that each line should show a ‘one’ and highlight the theme of oneness. In fact, the whole poem is shaped like a ‘1’. The shape of the poem can also be seen as the path of a falling leaf; the poem drifts down, flipping and altering pairs of letters like a falling leaf gliding, back and forth, down to the ground. The beginning ‘l(a’ changes to ‘le’, and ‘af’ flips to ‘fa’. ‘ll’ indicates a quick drop of the leaf, which has slowed by a longer line, ‘one’. Finally, the leaf falls into the pile of fallen leaves on the ground, represented by ‘iness’. Cummings has written this poem so perfectly that every part of it conveys the message of oneness and individuality. In mortals), Cummings vitalizes a trapeze act on paper. Oddly enough, this poem, too, stresses the

Life Of Charlie Chaplin

2005-06-17T04:18:49-04:00

Charlie Chaplin Charlie Chaplin grew up in the ghetto areas of London. He endured a bad childhood in orphanages that are only shown in movies, which influenced his character to be the best-known actor ever in silent comedy. However, the support given to him as a kid helped him go on using his dancing and singing skills stuck with him and it helped

Robert E. Lee Biography

2005-06-16T04:42:29-04:00

Robert E. Lee Robert E. Lee was born in Stratford Hall, near Montross, Virginia, on January 19, 1807. He was a very serious boy and spent many hours in his father’s library. He loved to play with some of his friends, swim, and he loved to hunt. Lee looked up to his father and always wanted to know what he was doing. George Washington and his father, “Light-Horse Harry Lee,” were his heroes. He wanted to be just like his father when he grew up. In the 1820’s, the entrance requirements for West Point were not close to as strict as they are now. It still was not that easy to become a cadet. Robert Lee entered the United States Military Academy at West Point where his classmates admired him for his brilliance, leadership, and his love for his work. He graduated from the academy with high honors in 1829, and he was ranked as a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers at the age of 21. When war broke out between the United States and Mexico in 1846, the army sent Lee to Texas to serve as assistant engineer under General John E. Wool. All his superior officers, especially General Winfield Scott, were impressed with Lee. At Cerro Gordo he led the first line of men into battle. The Americans won, then came the biggest battle of the war. The Americans attacked a fort outside Mexico City. Lee planned the attack. For days he worked without sleep. He found out where the Mexican soldiers were. He knew where to put the big guns. It was easy for the Army to take the fort. The American Army marched right into Mexico City. The war was now officially over. When Texas seceded from the Union in 1861, Lee was called to Washington D.C. to wait for further orders. Unlike many Southerners, Lee did not believe in slavery and did not favor secession. He felt that slavery had an evil effect on masters as well as slaves. Long before the war, he had freed the few slaves whom he had inherited. Lee greatly admired George Washington, and hated the thought of a divided nation. He was willing to leave the union, as Washington had left the British Empire, to fight

Life Of Harry Houdini, Ehrich Weiss Biography

2005-06-16T03:17:06-04:00

Life Of Harry Houdini Ehrich Weiss was born in Budapest, Hungary on March 24, 1874. His family migrated to the United States of America when he was only four years old. At an early age he was hooked by the magic shows that he attended. When he was seventeen he read the memoirs of Robert-Houdin, a French magician of the 1800s. Houdin became his idol, and later his life-long inspiration to become “First in my profession, in my speciality in my profession.” When a friend told him that if he were to add the letter ‘i’ to Houdin’s name that it would mean ‘like Houdin” in the French language, he adopted Houdini “with enthusiasm” as his stage name. His friends had already Americanized his first name to Harry. “One day I was hired to give an exhibition at a children’s party in Brooklyn. At the close a little girl, about sixteen, said to me very bashfully, ‘I think you are awfully clever,’ and then, with a blush, ‘I like you.’ ‘How much do you like me?’ I said, ‘enough to marry me?’ We had never seen each other before. She nodded. And so, after talking the matter over, we were married.” Although Houdini’s marriage may not have been quite so sudden as this account in a magazine interview, this was how he felt emotionally at the time. At the age of 19 he married Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner (usually called Bess). The date was July 22, 1894. Houdini’s career as an entertainer began slowly. He and his wife wandered from side show to dime museum, taking any engagement that they could get paid for. It was rare for them to get paid $60 a week between the two of them. During these times their magic shows did not draw crowds and they were left doing comedy shows or freak sideshow acts. During these early years Harry’s talents as an escape artist were rarely appreciated. One day in a small town in Rhode Island while he was touring with the Welsh Brothers’ Circus, the entire troupe was arrested and locked in jail for breaking the Sunday law. That night after the sheriff had gone home, Houdini picked all of the locks and freed the entire Circus. Still, audiences seemed uninterested in watching Ehrich free himself from handcuffs. In 1895, while traveling with the American Gaiety Girls, he thought of a way to make his act more interesting.

Biography of Pablo Picasso and History of His Art

2005-06-15T07:15:48-04:00

Pablo Piccaso Biographical Essay Pablo Picasso was probably the most famous artist of the twentieth century. During his artistic career, which lasted more than 75 years, he created thousands of works, not only paintings but also sculptures, prints, and ceramics, using all kinds of materials. He almost single-handedly created modern art. He changed art more profoundly than any other artist of this century because he was an inspiration. Picasso was born on October 25, 1881, in Malaga, Spain, son of an artist, Jose Ruiz, and Maria Picasso. Rather than adopt the common name Ruiz, the young Picasso took the rarer name of his mother. An artistic prodigy, Picasso, at the age of 14, completed the one-month qualifying examination of the Academy of Fine Arts in Barcelona in one day. From there he went to the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid, returning in 1900 to Barcelona, where he frequented the city's famous cabaret of intellectuals and artists, Els Quatre Gats. The years of 1901 to 1904, known, as the "blue period" because of the blue tonality of Picasso's paintings was a time of frequent changes of residence between Barcelona and Paris. During this period, he would spend his days in Paris studying the masterworks at the Louvre and his nights enjoying the company of fellow artists at cabarets like the Lapin Agile. 1905 and 1906 marked a radical change in colour and mood for Picasso. He became fascinated with the acrobats, clowns and wandering families of the circus world. He started to paint in subtle pinks and greys, often highlighted with brighter tones. This was known as his "rose period." For Picasso the 1920's were years of rich artistic exploration and great productivity. Picasso continued to design theatre sets and painted in Cubist, Classical and Surreal modes. From 1929 to 1931, he pioneered wrought iron sculpture with his old friend Julio Gonzalez. In the early 1930's, Picasso did a large quantity of graphic illustrations. In late 1906, Picasso started to paint in a truly revolutionary manner. Inspired by Cézanne's flattened depiction of space, and working alongside his friend Georges Braque, he began to express space in strongly geometrical terms. These initial efforts at developing this almost sculptural sense of space in painting are the beginnings of Cubism. In 1907, Picasso painted "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," considered the watershed picture of the twentieth century, and met Georges Braque, the other leading figure of

Short Biography on William Dunbar

2005-06-03T04:35:03-04:00

Obscure Achiever In our nations great history there has always been those who have achieved greatness but are not recognized. One such person is the scientist and planter William Dunbar. Not much is known about William, what is known is as follows. During the year of 1749 William Dunbar was born in and lived near Elgin, Scotland.William Dunbar was the youngest son of Sir Archibald Dunbar of Morayshire, Scotland. He was educated at Glasgow, and later studied mathematics and astronomy at London. The call of America reached to him so that in 1771 he traveled to America.He moved to West

Biography of Genghis Khan

2005-05-27T05:46:21-04:00

Biography of Genghis Khan The old world had many great leaders. Alexander the Great, Hannibal and even Julius Caesar met with struggle on their rise to power. Perhaps Genghis Khan was the most significant of all these rulers. To prove that Genghis Khan was the greatest ruler, we must go back to the very beginning of his existence. We must examine such issues as; Genghis¹s struggle for power/how his life as a child would affect his rule, his personal and military achievements and his conquests. Genghis Khan was originally born as Temujin in 1167. He showed early promise as a leader and a fighter. By 1206, an assembly of Mongolian chieftains proclaimed him Genghis Khan. Which meant Universal or invincible prince. This was a bold move for the assembly. They obviously saw some leadership qualities in Genghis that others didn¹t. When Genghis Khan was little, his chieftain father poisoned. With no leader left, the tribe abandoned Genghis and his mother. They were left alone for many years to care for themselves. Throughout these years, his family met many hardships such as shortage of food and shortage of money. Though unable to read, Genghis was a very wise man. His mother told him at a very early age the importance of trust and independence. "Remember, you have no companions but your shadow" Grolier Encyclopedia. (1995) CD ROM This quote was to mean to Genghis, don¹t put to much trust in anyone, trust no one but yourself and if you must go your own way then do so. In 1206, Genghis Khan proclaimed the ruler of Mongolia. Genghis was a very respected leader. Like other leaders he knew what his people wanted. They want everything that is good and nothing that is bad. Genghis knew he could not promise this so instead he pledged to share both the sweet and the bitter of life. Genghis did not want to end up being poisoned like his father so instead he made alliances, and attacked anyone who posed a serious threat. Through this method of leadership, Genghis¹s army grew to the point where they were unbeatable. Genghis contributed alot of items to the chinese and even western civilizations. Perhaps his greatest contribution was a code of laws that he declared. Since Genghis couldn¹t read or write, these law were documented by one of his followers. His laws were carried on by people though the many generations to the

Michael Jordan Biography

2005-05-27T05:35:12-04:00

Michael Jordan Biography Michael Jordan was born on January 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York and was raised in Wilmington, North Carolina. He has two brothers, is married, and has three kids. He is considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time (Kornbluth). My focus will be on his hardships, accomplishments, and people who influenced him. First, I would like to touch on some general information about Michael. He wears number 23 on his jersey because he considered it to be half of his brother's number, 45. He had wanted 45 because it was his brother's number and he deeply admired his brother, but he was on the same team as his brother so he needed to pick a different number. His most well known superstition is that he wears his University of North Carolina basketball shorts under his game shorts. When Michael was a kid, his favorite sport was not basketball. In fact, it was baseball. He was a pitcher on a little league team. He played baseball because he was short (Kornbluth). Later in his life, he would try to leave the NBA and play major league baseball. Michael was not always rich. His parents had to work two and three jobs each to support the family. Before Michael's dad built him a basketball court in his back yard Michael shot, basketballs into a trash can (Kornbluth). Michael was not always good at basketball, either. People told Michael that he was too short to play basketball. Michael now stands six feet six inches tall. He also went to the school gym before school to shoot baskets, stayed after school to shoot baskets, and could be found in the school gym on weekends shooting baskets. He also played his brother, Larry, one-on-one in basketball. His brother was only a year older than Michael was, but he was much better and taller than Michael was. Michael would often times lose and end up getting in a fight with his brother. This caused Michael to be extremely determined to succeed at basketball (Kornbluth). In his sophomore year of high school, he tried out for the Varsity team. He did not make it, so he was placed on the Junior Varsity team. On the J.V. team, he averaged 28 points per game. He thought this would get the attention of the Varsity team coach. It did. However, it was not in the way

Igor Stravinsky Biography

2005-05-27T05:23:43-04:00

Igor Stravinsky As a composer, Igor Stravinsky knew many conductors. Later, he wrote an essay about them. What could he write about them? What would your typical composer have to say about conductors? Surprisingly, when Stravinsky wrote about conductors he became very critical. Sarcasm and mockery permeate throughout the passage when he discusses them. Stravinsky uses a few schemes to convince his reader of the conductor's insignificance. First, the language Stravinsky uses in his passage is very caustic. In a few places, he goes beyond his arguments into simple denunciations and attacks on the conductors. "The conductor is encouraged to impose a purely egotistical, false, and arbitrary authority, and that he is accorded a position out of all proportion to his real value in the musical, as opposed to the music-business, community," he says in one of such places. It is obvious that Stravinsky holds a personal grudge against the conductors; being a musician, he must have come across them many times. He says, "conducting, like politics, rarely attracts original minds." Stravinsky uses the word "original" in a different way than it is normally used. In English, "original" means first, or new. In Russian, however, to call a person original means to say that he is smart, that he comes with resourceful ideas. Since Stravinsky was Russian, that is what he probably meant. Therefore in his first sentence, Stravinsky say's that, more or less, almost all conductors are stupid. The whole passage is more of an insult to all conductors, rather than an informative text. Secondly, Stravinsky uses comparisons to politicians in order condemn the conductors. "Conducting, like politics, rarely attracts original minds … His [the conductor's] first skill has to be power politics," he says in the first paragraph. Politicians are always thought to be corrupt, dishonest, and insidious. In fact, politician is a word that is always associated with something evil. This method of attacking is effective, though primitive; there is a bit of politics in practically every job. Furthermore, Stravinsky fails to note exactly how a conductor is similar to a politician, apart from saying that conducting, like politics, is not a profession for the exact and standardized disciplines. In another quote, he compares the effect of the public on the conductor's ego to the effect the sun has on a tropical weed. Again, this is based more on emotion than cold logic; yet, it manages to convince the

Malcolm X Biography

2005-05-27T05:19:18-04:00

Malcolm X Biography Malcolm X, a civil rights leader in the 1960's believed that blacks and whites should be segregated. He also believed that white man was evil and were trying to brainwash all blacks and that Martin Luther King's "non-violent protests" weren't working and that violence was needed for change. Malcolm X's life was a life with a lot of conflict and violence in it. Malcolm X was born under the name of Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska in 1925. His father was a baptist minister and an outspoken follower of Marcus Garvey, the black nationalist leader of the 1920s who preached that all blacks should leave the US and go back to Africa. While Malcolm's father was away and Malcolm's mother was pregnant with Malcolm, a group of KKK members came to their house and told Mrs. Little to send out her husband. She came out of the house and stood where all the KKK could see that she was pregnant and told them that Mr. Little was in Milwaukee preaching. The KKK, disappointed, shouted threats and told them to leave town. After this they broke every window in the Little's home and left. When Mr. Little came home and heard what happened, he decided to move as soon a Malcolm was born to Lansing, Michigan. Here was where Malcolm's father died at the hand of the Black Legion (X 4-! 13). After Malcolm's father's death, his mother who had to take care of eight children and endure threats from the KKK, suffered a nervous breakdown. As a result, Malcolm and his siblings were taken by the welfare department. Malcolm was later enrolled in a reform school and did very well grade wise. He was the best student in his class and wanted to become a lawyer. When the school heads heard about this, they sent a person to talk to Malcolm. This person told and convinced Malcolm that he was black and that he could never become a lawyer because of it. As a result, he dropped out of after the eighth grade and moved to Boston, Massachusetts where he worked several different jobs. Soon, Malcolm became associated in a gang and sold and used drugs, and was involved in many other criminal activities. His gang "career" ended when he got into some trouble due to a bet with the gang leader. Since the gang wanted Malcolm killed,

Louis Pasteur Biography

2005-05-27T05:18:10-04:00

Louis Pasteur Biographical Essay Louis Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822, in Dôle, a small town in France. He grew in a humble family and his father was a tanner. He graduated in 1840 from the College of Arts at Besancon and entered the prestigious Ecole Namale Supervieure, Paris, to work for his doctorate degree. He chose for his studies the then obscure science of crystallography, which was to have a great influence on his career. Pasteur entered the scientific world as a professor of physics at the Lycee of Tournon and started his research on the optical properties of crystals of tartaric acid salts. He found the two forms of this acid which could rotate the plane of polarization of light, one to the right and the other to the left. This was his first important discovery in crystallography, the phenomenon of optical isomers. Paradoxically it incited him to abandon the field. But it won the acclaim of the French Academy and Britain's Royal Society. Thus Pasteur became famous at the age of 26. Pasteur soon began researching the complexities of bacteriology. The prevalent theory of life at the time was spontaneous generation which states that certain forms of life such as flies, worms, and mice can develop from non-living matter such as mud and decaying fish. Pasteur disproved this theory with a simple experiment. He showed that microorganisms would grow in sterilized broth only if the broth was first exposed to air containing spores, or reproductive cells. His findings led to the development of the cell theory of the origin of living matter which states that all life originates from preexisting living material. In 1849, Pasteur became professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg, where he began studying fermentation, a type of chemical breakdown of substances by microbes. He served the rest of his career as Dean of Sciences at the University of Lille. Soon after his arrival at Lille, Pasteur was asked to solve the problems of the local industries, vinegar and silk manufacture. A producer of vinegar from beet juice wanted to know why the product was sometimes spoilt. On examining the juice microscopically, Pasteur observed that the contaminant, amyl alcohol, was optically active. This gave clear evidence that it was produced by a living organism. Pasteur then proposed a biological interpretation of the process of fermentation. He demonstrated that when no contamination by living

Lou Gehrig Biography

2005-05-26T09:51:55-04:00

Lou Gehrig Biographical Essay Lou Gehrig was born and raised in New York City, the son of German immigrant parents. His full name was Henry Louis Gehrig. After graduating from high school, he attended Columbia University where he became a football and baseball star. Lou's father directed him to becoming a pro baseball player. He became sick and needed on operation, but there was no money for doctors and hospital expenses in the family budget, so young Lou quickly capitalized on his baseball skills. He accepted an offer from a scout to sign a contract with the New York Yankees, for $ 1,500 in cash as a bonus. Lou dropped out of college to play in the minor leagues and gain some experience until the Yankees needed him. Gehrig was 22 when he became a big league rookie. He sat on the bench until one day in June in the 1925 season when he finally broke into the Yankees' line up as a first baseman. It happened because the team's veteran first baseman couldn't play because of a sever headache. He stayed first baseman for fourteen seasons, five thousand eighty-two playing days, he played a total of two thousand, one hundred and thirty major league games. It was a record that will never be broken or even equaled. To create that unbelievable endurance, feat, strong and powerful Lou Gehrig nicknamed "The Iron Horse," played in every one of the two thousand, one hundred and thirty consecutive games, even though he was beaned three times, had fingers broken ten times, suffered fractured toes, torn muscles, a wrenched shoulder, a back injury, chipped elbows, and the pain of several lumbago attacks. Yet, in every contest of that incredibly long playing period he played with all the enthusiasm of a kid breaking into the big leagues. During that streak of 2,130 consecutive games "The Iron Horse" performed other astonishing feats. He became the first in the 20th century to hit four consecutive home runs in a nine-inning game. Only he in major-league history hit 23 grand slam home runs for 13 years in a row he drove in one hundred runs, topping 150 RBI's seven times and setting the American League record of 184 runs batted-in during the 1931 season for twelve seasons in a row he hit more than .300, and he made 1,991 runs, scored 1,888 runs, and walked 1,510 times. He

Shakespeare Man or Myth?

2005-05-26T09:41:49-04:00

Shakespeare - Man or Myth? Was the man we know as Shakespeare really the author of the "Shakespearean Works"? We know little about the man called Shakespeare, Did he really write the plays, or is he just a man that got confused within history? (Sobran 44) There is not even a correct spelling of this mans name, Some of the spellings include Shakspere, Shakespeare, And Shaxpere. Shakespeare, Is it the man, Or is it another? (Hayes 1D) Shakespeare is both fact and fiction, he was no concern until nearly two hundred years after he perished, and there is still no definite or probably will there ever be a conclusion to this mystery. (Sobran 44) There is another man that can be attributed with the works of "Shakespeare", His name is Edward DeVere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. (Bethell 47) The man known as Shakespeare does not fit perfectly into the necessary criteria to determine the author of these works. Thomas Looney invented a series of criteria that had to be filled, in order to be a possible candidate for the authorship of the Shakespearean works. To have all the knowledge that is portrayed in the works, the author must have accomplished many things. These including a superior education, from what we know of "Shakespeare", this was not a possibility.(Bethell 46) We do not even know if Shakespeare has ever written anything in his life, Nor do we know that he was paid for writing these works. The man Shakespeare does not even make a claim that he is the author.(Bethell 50) He may not have been able to write the simplest thing of all, His own name.(Hayes 1D) Its not how little we know about Shakespeare that causes confusion and difficulty, Its the things that we do know about this man that cause the confusion and difficulty. We know Shakespears father, a glover, could not write. When he signed documents, he simply made an "X", This is why it is beleived that Shakespeare could not write also, Because he probably did not attend school therefore his education was passed down from his father. (Bethell 48) We do know much more about the man Edward DeVere. We know that because deVere was a nobleman, he could not have his name written upon his writings because he would be considered of a lower class. The plays contain a sense of hate towards some of the

Stephen Hawking A Life in Science Summary

2005-05-26T09:19:15-04:00

Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science depicts the life and accomplishments of Stephen Hawking, a unique and towering figure in modern physics, perhaps the most famous scientist since Einstein. He has achieved far more than the vast majority of able-bodied people would ever have dreamed of accomplishing. He has made fundamental breakthroughs in cosmology and, perhaps more than anyone else alive, he has pushed forward our understanding of the universe we live in. His brilliant work on black holes, the big bang, and quantum cosmology has already guaranteed his reputation among physicists and gives hope to those who might not otherwise have any with his success in his field despite his disabilities. Stephen William Hawking came from a family of intellects. He was born on January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England. Both of his parents, Frank and Isobel Hawking, had previously attended Oxford. When it came time for Stephen to attend school, his parents could not afford the tuition to Westminster, one of the best schools in the country. However, Stephen could attend on his own academic merit which would be tested by an entrance examination. The day he was to take the exam he fell ill and consequently never obtained a place at the Westminster Academy. Although disappointed, Stephen's parents knew this small setback would not stop him. Despite his failure, Stephen was still able to attend a local private school which was well-known as an academically excellent institute. He was eccentric and awkward, skinny and puny. His school uniform was always worn messily and he had inherited a slight lisp from his father. He was only a little above average in his class, but had come to be regarded by his teachers as a bright student. Growing up he was always "a bit of a self-educator". He was interested in the stars, and his family used to lie out on the grass looking at the stars. His writing was appalling, and he was one of the only people at school to be issued with a copybook. He was never really good with his hands, and gave the impression of nervousness, being lanky and awkward in movement. However, his poor manual dexterity didn't hold him back. Stephen wanted to study mathematics and physics in university, but his father believed that there would not be any jobs in mathematics and so he took physics and chemistry, and only

Social Studies Report on Henry Ford

2005-05-26T09:06:45-04:00

Social Studies Report on Henry Ford Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 and died on April 7, 1947. Henry Ford was the son of William Ford, who had emigrated from Ireland in 1847 and settled on a farm in Dearborn, Michigan. Henry disliked farm life and had a natural aptitude for machinery when he was 15 he went to Detroit and trained as a machinist. Henry Ford began to experiment with a horseless carriage in 1890 and completed his first car, the quadricycle, in about 1896. During the following years he tried unsuccessfully to get it into production. In 1903 he launched the Ford Motor Company with a capital of $100,000 of which $28,000 was in cash. By the time he had formulated his ideal of production: " The way to make automobiles is to make one automobile like another automobile, to make them all alike. He achieved spectacular success with the Model T Ford, introduced in 1809 and eventually produced in 1903 on the moving assembly line. Henry Ford was a major figure in the world's automobile industry for the next 15 years. His production methods were intensively studied and he also startled the world instituting (1914) the then high wage scale of $5 a day. Ford thus became a figure of legend, the native genius that could work miracles. He had considerable mechanical ability but his conclusions were reached intuitively rather than logically. He ran as a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1918 and was narrowly defeated. In 1936 he and his son Edsel established the Ford Foundation, to which they bequeathed much of the company's stock. Henry Ford became a victim of his own success in that he clung to the Model T too long, refusing to recognize that its popularity was fading, and consequently lost first place in the automobile industry to General Motors in 1926. He had turned the presidency of the Ford Motor Company over to Edsel in 1919 but never gave Edsel effective authority. Edsel struggled vainly against this situation, and the frustrations of his position undoubtedly contributed to his death at the Age of 50. Edsel's oldest son was released from the navy and made an executive vice-president. Unlike his father, who had not been allowed to go to college, Henry II attended Yale University. Henry Ford II recruited talent from outside the company and effected a sweeping reorganization. The company secured

Sacajawea "The Bird-Woman"

2005-05-26T07:40:35-04:00

Sacajawea "The Bird-Woman" Sacajawea was born sometime during 1786 in a territory located in today’s Idaho. She lived in her Rocky Mountain homeland the first 12 years of her life, up until she was kidnapped from her Shoshone people by an enemy tribe, the Hidastas. Sacajawea was then sold to a French-Canadian fur trader named Toussaint Charbonneau as a slave, and was soon after claimed as one of his wives. During this time an expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory was being formed by Meriwhether Lewis and William Clark. When the Lewis and Clark expedition passed through the Hidasta-Mandan village, the expedition was forced to camp and build a fort near the Mandan village because of the harsh winter that lay ahead. The fort was called Fort Mandan. Charbonneau and Sacajawea were hired as interpreters to travel with the expedition once the weathered had cleared. The Shoshone Indian tribe possessed the horses Lewis and Clark needed to cross the Bitterroot Mountains during expedition. With Sacajawea speaking Hidasta and Shoshone, Charbonneau speaking Hidasta and French, and their other interpreter Francois Labiche able to transtate the French to English, the Indian women and her husband added a key element needed for the success of the expedition’s dealings with the Shoshone Indians. Sacajawea would be the only woman among a party of 33 men. In 1805, during the journey Sacajawea gave birth to a baby boy which they named Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. "Pompy" was a nickname given to her son by Captian Clark, meaning "little dancing boy." The baby rode on the young Indian woman’s back as she helped gather roots, and collect edible berries and plants. Sacajawea was became known for her perseverance and resourcefulness. She also gained the captain’s respect for her bravery during the wrecking of one of the exploring boats on the river. After the 75 mile trip crossing the Continental Divide the party was found by a group of Shoshones. The Shoshone leader was Sacajawea’s own brother Camcahwait, and after 5 years Sacajawea was finally reunited with her family. Thanks to Sacajawea, Lewis and Clark were able to purchase the horses needed for their westward travel. Sacajawea proved valuable as a valued interpreter and peacemaker in the expedition’s meetings with new tribes, who were ready to defend their land, and during encounters with Shoshone speaking chiefs. She guided the expedition through her familiar homelands and proved to be invaluable to the leaders.

Nelson Mandela, My Hero

2005-05-17T02:46:17-04:00

Nelson Mandela, My Hero Imagine growing up in a country where drinking out of the wrong water fountain might get you thrown into jail; where a man might have the very same job as his neighbor, but because of the color of his skin get paid

Pablo Picasso Biographical Essay

2005-05-10T02:33:36-04:00

Picasso was born on October 25, 1881 in Malaga, Spain. As a young boy he attended Barcelona's School of Fine arts. By the age of 15 he was a well- rounded figurative painter. He was inspired early on by the capital of art, PARIS, which was where he soaked up the sketchy style of works by Manet, Gustave Courbet and Toulouse- Lautrec. He spent from 1899 to 1904 moving forth and back between France and Spain as France gave him so much inspiration during his time spent there. In his life he went through many phases and styles including realism, caricature, but more significantly the Blue period (1901-1904) and Rose period (1904-1906). At the age of 22 one of the most significant period of Picasso’s life had begun, the Blue period. This period saw the diminish in his choice of colour and range of tones, to a single dark and oppressive blue. He painted everything in blue as a sign of sadness from when his best friend died. And instead of Picasso observing people ruthlessly and satirically as he had done previously before this period, he now treated his models with sympathy and dejected tenderness. He no longer painted café scenes but began to imagine mysterious, withered figures standing rigid and silent against a vague or empty background. ‘Child with a Dove’, painted at the end of 1901, is the first of the series of canvases that comprise Picasso’s Blue period. Right after the Blue period came the Rose period, which was another significant period in Picasso’s life from 1904- 1906. He started to paint in brighter colors such as pinks and beige, which dominated the paintings along with the less significant colours being light blues and roses. His subjects were saltimbanques, harlequins and clowns who are mute and inactive. Thus he drew people doing happy things along with lots of circus scenes with circus animals. (Family of Saltimbanques 1905) In 1905 his work took a turn as they became of large male and female figures, seen frontally or in distinct profile, somewhat like Greek Art. (La Toilette 1906) He was also captivated by the caricature like artworks of French Painter Henri Rousseau. What paved the way for Picasso to become well known for his technique of cubism, was ancient Iberian sculpture from Spain, which was African art. He slowly incorporated simplified forms of the source into striking

Book Report. "The Heavenly man" (christian perspec

2005-04-04T18:53:27-04:00

Tyler Ross March 25th, 2005 English The Heavenly Man (The Heavenly Man, Liu Zhenying and Paul Hattaway, 2002, 351 pages.) Ever been hurt for your beliefs? Assailed, perhaps not with stones or rocks, but even unkind words and barrages against your faith? Brother Yun knows all too well what it feels like. Acquainted with not only emotional pain and contempt, but also the most brutal and in-humane tortures known to mankind, Brother Yun, with all due respect, should not rationally be alive today. Though Yun is an amazing person with a mind-blowing history of ministry, he remains a simple man serving his Lord in one of toughest places to do so. Communist China. Following our Lord fervently since the age of 16, Liu Zhenying, or “Brother Yun”, utilized what little materials he had, if any, to bring great numbers of people to Christ. In a time where anyone found with one of the few bibles in all of China would be publicly beaten and humiliated, Brother Yun cried out to the Lord, prayed, and fasted on only a bowl of rice a day, for one hundred days, all to gaze upon God’s Holy word. Miraculously, Brother Yun received his precious bible and immediately memorized entire chapters at a time. He then devoted all his time to the Lord and preached to entire congregations at secret home churches, simply reciting Bible passages from Memory. Moved by the great spirit of the Lord, his on-lookers fell to their knees and hundreds were brought to Christ. But the gift that Brother Yun shared freely didn’t come without cost to him. Eventually the “Public Security Bureau” discovered the clandestine Church services which had been underway, and, at the age of 17, Brother Yun was, for the first time, arrested for preaching the Gospel. In the years too follow, Yun would be beaten a countless number of times, and followed constantly by the Public Security Bureau. ‘Though he had electric prods stuck inside his mouth, was kicked on the ground for hours at a time with steel toed boots, and was even used as a dummy for martial arts training when he was incarcerated, Brother Yun replied, “The more pressure there was, the more fire and love there was to preach the gospel.” Brother Yun persevered through severe tribulation for several years and continued to preach the Gospel and grow in faith. Perhaps the most astounding of his achievements was Brother Yun’s time

Tupac Amaru Shakur Biography

2005-03-29T02:04:56-04:00

Tupac Amaru Shakur Biographical Info DOB: June 16, 1971 - Brooklyn, NY DOD: September 13, 1996 - Las Vegas, NV Height: 5'10 Weight: 168 Mother: Afeni Shakur Father: William Garland Step Father: Jeral Wayne Williams AKA Mutula Shakur Half Sister: Sekyiwa Shakur Half Brother: Maurice Harding (Mopreme of Thug Life) Godfather: Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt Music Groups: One Nation Emcees, Two From The Crew, Strictly Dope, Digital Underground, Thug Life, Outlaw Immortalz/Outlawz Aliases: MC New York, 2Pac, Makaveli (the don) Marital Status: Divorced (Keisha Morris) & Engaged (Kidida Jones) Tupac Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks in Brooklyn, NY in 1971. While still a small child, his mother changed his name to Tupac Amaru after an Inca Indian revolutionary, "Tupac Amaru", meaning "Shining Serpent". "Shakur" means "Thankful To God" in Arabic. From childhood, everyone called him the "Black Prince." Formisbehaving, he had to read an entire edition of The New York Times. When he was two, his sister, Sekyiwa, was born. This child's father, Mutulu, was a BlackPanther who, a few months before her birth, had been sentenced to sixty years for a fatal armored car robbery. With Mutulu away, the family experienced hard times. No matter where they moved-the Bronx, Harlem, homeless shelters- Tupac was distressed. "I remember crying all the time. My major thing growing up was I couldn't fit in. Because I was from everywhere. I didn't have no buddies that I grew up with." By the age of twelve, Tupac had discovered his loves for acting, writing love songs and poetry. As a young teen, his family moved to Baltimore , MD, where he attended The Baltimore School for the Performing Arts studying acting and ballet. At this school, Tupac left a lasting impression on his teachers and was showing tremendous potential. Unfortunately, Tupac was unable to continue his training. He moved to Oakland, California with the rest of his family. That's when Tupac began to, as he called it, "Hang with the wrong crowd." At age fifteen, he fell into rap; he started writing lyrics, walking with a swagger, and milking his background in New York for all it was worth. People in small towns feared the Big Apple's reputation; he called himself MC New York and made people think he was a tough guy. By the time he was twenty, Tupac had been arrested eight times, even serving eight months in prison after being convicted of sexual abuse. In addition, he was the subject of two wrongful-death lawsuits, one involving a

Fritz Haber, His Studies of Chemistry, and Biographical Info

2005-03-29T01:59:11-04:00

Fritz Haber, His Studies of Chemistry, and Biography The name Fritz Haber has long been associated with the well-known process ofsynthesizing ammonia from its elements. While primarily known for developing a process which ultimately relieved the world of dependence on Chilean ammonia, this twentieth century Nobel prize winner was also involved in the varying fortunes of Germany in World War I and in the rise to power of the Nazi regime. Haber was born on December 9, 1868 in Prussia. He was the son of a prosperous German chemical merchant and worked for his father after being educated in Berlin, Heidelberg, and Zurich. After a short time, Haber left his father's business and took up research in organic chemistry at the University of Jena. The university's strictly orthodox methods soon led him to leave for a junior teaching position at the Technische Hochschule of Karlsruhe. At the age of 25, Haber immediately threw himself, with tremendous energy, into teaching and research in physical chemistry, a subject in which he was essentially self-taught. Quickly he gained respect and recognition for his research in electrochemistry and thermodynamics. He also authored several books arising from his research. During the first decade of the twentieth century, the world-wide demand for nitrogen based fertilizers exceeded the existing supply. The largest source of the chemicals necessary for fertilizer production was found in a huge guano deposit (essentially sea bird droppings) that was 220 miles in length and five feet thick, located along the coast of Chile. Scientists had long desired to solve the problem of the world's dependence on this fast disappearing natural source of ammonia and nitrogenous compounds. It was Haber, along with Carl Bosch, who finally solved this problem. Haber invented a large-scale catalytic synthesis of ammonia from elemental hydrogen and nitrogen gas, reactants which are abundant and inexpensive. By using high temperature (around 500oCelsius), high pressure (approximately 3000 psi), and an iron catalyst, Haber could force relatively unreactive gaseous nitrogen and hydrogen to combine into ammonia. This furnished the essential precursor for many important substances, particularly fertilizers and explosives used in mining and warfare. Although ammonia and its exploitation ultimately have the ability both to sustain life and destroy it, Haber did not have either reason specifically in mind when

Max Plank Biography

2005-03-29T00:23:50-04:00

Max Plank Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Plank was born on April 23, 1858. Plank was born in Kiel, Shleswig, but spent most of his childhood in Munich. Him and his family moved there the spring of 1867 when he was nine years old. Max's family included his mother, Emma Patzig, and his father, Johann JuliusWilhelm von Plank. Both of his parents were very intelligent. His father was a professor of law at Kiel and both his grandfather and great-grandfather were professors of theology at Gottingen. Max's very well lived life ended in Gottingen, West Germany on October 4, 1947. Plank's educational background included the Munich's Konigliche Maimilian-Gymnasium. He enrolled there when he first moved to Munich. He became interested in mathematics. He graduated from the Gymnasium when he was 16 years of age and then went to different colleges. The University of Munich is where he pursued his mathmatics in October of 1874. Here he was told that nothing else was to be found in the physics field, though his interest grew much more. His first year at Muncih he became ill and missed two years of schooling. In the winter of 1877 he enrolled int the University of Berlin, he pursued theoretical physics here. Plank yearned to study the nature of the universe, theoretical physics allowed him to achive that goal. In Berlin, Plank studies with Hermann von Hemholtz, Gustav Kirchoff, and Rudolf Clausius. Cluasius was the gifted of the three professsors, but the other two were the able physicists. Max graduated summa cum laude in 1879, then returned to Munich and recieved his doctorate. From there Plank taught mathematics and physics for a short period at his secondary school in Munich until 1885. In 1885 Plank was offered a chair position in Kiel, and that posittion for four years. Later, he replaced his former professor, Kurchoff, and held that postion for 38 years until his retirement in 1927. In 1930 Plank was president of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gesselllschaft, German research oraganization, until 1937. He stayed in Germany through World War II, and resumed his presidency at Kaiser from 1945 until 1946. It was very difficult times for Plank during WWII, his son, Erwin, was executed for planning to assassinate Hitler. The next October Plank passed on. Max Plank achieved in physics, philosophy, and

Biography of George Washington Our First President

2005-03-27T10:48:21-04:00

George Washington Biography On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. "As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent," he wrote James Madison, "it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles." Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the morals, manners, and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia gentleman. He pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western expansion. At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax. Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year, as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him. From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington managed his lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Married to a widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, he devoted himself to a busy and happy life. But like his fellow planters, Washington felt himself exploited by British merchants and hampered by British regulations. As the quarrel with the mother country grew acute, he moderately but firmly voiced his resistance to the restrictions. When the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. On July 3, 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained troops and embarked upon a war that was to last six grueling years. He realized early that the best strategy was to harass the British. He reported to Congress, "we should on all Occasions avoid a general Action, or put anything to the Risque, unless compelled by a necessity, into which we ought never to be drawn." Ensuing battles saw him fall back slowly, then strike unexpectedly. Finally in 1781 with the aid of French allies--he forced the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Washington longed to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon. But he soon realized that the Nation under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the Constitutional Convention at

Alva Myrdal Biography

2005-03-27T10:35:38-04:00

Myrdal, Alva (Biographical Paper) 1902 – 1986 Sociologist, stateswoman, and peace reformer, born in Uppsala, Sweden. She studied at the universities of Uppsala, Stockholm, and Geneva, and married Gunnar Myrdal. She was director of the UN department of social sciences (1950--6), and Swedish ambassador to India, Burma, and Ceylon (1955--61). Elected to parliament in 1962, she acted as Swedish representative on the UN Disarmament Committee (1962--73). As minister for disarmament and Church affairs (1966--73), she played a prominent part in the international peace movement. She was awarded the 1980 Albert Einstein Peace Prize, and in 1982 shared the Nobel Peace Prize. (äl´vä mir´däl, Swed. mür´däl) , 1902-86, Swedish sociologist, diplomat, and political leader. As a sociologist in the 1930s, she initiated a national program establishing state responsibility for child care. She actively participated in the United Nations as head of the department of social welfare (1949-50) and as director of the department of social sciences of UNESCO (1950-56). She was ambassador (1955-61) to India, Burma (now Myanmar), Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Nepal. After she served as a member of Sweden's parliament (1962-70), she led Sweden's delegation to the UN Disarmament Conference in Geneva (1962-73) and was minister of disarmament and church affairs (1967-73). For her work in the nuclear disarmament movement, she won the 1982 Nobel Peace Prize. Her writings include The Game of Disarmament (1976) and War, Weapons and Everyday Violence (1977). She was married to Gunnar Myrdal. Internationally acclaimed for her contribution to world peace, Alva Myrdal's personal life (1902-1986) was a series of battles--against her rural Swedish parents, her husband, her children, her reputation, and in her personal quest to find out ``How do I become myself?'' Such ironies abound in this tactful and poignant memoir by her daughter (Philosophy/Brandeis; A Strategy for Peace, 1989, etc.). ``Serving'' her demanding, egocentric, and volatile husband, Gunnar (her ``consort battleship,'' as she called him), who won the Nobel prize in Economics, Alva often left their three children for long periods of time with various surrogates, damaging them but mostly damaging her relationship with them. Still, she longed for the children she could not care for, designed a family home that isolated the parents, taught educational theory she did not follow. Her children--disheveled, neglected, drifting--parented themselves. Jan, the son, a talented writer, ultimately rejected his parents, publishing a scathing attack on his mother just as she was to receive the Nobel Peace

Galileo Biography

2005-03-21T01:35:28-04:00

Scientist Biographical Essay, Galileo Galileo, Italian physicist and astronomer, was born at Pisa February 15, 1564 and died at Arcetri, near Florence, January 8, 1642. In 1581 he entered the University of Pisa to study medicine and the Aristotelian philosophy, but soon abandoned medicine for mathematics and physical science. In 1585 he left the university and went to Florence to study under Otilio Ricci. He was professor of mathematics at Pisa 1589-91, and at Padua 1592-1610, lecturing there to crowds of enthusiastic pupils from all over Europe. In 1610 Cosmo II, grand duke of Tuscany, appointed him philosopher and mathematician at the Florentine court, thus relieving him of all academic routine and enabling him to devote himself entirely to his scientific investigations. Galileo's opposition to the Ptolemaic cosmology first brought him under the suspicion of the Inquisition in 1611, though he continued his investigations and publicly defended the Copernican system. In a letter to Ms friend Father Castelli, dated Dec. 21, 1613, he maintained that the theologian, instead of trying to restrict scientific investigation on Biblical grounds, should make it his business to reconcile the phraseology of the Bible with the results of science. In 1615 a copy of this letter was produced before the Inquisition, with the result that the following year Galileo was warned by the pope to desist from his heretical teachings on the pain of imprisonment. In 1632 he again drew the attention of the Inquisition by publishing a defense of the Copernican system. After a long and wearisome trial he was condemned on June 22, 1633, solemnly to abjure his scientific creed on bended knees. This he did under threats of torture; but whether he was actually put to the torture is still a mooted question. He was also sentenced to indeterminate imprisonment, but this was soon commuted to residence at Sienna, and the following December he was allowed to return to his villa at Arcetri, though he remained under the surveillance of the Inquisition. In 1637 he became totally blind. Galileo's chief contributions to science are his formulation of the laws governing failing bodies, the invention of the telescope, the discovery of the isochronism of the pendulum, and numerous astronomical discoveries, including the phases of Venus, four satellites of Jupiter, and the spots on the sun. His works were stricken from the Index in 1835. The most important are The System of the World, in

Shakespeare Biography

2005-03-21T01:34:39-04:00

William Shakespeare was a supreme English poet, and playwright, universally recognized as the greatest of all the dramatists in the early seventeenth centuries. A complete, authoritative account of Shakespeare's life is lacking; much supposition surrounds relatively few facts. His day of birth is traditionally held on April 23, and he was baptized on April 24, 1564. He was the third of eight children, and was the eldest son of John Shakespeare. He was probably educated in a local grammar school. As the eldest son, Shakespeare would of taken over his father's business, but according to one account, he became a butcher because of reverses in his father's financial situation. According to another account, he became a school master. That Shakespeare was allowed considerable leisure time in his youth is suggested by the fact that his plays show more knowledge of hunting and hawking than do those of other dramatists. In 1582, he married Anne Hathaway. He is supposed to have left Stratford after he was caught poaching in a deer park. Shakespeare apparently arrived in London about 1588 and by 1592 had attained success as a playwright. The publication of Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece and of his Sonnets established his reputation as a poet in the Renaissance manner. Shakespeare's modern reputation is based mainly on the 38 plays he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Shakespeare's professional life in London was marked by a number of financially advantageous arrangements that permitted him to share in the profits of his acting company, the Chamberlain's Men, and its two theaters, the Globe and the Blackfriars. His plays were given special presentation at the courts of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. After about 1608, Shakespeare's dramatic production lessened and he spent more time in Stratford. There he established a family in and imposing house, the New Place, and became a leading local citizen. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in the Stratford church. Although the precise date of many of Shakespeare's plays is in doubt, his dramatic career is divided into four periods: (1) the period up to 1594, (2) the years from 1594 to 1600, (3) the years from 1600 to 1608, (4) the period after 1608. In all periods, the plots of his plays were frequently drawn from chronicles, histories, or earlier fiction. Shakespeare's

Sigmund Freud Biographical Essay

2005-03-21T01:31:33-04:00

Sigmund Freud Biography Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856, in Freiberg, Moravia, which is now Pribor, in Czech Republic, the son of Jacob Freud and his third wife Amalia. Sigmund was followed by seven younger brothers and sisters. His family constellation was unusual because Freud's two half-brothers, Emmanuel and Philip, were almost the same age as his mother. Freud was younger than his nephew John, Emmanuel's son. This odd situation may have triggered Freud's interest on family dynamics, leading to his ulterior formulations on the Oedipus Complex. Freud's father, a Jewish wool merchant of modest means, moved the family to Leipzig, Germany in 1859, and then settled in Vienna, where Freud remained until 1938. When Freud was eight years old, he was reading Shakespeare, and, during his adolescence, the hearing of a lecture about Goethe's essay on nature impressed him very much. Having considered studying law previously, he decided instead on a career in medical research, beginning his studies at Vienna University in 1873. As a student, Freud began research work on the central nervous system, guided by Ernst von Brock, and qualified as doctor of medicine in 1881. He worked at the Theodor Meynert's Psychiatric Clinic for a year, and later studied with Charcot, at the Salpetriure, in Paris. From 1884 to 1887 Freud published several articles on cocaine. He married Martha Bernays in 1886. The couple had six children (Mathilde, 1887; Jean-Martin, 1889; Olivier, 1891; Ernst, 1892; Sophie, 1893; Anna, 1895). He established a private practice, specializing in nervous disorders. His interest in hysteria was stimulated by Breuer's and Charcot's use of hypnotherapy. Freud moved to a flat in Berggasse, which turned into The Freud Museum Vienna eighty years later, in 1971. Freud and Breuer published their findings in Studies on Hysteria in 1895; in the same year, Freud was able to analyze, for the first time, one of his own dreams, frequently known as "The Dream of Irma's Injection". He also wrote 100 pages of draft manuscript that were published only after his death, under the name of Project for a Scientific Psychology in 1950. From 1895-1900, Freud developed many of the concepts that were later included in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis. The term 'psychoanalysis' (free association) was named by Freud in 1896. After breaking with Breuer and reacting to a crisis, due to his father's death, Freud started his self-analysis in 1897, exploring his

Gerald Ford Biography

2005-02-23T08:39:06-05:00

Gerald Ford President Ford was born on July 14th, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska. He was born to Dorothy Gardner King and Leslie King. Their marriage ended a short time later. When his mother remarried a man by the name of Gerald R. Ford she legally changed her sons name from Leslie Lynch King to Gerald R. Ford. President Ford had three half brothers all younger than him. Their names were Thomas, Richard, and James. When the Fords needed more room than they had in their other house they moved into a three-story house. Gerald Ford quickly became friends with kids in the neighborhood. Two of his friend's names were Arthur and Benjamin. They went to Madison school together, but when they went to high school, they were at different schools and didn't see much of one another. Another one of Gerald Ford's friends was Byrd Garel. Garel dropped out of high school and out of Gerald Ford's life when they were sophomores. After finishing high school he went on to college at Michigan State. Gerald Ford could not afford to pay for college, so they gave him a scholarship. He also found a job waiting on tables, and his aunt and uncle promised him two dollars a week. Ford was on the school football team and was one of the stars. Ford graduated from Michigan State in the spring of 1935. Although he had classes in various subjects with good grades it was his talent in football that got him jobs after college. Ford was offered a job coaching the Yale boxing team though he knew nothing about it. He had two choices to make, he could stay in football and pursue his interest in law, or he could become a coach at Yale University. Ford started taking boxing lessons at the YMCA three times a week. Ford coached at Yale for six seasons from 1935 to 1940. In 1938 the school let Ford coach on a trial basis to see if he could handle courses in law and be a full time boxing coach. He did so well that he was accepted and was able to take the course full time. Ford finished in the top third of his Yale law classes. Ford became President of the United States of America on August 9, 1974 after Richard Nixon resigned. He was the first president that was not elected. Ford became Vice President when

Osaman Bin Ladin Essay and Biography

2005-02-20T05:34:07-05:00

Bin Laden Report Osama Bin Laden is both one of the CIA's most wanted men and a hero to many young people in the Arab world. He and his associates were already being sought by the US on charges of international terrorism, including in connection with the 1998 bombing of American embassies in Africa and last year's attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. In May this year a US jury convicted four men believed to be linked with Bin Laden of plotting the embassy bombings in Kenya andTanzania. Osama was exposed to terrorism at a very early onin his life but he lost his father when he was 13. He married at the age of 17 to a Syrian girl who was a relative. He grew up as religiously committed boy and the early marriage was another factor of protecting him from corruption. Osama had his primary, secondary and even university education in Jeddah. He had a degree in public administration 1981 from King Abdul-Aziz university in Jeddah. Countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Sudan are the only countries he has been to. All stories of trips to Switzerland, Philippines, and London are all unfounded. At secondary school and university he adopted the main trend of many educated Muslims at that time, Muslim Brotherhood. There was a collection of Muslim scholars in Jeddah and Mecca at that period. There was nothing extraordinary in his personality and that trend was rather very non-confrontational. Interestingly, the 1980 raid in the Grand Mosque in Mecca was not appealing to him, neither the theology or that group. He had two distinguished teachers in Islamic studies, which was a compulsory subject in the university. First was Abdullah Azzam who became later as one of the big names in Afghanistan and the second was Mohammed Quttub, a famous Islamic writer and philosopher. Bin Laden was brought up with good manners. He matured as extremely humble and very generous person. He insists to join his comrades in every act. Very frequently he cooks for them and serves them. He lives a simple life in a small flat in Jeddah or in a shed in Afghanistan and insists on his family to eat simple and to dress simple. He is known to be strictly truthful and would never lie, but he is politically conscious and believes there is a room for political maneuver even if you are

Biography of General Henry Knox

2005-02-20T05:29:30-05:00

The Life of Henry Knox Henry Knox was born on July 25, 1750 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the son to William and Mary Campbell Knox. His parents were both pioneers from Northern Ireland. Henry was the seventh of ten children. William Knox was a shipmaster that traded among the West Indies. He suffered from money difficulties and mental stress, passing away at the age of fifty. Because of this, Henry gave up school and became the sole support for his mother.1 At the age of 12, he was employed by a Boston bookseller. Then in 1771, he opened his own shop, the London Bookstore, which became a gathering place for British officers.2 This position that allowed him to acquire a considerable part of his education. He read much of Plutarch and learned of ancient heroes, of military tactics and strategy, and became knowledable in military science.3 Henry Knox joined a local military group when he was 18. He supported the American cause, and in 1772, he became a member of the Boston Grenadier Corps. He was prominent in the colonial militia and tried to keep the Boston citizenry and British soldiers from the clash known as the Boston Massacre. He was a volunteer in June 1775 at the Battle of Bunker Hill. He served under General Ward, in charge of the colonials around Boston.4 In 1775, Washington arrived in Boston, taking command of the army. It was here where Washington developed a friendship with Knox. Washington realized the need of artillery in the American forces and found Knox to be well educated on the subject. Washington asked his opinion on what the army should do. The thought of Knox was to use the cannons from the captured Fort Ticonderoga. Knox was commissioned a colonel, placed in charge of artillery, and given the task to bring cannons from Ticonderoga to Boston. During this time it was winter and the conditions were harsh. By the way of ox sleds, Knox successfully brought fifty cannons to the city of Boston.5 In March 1776, Washington seized Dorchester Heights, which was the key to Boston, and Knox placed the cannons in position there. General Howe, an English general, realizing the danger of an impending American attack, withdrew his troops from the city. On March 17, he embarked his troops for Halifax.

Mary Shelley Biography

2005-02-20T05:23:23-05:00

Mary Shelley Biographical Essay Mary Shelley was born on August 30th, 1797. She was born to William Godwin, a philosopher, and Mary Wollstonecraft, one of the first radical feminists. Both of her parents were extremely active in the revolutionary movements of the late eighteenth century. Her father was a minister but later became an atheist and turned his attention to ethics and politics. When he met Wollstonecraft, he was taken by her intelligence and commitment to women's rights. Mary Wollstonecraft worked as as seamstress, lady's companion and director of a girls' school and as a governess. As an underpaid working woman, it was then when she realized and recognized that women were underrepresented in Parliament. She argued that " women are human creatures, who, in common with men, are placed on this earth to unfold their faculties" (Smith 2) Getting back to Mary Shelley, she grew up in a very loving environment even in spite of the fact that her mother died September 10, 1797, ten days after her birth. For four years he raised Mary and her half sister, Fanny with the help of friends and extended family. Although he felt he was doing the best he could, he still felt as though he wasn't giving them proper education. As a result of his feeling, he married Mary Jane Clairmont on December 12, 1801 creating a blended family consisting of William, Mary Jane, Mary, Fanny, Mary Jane's children Charles and Jane(Claire), and later William, Mary's half brother. The older children were required to perform household duties such as cooking, cleaning, and washing clothes. She also learned cooking, needlepoint, and how to throw a successful dinner party from her new stepmother. Her father gradually learned the art of proper schooling. He taught the children mythology, ancient and English history. It was around this time that her father and stepmother moved the family to a commercial part of London where they owned and operated M.J Godwin and Co., a publishing and book selling firm. After the move, William Godwin began to teach Mary Latin and the sciences as well as training her in such research skills as making chronologies. However, Mary has been quoted as saying "he had faults as a teacher...too much temper...to little sympathy...too grave and severe. (Smith 6) This caused a rift in not only her relationship with her father but with Mary Jane as well. She was known for wandering

Timeline of Alexander the Great's Life, Biography

2005-01-30T05:56:09-05:00

Alexander the Great(Alexander III)

Al Capone Biographical Essay

2005-01-30T05:55:38-05:00

Al Capone Biography: One of the Most Ruthless Men of All Time The ultimate symbol of a gangster rule, is a man by the name of Al Capone, who dominated the Chicago underworld by committing many crimes: such as illegal gambling, extortion, prostitution, and alcohol distribution during prohibition. Capone’s life of gang activity started at a very young age. He created a multi-million dollar empire of crime in Chicago. He has been referred to as one of the most ruthless men of all time (Stockdale 45). He was a smart businessman, good family man, and a generous person, that lived a life full of murders and other crimes. Gabriele Capone was a barber that lived in Naples, Italy who decided to escape a bleak rural life in the promise of work and success in the New World. He was one of 43,000 Italians who arrived in the U.S. in 1894 (Stockdale 7-8). Gabriele was 30 years old and he brought his 27-year-old wife, Teresina and their three sons. He was planning to start a barbershop when he got to America. On January 17, 1899, Teresina gave birth to their fourth son named Alphonse Capone (Bardsley 2). The Capone family lived a very normal life with no problems or events that would explain why their sons chose a life of crime. In 1907, Gabriel moved his family into an apartment over his barbershop in an Italian district in south Brooklyn. This move exposed Alphonse to a different kind of life on the streets. He became a member of a junior gang called the Forty Thieves Juniors, which taught its members the art of petty vandalism. The gang taught him how to use violence to get what you want. When he was 14 years old, Al got expelled from school and never went back after he got mad at his teacher and hit her. By this time, Al Capone was destined to live a life of crime (Stockdale 9-11). By the time Al was 14 years old, he was an experienced streetfighter and had learned how to use a knife and gun successfully. He became a good leader of the junior gang and was introduced to the Five Points Gang in Brooklyn by Frankie Yale and John Torrio. He began working for Frankie Yale who was an important figure in the adult gang in Brooklyn. Al was 16 years old and was helping control Yale’s

William H. Gates III Biographical Essay

2005-01-06T03:09:30-05:00

William H. Gates III (Bill Gates) Biography On October 28, 1955 William H. Gates III (nicknamed "trey") was born in Seattle. His father was a lawyer (William H. Gates II) and his mother was a schoolteacher. He also had two older sisters who were in high school when Bill was born. Bill attended a public elementary school before he moved to a private school in North Seattle named Lakeside. Lakeside's strong academics enabled Bill to actively get involved with computers (which were the love of his life next to baseball) and use his superior intellect. This was the beginning of a long and successful career in computers. Bill combined his intellect and visions of technology along with his active participation in may charities to make our world a better place. He was born with a long family history of business, politics and community services. His grand father was the vice president of a national bank, and his father was a prominent lawyer. Early in life it was obvious that Bill Gates inherited the ambition, intelligence and competitive spirits that helped the rest of his family rise to the top in their chosen professions. In elementary school he quickly surpassed all of his peer's abilities in nearly all subjects, especially in math and science. His parents recognized his intelligence and decided to enroll him in Lakeside, a private school known for its intense academic environment. It was at Lakeside that he was first introduced to computers. In the spring of 1968 the Lakeside Prep School concluded that it should acquaint the student body with the world of computers. They were still too large and costly for the school to purchase it's own, so instead they had a fund raiser and bought computer time on a DEC PDP-10 owned by General Electric. A few thousand dollars were raised which the school figured would buy more than enough time to last into the next school year. But they had drastically underestimated the amount of students that would be addicted to this machine. With in a week all of the school's computer time had been used up. Bill and his friends went to places that made computers and finally found a company that would let them use their computers for free, but they had to record all the times that

Michel de Nostredame / Nostradamus Biographical Essay

2005-01-03T04:00:49-05:00

Nostradamus Biography Michel de Nostredame, better known as Nostradamus was born on December 14 1503 (Avenel 1). Nostradamus will forever be a mystery to any that try to study his philosophies or techniques. Nostradamus wrote twelve books known as the Centuries, each book contained one hundred predictions known as quatrains. Each prediction consisted of a four line rhymed verse. These rhymes were disguised in a way that no one could really know their own future but only realize the prediction after the event has passed. An unprepared reader would dismiss the quatrains as a simple joke. Hogue can describe Nostradamus' predictions as "artful, baffling mixture of French, Old Provencal, and Latin. They are willfully obscured in a miasma of puns and wordplay, allusions and elisions, grammatical trickery and cryptic anagrams"(Hogue 8.). Nostradamus has had a great effect on all of humanity. Many films, books and studies have been based upon the life and predictions of Nostradamus. Nostradamus was the greatest profit. Even before writing the Centuries he exhibited skills in medicine that would only be recognized in the twentieth century. Nostradamus touched his own lifetime as well as years to come; he was able to predict the fall of King Henri II and King Henri III. Many of his future predictions included those of Napoleon and Submarines. Using his knowledge of the future Nostradamus applied various medical techniques that at his time were unheard of. One of these techniques in which he insisted upon was a daily bath. In our own lifetime this seems like a minor accomplishment however "even the aristocracy, were content with only one bath per year."(Wilson 91) Nostradamus also realized the need to have the sick in sunlit beds; a discovery made by twentieth century doctors proved sick healed faster in sunlit beds then in darkness (Wilson 91). During the time of Nostradamus bleeding was the most common cure utilized by medical professionals. It was considered to cure anything from a migraine to pneumonia (Wilson 92). A cure in which Nostradamus refused to apply. Bleeding the sick was later found to worsen the condition of the person rather then heal them. Nostradamus displayed traits most people would see as being eccentric and unheard of (Wilson 92). It is because of the time period in which he used these techniques, proved he had knowledge of the future. Not all of Nostradamus' predictions come true only after death. In his own

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Biographical Essay

2004-12-29T06:42:14-05:00

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Biography Johann Sebastian Bach is probally one of the greatest composers of his time, as well as our time. As a boy he had a fantastic soprano singing voice and always took the lead roles in the church and school choirs. He started composing fairly early on in his life and his first main works, including the Preludes and Variations for the organ, were composed between the ages of 17 and 20. Bach loved church music and was regarded as one of the finest organists of his day. Since he was raised up with strong ties to the church, he was always involved in church music both as a singer and an organist. He wrote many of his marvelous series of cantatas for the Sunday services at the Church of St Thomas in Leipzig, which were probably the best of it's kind. Bach was always was in high demand and held a continuation of excellent jobs throughout his lifetime which included posts at the courts of Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Weimar and Prince Leopold of Cöthen. Life, however, was not always that great though. In the early years Bach was heavily influenced by the composer Buxtehude (another great writer for the organ) and he left his first job as organist at Arnstadt to go and have lessons with him. This turned into a four-month leave, causing trouble with Bach's employers when he returned. Not only had his presence been missed for four consecutive months, but he had come back writing in an advanced and unusual style that wasn't exactly what was required. It was great music but it was just a little ahead of its time. So Bach moved on to the job in Weimar, which gave him greater musical freedom. His main duties were court organist and chamber musician to the reigning Duke Wilhelm Ernst, and he afterwards attained the job of conductor to the court orchestra in his last three years of service. It was at the beginning of this period of work that he wrote some of his most famous organ pieces, including the marvellous Passacaglia. The top job at these various courts was always a conductor, and there was an opening in 1716 at Weimar. But Bach did not get offered the job, so he immediately started looking for another position, ending up at the court of Prince Leopold of Cothen. Bach spent

Maya Angelou Biography

2004-12-29T06:40:30-05:00

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou, born April 4, 1928 as Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, was raised in segregated rural Arkansas. She is a poet, historian, author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, and director. She has been working at Wake Forest University in north Carolina since 1981.She has published ten best selling books and numerous magazine articles earning her Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award nomination. At the request of President Clinton, she wrote and delivered a poem at his 1993 presidential inauguration. Whole her life, Maya Angelou has been trying to make something special in the poetry, history and in the film industry of the Africa-American women. Dr, Angelou, who speaks French, Spanish, Italian and West African Fanti, began her career in drama and dance. In 1940 she and her brother moved to San Francisco to be with their mother, who had remarried. She gave birth to her son Clyde Johnson, just a few month after graduating a high school in 1945.At 22, she married Tosho Angelos, a former sailor of Greek descent, but she left her marriage two and half years later and set out to become a professional dancer. Maya Angelou spent her formative years shuttling between St. Louis, Arkansas and San Francisco. She worked as an editor for The Arab observer, an English-language weekly published Cairo. Maya Angelou lived in Accra, Ghana, where Sergejs Golubevs under the black nationalist regime of Karane Nkrumah she taught music, dance, and. studied cinematography in Sweden. In the 1960's, at the request of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ms Angelou became the northern coordinator for the southern Leadership Conference. She Commission on the Observance of International women's Year. Maya Angelou, poet, was among the first African -American woman to hit the bestseller lists with her 'I know Why the Caged bird Sings " helds the Great Hall audience spellbound with stories of her own childhood. Maya Angelou's second achievement was in 1971 when she produced "Just Give Me a Cool Drink of water 'Fore I Die", in 1975"Oh Pray My Wings Are Going to Fit Me Well," in 1979"And I Still Rise," and in 1983 "Shaker Why Don't You Sing." She ranged from story to poem to song and back again, and her theme was love and the universality of all lives. "The honorary duty of a human being is to love, "Angelou said. She spoke of her early love for William Shakespeare's works, and

Robert Frost Biographical Essay

2004-12-26T00:55:56-05:00

Robert Frost Biography Robert Frost was an intelligent and influential poet in the early 1900's. He was the most famous American poet of his time. Robert Frost's life, poems, and external influences, brought enjoyment through his poetry to many of his readers. The life of Robert Frost was an uphill battle for many years. He wrote and published many books of poetry during his life. These books and poems are still enjoyed by many readers today. His poetry details the lives and landscapes, which surrounded him. These influences brought his writings to life. Through Frost his readers have enjoyed the many poems and experiences he has brought to their life. The life of Robert Frost brought many disappointments and eventually accomplishments. Mr. Frost's life began on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California. During his childhood, he experienced the sadness and abuse of an alcoholic father. When he was only eleven years old, his father died at the young age of 34. His mother Isabel Frost then moved the family from San Francisco to Lawrence, Massachusetts. His mother struggled for many years to support the family. Early in Frost's life, he discovered his love for poetry. This was no surprise since his father had worked in journalism for many years. In 1892, Frost graduated from Lawrence High School. It was during this time that he met his high school sweetheart. This young lady's name was Elinor White. After Mr. Frost graduated from high school, he decided to enter Dartmouth College. Unfortunately, he remained in college less than one semester due to a problem with his mother. After he quit school, he taught eighth grade at the private school that his mother had founded. He also worked at a mill in Lawrence. In 1895, he worked briefly as a newspaper reporter. It was also during this year that he married his high school sweetheart. A year later the birth of their first child occurred. In 1897, Frost was invited to attend Harvard College as a special student. During the next several years, Frost and his wife had many children. In 1900, his first-born son and his mother died. It was at this point in his life, that he decided to move his family to a farm near Derry, New Hampshire. In 1911, frost began teaching at the New Hampshire State Normal

Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Woman Mathematician

2004-12-22T23:59:03-05:00

Even though her contribution to mathematics are very important, Maria Gaetana Agnesi was not a typical famous mathematician. She led a quite simple life and she gave up mathematics very early. At first glance her life may seem to be boring, however, considering the circumstances in which she was raised, her accomplishments to mathematics are glorious. Enjoy! During the Middle Ages, under the influence of Christendom, many European countries were opposed to any form of higher education for females. Women were mostly deprived from the fundamental elements of education, such as reading and writing, claiming that these were a source of temptation and sin. For the most part, learning was confined to monasteries and nunneries which constituted the only opportunity for education open to girls during the Middle Ages. After the fall of Constantinople (today Istanbul), many scholars migrated to Rome, bringing Europe knowledge and critical thinking, which in turn gave rise to the Renaissance. However, except in Italy, the status of women throughout Europe changed very slowly. In Italy, however, where the Renaissance had its origin, women made their mark on the academic world. Intellectual women were admired by men, they were never ridiculed for being intellectual and educated. This attitude enabled Italian women to participate in arts, medicine, literature, and mathematics. Among many others, Maria Gaetana Agnesi was by far the most important and extraordinary figure in mathematics during the 18th century. "Maria Gaetana Agnesi was born in Milan on May 16, 1718, to a wealthy and literate family" [Osen, 39]. She was the oldest of 21 children. Her father was a professor of mathematics and provided her a profound education. "She was recognized as a child prodigy very early; spoke French by the age of five; and had mastered Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and several modern languages by the age of nine. At her teens, Maria mastered mathematics" [Osen, 40]. The Agnesi home was a gathering place of the most distinguished intellectuals of the day. Maria participated in most of the seminars, engaging with the guests in abstract philosophical and mathematical discussions. Maria was very shy in nature and did not like these meetings. She continued participating in the home gatherings to please her father until the death of her mother. Her mothers death provided her the excuse to retire from public life. She took over management of the household. Her father did not oppose this, because it

Avogadro

2004-12-22T22:58:43-05:00

Avogadro Avogadro was born on June 9, 1776 in Turin, Italy. He began his career in 1796 by obtaining a doctorate in law and practicing as a lawyer for three years after. In 1800, he began to take private lessons in mathematics and physics and decided to make the natural sciences his profession. He was appointed as a demonstrator at the Academy of Turin in1806 and the Professor of Natural Philosophy at the College of Vercelli in 1809, and in 1820, he was appointed the professor of mathematical physics. He was a physics professor but he also experimented in chemistry using mathematics to base most of his findings. Avogadro is well known for his hypothesis known as Avogadro's Law. His law states that at a given temperature, equal volumes of gas contain the same number of molecules equal to about 6.0221367 x 10 to the 23rd power.A Mole of a substance is the quantity of the substance that weights the same as its molecular mass. One mole of any substance is Equal to Avogadro's number. Therefore Avogadro's law can be stated in terms of moles, namely that equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain the same number of moles. Thanks to Avogadro and his number, scientists can measure out equal number of molecules by weighing out an equal number of moles. For gases this can be done by using 22.4 liters at STP(1 atmosphere and 223 Kelvin, 0 deg. Celsius). Avogadro's number is most reliably determined by X-ray diffraction of crystals. For many years' people thought the number was equal to about 6.022045 x 10 to the 23rd power, However, in 1986 the number was redefined as about 6.0221367 x 10 to the 23rd power.Albert Einstein's third research paper was concerned with the nature of molecules. We all know that if we drop a lump of sugar into water it diffuses through the water, making it somewhat more sticky. Thinking of water as a structureless fluid and the sugar molecules as small hard spheres, Einstein was able to find not only the size of the sugar molecules but also a value for Avogadro's number. Avogadro proposed his hypothesis in 1811. At that time there was no data at all on the number of particles in a mole. Measurements were made by Robert Brown in 1827 that gave an approximate value for Avogadro's number by observations of brownian

Edith Wharton - THE BIOGRAPHY

2004-12-22T21:53:37-05:00

Edith Wharton - THE BIOGRAPHY Edith Wharton was born on January 24, 1862 under the name Edith Newbold Jones. She was born in New York, the great state. Her parents were George Frederic Jones and Lucretia Rhinelander, who were descendants of Dutch and English colonists who made fortunes in shipping, banking, and real estate. Georges parents were not happy with the marriage of Lucretia and George, they said that Lucretia was of a bad breed, but that didn't stop them. Edith constantly traveled back and forth to Europe, Rome and Paris. While living in Paris, the Franco-Prussian War broke out and they had moved to a German watering called Bad Wildbad in the Black Forest. While being there she became very sick with typhoid. All doctors were in the war helping soldiers that no one could care for her. She eventually became well but was very delicate for about two yrs. Then she moved back to New York at the age of 10 on Twenty-third Street, near Fifth Avenue. She didn't attend school but was given home schooling and read from her father's library. At age 23, she married Edward Robbins Wharton, nickname, Teddy. He was a nice man with good intellectual background. He was not that smart and didn't enjoy Edith's interests, which caused their marriage to be unhappy. Edith's father died due to many years of sickness. For a while Edith lived with her widowed mother. Edith was a participant of fashionable society and an observer of changes in New York. Edith was an ideal person to view the social ambitions of the Gilded Age, which was the post-civil War period of American expansion in business, foreign affairs, and arts. She wrote "THE MOUNT" in 1902. She wrote the fiction, "THE HOUSE OF MIRTH" in 1905 where she depicts materialism and the rich of the contemporary world. She was extremely creative. She had problems publishing her first book and didn't get published until she was thirty-six years old. She then settled in France, first in Paris. She had divorced Teddy in 1913. She spent most of her time with French writers and artists, Paul Bourget, Jacques-Emile Blanche. During WWI she became dedicated to the ALLIED cause. She created hostels and schools for refugees from northeastern France and Belgium. In her last years, Edith spent in two beautiful

LENI RIEFENSTAHL Biographical Essay

2004-12-22T21:52:01-05:00

LENI RIEFENSTAHL German producer, director, writer, editor, and actress Leni Riefenstahl may be considered the best woman in film. The success of her first film, The Blue Light, attracted the attention of Adolf Hitler. Riefenstahl's cinematic abilities and Hitler's fascist obsession with propaganda would prove a cinematically successful relationship; one that would haunt Riefenstahl the rest of her life. Riefenstahl made two documentaries glorifying the Nazis: Triumph of the Will and Olympia. Many cannot divorce Riefenstahl's filmmaking talent with her connection to the nature of the films, but this is absurd as Elia Kazan's work because he named names during the 1950 McCarthy Communist witch-hunt. One of the biggest problems Riefenstahl had in disassociating herself from the Nazis is the fact that her films were brilliantly made and remain a model of documentary cinema technique. Triumph of the Will used an omniscient point-of-view, a fly-on-the-wall style common to many documentaries today. Aerial shots used in the film help achieve the effect that we are observing the majesty and power of the Nazi Party from the heavens. Riefenstahl's use of editing techniques, like the slow dissolve, also helps create what would become the Nazi myth of invulnerability. In one shot we slowly dissolve from an aerial shot of clouds to an overhead shot of the crowd, a transition that makes Hitler appear as someone descended from the heavens. After Hitler saw the outcome of Triumph of the Will he convinced Riefenstahl to film the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. For this event which was to symbolize the spectacle and prowess of Nazi Germany, Riefenstahl used even more innovative and powerful techniques than in Triumph of the Will. She used the most sophisticated equipment and techniques of the day. She trained cameramen as divers and used underwater cameras to film the diving sequences. She had cameras mounted on balloons, airplanes, steel towers, and rafts. She also had trenches dug in the stadium turf in order to film the athletes from low angles. The end result of the filming of the Olympics was titled Olympia. To her credit, even though Hitler ordered Riefenstahl to downplay the achievements of any non-white athletes, Riefenstahl's film focuses on the achievements of African American track star, Jesse Owens. Nonetheless, along with Triumph of the Will, many continue to view this documentary as a symbol of Nazi

Biography of Mary Shelley Author of Frankenstein

2004-12-22T21:32:26-05:00

Biography of Mary Shelley, Author of Frankenstein It was certain when Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin greeted the world on August 30, 1797, her life was going to be out of step with the ordinary. Her unorthodox parents and family structure ensured this from the beginning. Her father, William Godwin, himself a philosopher-historian, was cold and ever remote. Originally he trained for the Calvinist ministry, but only wore the cloth a few years. A sharp man who ate to excess and borrowed money from anyone who would give him a loan, he had little time for anything that did not constitute the cultivation of a formidable mind through writing. That is, until Mary Wollstonecraft entered his life. With the possible exception of William Blake, she was the most influential of the Enlightenment radicals. Independent at age twenty-one, she ran a school with her sisters and befriended Samuel Johnson. While in France, she took up with a captain and eventually had a daughter, Fanny. After being deserted, she returned to England and attempted suicide. Once she had recovered, she began to write for a living. Although she wrote in a variety of genres, it was a piece on women's liberation that won her lasting fame. The first meeting between these two people took place at a social evening in Godwin's home. Their identical intellectual beliefs made their coupling inevitable. An affair begun in the autumn of 1796. When Mary discovered she was pregnant, the couple decided to marry, that both illegitimate children would have a name. In spite of the ceremony, they continued to dwell separately and live independently. They were still very much in love, however. Unfortunately, about a week and a half after Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, was born, her mother died from labor complications. Although he wanted to be a good father, Godwin soon realized that he could not handle two young girls, and immediately set himself to the task of finding another wife. A proposal to Maria Reveley, who would later become Mary's best friend, was rejected. As Godwin started to sink into despair, Mary began to talk, and was so lively that she was nicknamed Mercury. The problem remained of finding a substitute mother, and Godwin found what appeared to be an answer in Mary Jane Clairmont. He quickly married her, that she could care for the children and leave him to his contemplation of the abstract. Fanny and Mary's

Biography of George Orwell Author of 1984

2004-12-22T21:29:20-05:00

Biography of George Orwell Author of 1984 George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair on June 25, 1903, in Motihari, India. The Blair¹s were relatively prosperous civil servants, working in India on behalf of the British Empire. Blair would later describe his family¹s socioeconomic status as "lower-upper middle class," on comment on the extraordinary degree to which British citizens in India depended on the Empire for their livelihood; though the Blair were able to live quite comfortably in India, they had none of the physical assets or independent investments that would have been enjoyed by their class in England proper. Despite this factor, Ida Blair moved back to England in 1904 with Eric and his older sister Marjorie so that they could be brought up in a more traditional Christian environment. In England, Blair entered the public school system, and was admitted to Eton College in 1917. For most students of this era, Eton led directly to higher education at a university, often Oxford or Cambridge. Blair shunned further formal schooling, and after leaving Eton in 1921, returned to India in 1922 to join the Indian Imperial Police. This work gave Blair his first real experiences with the poor and downtrodden whom he would later champion, and unhappy with the his position as the "hand of the oppressor," Blair resigned from the police force in 1927, returning to England that same year. Upon return to England, Blair lived in the East End district of London, which was filled with paupers and the destitute, whom he saw as the spiritual kin of the Burmese peasants he had encountered as a policeman. In 1928, Blair moved to Paris to become a writer, where he again lived among the poor, and was eventually forced to abandon his writing temporarily and become a dishwasher. He returned to England the next year (1929), and lived as a tramp before finding work as a teacher at a private school. This position gave Blair time to write, and his first book, Down and Out in Paris and London, was published in 1933, under the pseudonym George Orwell. The publication of this first work, which was an account of his years living among the poor of Paris and London, marks the beginning of a more stable period for Orwell, in which he taught, opened a bookshop, and continued to write. His first fictional work, Burmese Days, appeared in 1934.

Caesar Augustus Biography

2004-12-22T20:39:29-05:00

Caesar Augustus Caesar Augustus took reign of the Roman Empire after the death of his uncle Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar's reign was looked down upon by the senate and Augustus took that into account and as a result he did not follow the way of governing his uncle chose. He learned that directly opposing the strong republican tradition in Rome would be very dangerous. So with this in consideration, Augustus transformed the Roman Republic into a different type of government. He learned that through showing good moral character and giving people want they wanted, peace and a better civilized state could be achieved. Caesars reign was most successful because he had a good relationship with the senate and knew exactly what the people wanted, peace and prosperity. Unlike his uncle, who shaped the government to his liking, and gained resentment of many Roman senators. "Thine age, O Caesar, has brought back fertile crops to the fields and has restored to our own Jupiter the military standards stripped from the proud columns of the Parthians, has closed Janus' temple freed of wars; has put reins on license overstepping righteous bounds; has wiped away our sins and revived the ancient virtues through which Latin name and the might of Italy waxed great, and the fame and majesty of our empire were spread from the sun's bed in the west to the east As long as Caesar is the guardian of the state, neither civil dissension nor violence shall banish peace, nor wrath that forges swords and brings misery to cities." (From Horace, Odes) This quote is an example which shows us that Augustus was much respected and very successful in creating a better civilized state. He was thought of a God because of his accomplishments for the people and the government, in return they gave him the title of "father of his country". The power of both the people and the senate was passed entirely in the hands of Augustus. Coins of an emperor were issued as a symbol of respect and accomplishment Roman coins were transmitters of political propaganda. One side showed the portrait of the emperor and the other side showed a recent victory or an important event. Caesar Augustus used these coins to show people what he did and what he had accomplished. On one coin we see him wearing a wreath. Around the coin are words

John Coltrane Biography

2004-12-12T16:00:33-05:00

Jazz, taking its roots in African American folk music, has evolved, metamorphosed, and transposed itself over the last century to become a truly American art form. More than any other type of music, it places special emphasis on innovative individual interpretation. Instead of relying on a written score, the musician improvises. For each specific period or style through which jazz has gone through over the past seventy years, there is almost always a single person who can be credited with the evolution of that sound. From Thelonius Monk, and his bebop, to Miles Davis' cool jazz, from Dizzy Gillespie's big band to John Coltrane's free jazz; America's music has been developed, and refined countless times through individual experimentation and innovation. One of the most influential musicians in the development of modern jazz is John Coltrane. In this paper, I examine the way in which Coltrane's musical innovations were related to the music of the jazz greats of his era and to the tribulations and tragedies of his life. John William Coltrane was born in Hamlet, North Carolina, on September 23, 1926. Two months later, his family moved to High Point, North Carolina, where he lived in a fairly well-to-do part of town. He grew up in a typical southern black family, deeply religious, and steeped in tradition. Both of his parents were musicians, his father played the violin and ukulele, and his mother was a member of the church choir. For several years, young Coltrane played the clarinet, however with mild interest. It was only after he heard the great alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges playing with the Duke Ellington band on the radio, that he became passionate about music. He dropped the clarinet and took up the alto saxophone, soon becoming very accomplished. When Coltrane was thirteen, he experienced several tragedies that would leave a lasting impression on him and would have a great impact on the music of his later years. Within a year, his father, his uncle, and his minister all died. He lost every important male influence in his life. After graduating from high school in High Point, he moved to Philadelphia in 1943, where he lived in a small one-room apartment and worked as a laborer in a sugar-refinery. For a year, Coltrane attended Ornstein School of Music. Then in 1945, he was drafted into the Navy and sent to Hawaii where he was assigned to play

Muhammad Ali Biography

2004-12-12T05:41:03-05:00

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. later known as Muhammad Ali, was a black boxer, and was proud of it. Many African Americans were ashamed of their color, but Ali was different. He was the first boxer to win the Heavyweight Championship 3 different times. He had a great personality and was liked by the people. During his life, he made big decisions that changed the course of his life completely. Muhammad Ali's journey through life was a great inspiration for African American people, but Ali himself inspires admiration to everybody. Muhammad Ali was a man made to box. He had a great career before him since he made his first professional fight under President Eisenhower presidency. His Professional Career was really impressive. His had a great balance and was able to move his hands and feet in great speed and coordination. Ali was said to dance in the ring while destroying his opponents. Ali started fighting at a very short age, and his first teacher was Joe Martin (Hauser 18). Through hard work and discipline, he became a professional fighter and eventually the Heavyweight champion of the world. Although he lost the title twice, he regained it three times, putting him in the history books. His boxing career was put to an end when he started suffering from Parkinson's disease. This was the end of his boxing, but his greatness will never die. Muhammad Ali was not the kind of person that gets taken away with fame and money. He is a simple, unsophisticated person with a very loving heart, and very determined (Hauser 186). He did not care much about himself, he enjoyed making people happy. While training, he let people come and see him, charging them to see the show. Doing so, he earned about $1000 a day. After the training was over, he went home and gave away every cent to needy people, especially kids (Hauser 149). This was the kind of person Ali was. His big dream was to see peace in the country, racial peace. Also, he was not totally convinced with the idea of segregation because it is not good to make people be together against their will. This way of thinking and qualities is what Malcolm X saw in Ali, and therefore thought Ali could be a great messenger for the African Americans (Hauser 110). Ali's ideas and actions distinguished him from the rest,

Al Capone - True Gangster

2004-12-12T05:39:35-05:00

Prohibition led to the bootlegging of liquor and the gang wars of the 1920’s. The most notorious gangster of all time, known as Al Capone, was the most powerful mob leader of his era. He dominated organized crime in the Chicago area from 1925 until 1931. Capone grew up during the roaring 20s in Chicago. He joined the James Street gang, lead by Johnny Torrio. In 1920, Torrio asked Capone to move to Chicago and work with his uncle who controlled the city’s largest prostitution and gambling ring at the time. Capone had liked that idea. Later that year the Prohibition act came into affect and Capone became interested in selling illegal whiskey and other alcoholic beverages. Al Capone was America's best known gangster and greatest symbol of destruction of law and order in the United States during the Prohibition era because of his leading role in the illegal activities which gave Chicago its reputation as a lawless city. Capone’s network came through Torrio’s business. Capone and Torrio took over his uncles business after his uncle died (Haller, 358). Torrio’s uncle did not agree with Capone’s idea in the first place. His uncle was shot by his rival, which gave the business to Torrio. They both created the selling of illegal alcohol in the city of Chicago (Haller 359). This impacted the U.S. because it gave many men and women beverages for their needs. Capone developed contacts to obtain imported liquor from Detroit, New York, and Miami (Haller 360). These purchases gave Capone power and wealth because he sold alcohol all over Chicago. After Torrio was shot and almost killed by a rival gang, he retired from the underworld, which left Capone to run the organization alone (World Biography). Now Capone was on the top of his organization and at the age of 26, he was managing more than 1,000 employees, which included a payroll of more than $300,000 a week (World Biography). Capone demanded loyalty from all of his employees. During this time Capone became so rich he gave out free food for Chicago’s unemployed which made him look like a good influence. Unemployed people did not care that the money he gave them was made illegally, to them money was money. Capone also supplied booze to the poor. “Even though bootlegging was illegal at this point in time, if you got people alcohol, you were respected by the

Abigail Adams' Life: Biography

2004-12-12T05:37:52-05:00

Abigail Adams was a unique women because she had an education and an interest in politics. She learned how to read and write and enjoyed poems most. She was also very resourceful by helping her husband on difficult problems. Abigail was born on November 11 on the Julian calendar, or November 22 on the modern Gregorian calendar. Abigail had two sisters named Mary and Elizabeth or Betsy. She had one brother named William or Billy. Abigail’s name was originally Abigail Smith. Each baby was baptized on the first Sabbath of its life and was recorded in their parish records. Abigail live in a comfortable house. When Abigail was sixteen, her father added a wing that was bigger than the original building to make room for the children, servants, and visitors. When I say servants it means that they were probably slaves but were called servants to avoid the dehumanizing effect that the word ‘slave’ can mean. Their house was a sight of luxury in the eyes of the common folk in the parish. Though they lived well, the Smiths had no fortune. Abigail’s father often worked with his own hands, planting corn and potatoes, gathering hay, sowing barley, or making sure that his sheep received proper care. Abigail, with the help of her family grew a very religious bond between each other and a long lasting friendship. Abigail never went to a real school because of poor health. So, she learned at home. Her father’s library was not big, but she still went to it to read books. Abigail’s favorite books were novels by Samuel Richardson. Abigail’s father knew John Adams by working with him and she grew rather close to him starting a wedding. This now made her name Abigail Adams. Their wedding was held on October 25, 1764, a month before her twentieth birthday. John was a lawyer and very often was not at home due to court cases he had to attend to. When Abigail was pregnant with her first son, John was only at home for eight out of the nine months. The baby was born on a hot day on the morning of July 14, 1765. The baby’s name was ‘Abigail’, but was called Nabby. She was with her parents when she had the baby. Shortly after, she was again pregnant. July 11, 1767, she delivered a healthy boy named John Quincy. John Adams soon

Anthony Burgess and A Clockwork Orange

2004-12-11T08:18:15-05:00

Anthony Burgess has been heralded as one of the greatest literary geniuses of the twentieth century. Although Burgess has over thirty works of published literature, his most famous is A Clockwork Orange. Burgess’s novel is a futuristic look at a Totalitarian government. The main character, Alex, is an “ultra-violent” thief who has no problem using force against innocent citizens to get what he wants. The beginning of the story takes us through a night in the life of Alex and his Droogs, and details their adventures that occupy their time throughout the night. At fifteen years old, Alex is set up by his Droogs—Pete, Dim, and Georgie—and is convicted of murder and sent to jail. At the Staja or state penitentiary, Alex becomes inmate number 6655321 and spends two years of a sentence of fourteen years there. Alex is then chosen by the government to undergo an experimental new “Ludovico’s Technique.” In exchange for his freedom, Alex would partake in this experiment that was to cure him of all the evil inside of him and all that was bad. Alex is given injections and made to watch films of rape, violence, and war and the mixture of these images and the drugs cause him to associate feelings of panic and nausea with violence. He is released after two weeks of the treatment and after a few encounters with past victims finds himself at the home of a radical writer who is strongly opposed to the new treatment the government has subjected him to. Ironically, this writer was also a victim of Alex’s but does not recognize him. This writer believes that this method robs the recipient of freedom of choice and moral decision, therefore depriving him of being a human at all. These themes are played out and developed throughout the entire novel. Alex eventually tries to commit suicide and the State is forced to admit that the therapy was a mistake and they cure him again. The last chapter of the novel which was omitted from the American version and from Stanley Kubrick’s film shows Alex’s realization that he is growing up and out of his ultra-violent ways on his own. He realizes that he wants a wife and son of his own and that he must move up and on in the world. Anthony Burgess was born John Anthony Burgess Wilson on February 25, 1917 in Manchester, England.

Ernst Heinrich Haeckel Biography

2004-12-11T07:59:30-05:00

Ernst Haeckel was born in Potsdam, Germany on February 16th, 1834. Haeckel began his study at Wurzburg, Berlin and Vienna. He excelled in medicine and science under the instruction of Johannes Muller, R. Virchow and R.A. Kolliker. Haeckel graduated in 1857 with a MD and M Ch at Berlin. Haeckel then began to practice as a doctor in Berlin. Haeckel did not have many patients in his practice, but was much more comfortable with the low amount

Life and Times of Giuseppe Verdi

2004-12-06T16:35:53-05:00

The trials and tests that Giuseppe Verdi endured was a catalyst for the musical works that he was to compose; ultimately assisting in making him one of times most relished romantic composers. Such works as Oberto and I Lobartti, were operas that helped to catapult Verdi into the musical spotlight. Born in 1813 in the small Italian village of Le Roncole Italy, Giuseppe started his illustrious life. In contrast to his traditional family work of landowning, and tavern owners, Giuseppe wanted to play music. At age seven he was already helping his church organist at San Michele Arcangelo, it was there that he was an altar boy in addition. It was around this time the Giuseppe moved to Busetto to and attended a music school that happened to be run by Antonio Provesi. By age thirteen he had become the assistant conductor of the Busetto orchestra. When completed with his schooling at the music school he applied for admission to the Milan Conservatory, where he was denied! It was then that Vincenzo Lavigna, A composer and maestro at La Scala, took him under his wing and taught him. In 1836, just as his tutelage was coming to an end, he married his childhood sweetheart, Margherita Barezzi. In addition to his marrige he was named the “Municipal Music Master of Busetto”…Life was good. The beginning of 1837, the couple had their first child together: Virginia Verdi was born in March of 1837. It was at this time that his first opera, Oberto was brought to the stage and ran for multiple performances; it was critically acclaimed. But just as things were on the rise for Verdi tragedy hit. Over the course of one short year, Giuseppe lost his son, his daughter and his wife; all to disease, and he was torn and discouraged. Verdi pledged to never write a musical comedy again. The following years, his musical abilities were unleashed. With his next work, Nabucco, It was said that his career had just begun. While rehearsing this opera, carpenters making repairs to

Letter from Isabel Allende to Gabriel Garcia Marquez

2004-11-21T21:37:29-05:00

Imaginary Letter from Isabel Allende to Gabriel Garcia Marquez Isabel Allende 5555 Magical Realism Way Sandy Ego, Sandia 32683 Dear Madam Allende: I have recently finished reading your book, House of Spirits, and I am amazed by how much your book mirrors that of my book. Now, I am not mad at you for taking my material and working with it, because many great works have come out of such replicas. I am truly intrigued by the character of Esteban Trueba and his endeavors. He mirrors that of my character, Jose Arcadio Buendía, both of

Alice Walker Discussion and Writing Analysis

2004-10-31T08:01:20-04:00

Alice Walker There are many different types of authors in the world of literature, authors of horror, romance, suspense, and the type that Alice Walker writes, through personal experiences. Although most critics categorize her writings as feminist, Walker describes herself as a "womanist", she defines this as "a woman who loves other woman...Appreciates and prefers woman culture, woman's emotional flexibility... and woman's strength... Loves the spirit... Loves herself, Regardless". Walker's thoughts and feelings show through in her writing of poetry and novels. Alice Walker writes through her feelings and the morals that she has grown with, she writes about the black woman's struggle for spiritual wholeness and sexual, political, and racial equality. Much of Walker's fiction is informed by her Southern background. She was born in Eatonton, Georgia, a rural town where most blacks worked as tenant farmers. At the age eight she was blinded in the right eye when an older brother accidentally shot her with a BB gun, after which she fell into somewhat of a depression. She secluded herself from the other children, and as she explained, "I no longer felt like the little girl I was. I felt old, and because I felt I was unpleasant to look at, filled with shame. I retreated into solitude, and read stories and began to write poems." In 1961 Walker won a scholarship to Spelman College in Atlanta, where she became involved in the civil rights movement and participated in sit-ins at local business establishments. She transferred to Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, graduating from there in 1965. She met her future husband Melvyn Leventhal, a Jewish civil rights attorney, in Mississippi where she was an activist and teacher. In 1967 Walker and Leventhal married, becoming the first legally married interracial couple to reside in Jackson, the state capital, they had one child together one year after they got married, named Rebecca . They divorced in 1976. Since then Walker has focused more on her writing and has taught at various colleges and universities. Walker is one of the most prolific black women writers in America. Her work consistently reflects her concern with racial, sexual, and political issues-particularly with black woman's struggle for survival. She explained, "The black woman is one of America's greatest heroes….Not enough credit has been given to the black woman who has been oppressed beyond recognition." Walker's insistence on giving black women their due resulted in

Beethoven Biography

2004-10-31T07:45:15-04:00

Biography of Beethoven Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany in 1770 to Johann van Beethoven and his wife, Maria Magdalena. He took his first music lessons from his father, who was tenor in the choir of the archbishop-elector of Cologne. His father was an unstable, yet ambitious man whose excessive drinking, rough temper and anxiety surprisingly did not diminish Beethoven's love for music. He studied and performed with great success, despite becoming the breadwinner of his household by the time he was 18 years old. His father's increasingly serious alcohol problem and the earlier death of his grandfather in 1773 sent his family into deepening poverty. At first, Beethoven made little impact on the musical society, despite his father's hopes. When he turned 11, he left school and became an assistant organist to Christian Gottlob Neefe at the court of Bonn, learning from him and other musicians. In 1783 he became the continuo player for the Bonn opera and accompanied their rehearsals on keyboard. In 1787, he was sent to Vienna to take further lessons from Mozart. Two months later, however, he was called back to Bonn by the death of his mother. He started to play the viola in the Opera Orchestra in 1789, while also teaching in composing. He met Haydn in 1790, who agreed to teach him in Vienna, and Beethoven then moved to Vienna permanently. He received financial support from Prince Karl Lichnowsky, to whom he dedicated his Piano Sonata in C minor, better known as The Pathétique ?. He performed publicly in Vienna in 1795 for the first time, and published his Op. 1 and Op. 2 piano sonatas. His works are traditionally divided into three periods. The first is called the Viennese Classical, the second is the Heroic, and the third is Late Beethoven. In the first period, his individuality and style gradually developed, as he used many methods from Haydn, including the use of silence. He composed mainly for the piano during this period. These works include Symphony no. 1 in C (1800), his first six string quartets, and the Pathétique (1799). His Moonlight Sonata in C# minor (1801) is known as the first of Heroic Beethoven. Beethoven learned that he would become deaf in 1802 and suffered sever depression. His composing skills were not affected by his deafness, but his ability to teach and perform was inhibited. It is said that he became deaf

William Garrison

2004-10-31T04:15:16-04:00

William Garrison was seen by many to be a brilliant advocate of the American abolitionist movement, but he did not embody the principles of the movement, but he did not embody the principles of the movement as well as other abolitionists of the time, such as Frederick Douglass. William Garrison made use of his newspaper The Liberator to start a pacifist battle against slavery, and it eventually came to be regarded as an authoritative influence on radical social reform in general. Garrison generally insisted that slavery would be abolished only when the mass of white Americans experienced a revolution in their consciences. Therefore, he started programs of agitation that aimed to convert public opinion in favor of the emancipation of the slaves and race equality. He was extremely strict in his antislavery views, which were supported by many other abolitionists. Wendell Phillips for

Sir Winston Churchill Biography

2004-10-31T03:01:29-04:00

Churchill, Sir Winston (1874-1965), became one of the greatest statesmen in world history. Churchill reached the height of his fame as the heroic prime minister of Great Britain during World War II (1939-1945). He offered his people only "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" as they struggled to keep their freedom. Churchill was also a noted speaker, author, painter, soldier, and war reporter. Early in World War II, Great Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany. The British people refused to give in despite the tremendous odds against them. Churchill's personal courage and his faith in victory inspired the British to "their finest hour." The mere sight of this stocky, determined man--a cigar in his mouth and two fingers raised high in a "V for victory" salute--cheered the people. Churchill seemed to be John Bull, the symbol of the British people, come to life. Churchill not only made history, he also wrote it. As a historian, war reporter, and biographer, he showed a matchless command of the English language. In 1953, he won the Nobel Prize for literature. Yet as a schoolboy, he had been the worst student in his class. Churchill spoke as he wrote--clearly, vividly, majestically. Yet he had stuttered as a boy. Churchill joined the armed forces in 1895 as an army lieutenant under Queen Victoria. He ended his career in 1964 as a member of the House of Commons under Queen Elizabeth II, the great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Few men ever served their country so long or so well. Early life Boyhood and education. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born on Nov. 30, 1874, in Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England. He was the elder of the two sons of Lord Randolph Churchill (1849-1895) and Lady Churchill (1854-1921). Young Winston, a chunky lad with a mop of red hair, had an unhappy boyhood. He talked with a stutter and lisp, and did poorly in his schoolwork. His stubbornness and high spirits annoyed everyone. In addition, his parents had little time for him. When Winston was 6 years old, his brother, John, was born. The difference in their ages prevented any real companionship. At the age of 12, Winston entered Harrow School, a leading British independent school. Throughout his school career, Winston was bottom of his class. At Harrow, however, his love of the English language began to grow. There, he said later, he "got into my bones the essential

Harry S. Truman

2004-10-30T04:56:54-04:00

During the vast presidential history of the United States only few men have brought so much to Americas culture, political beliefs, ideas of foreign policy and respect of the presidency. President Harry S Truman was one of those men. From his humble beginnings in Missouri to the most powerful position in the world Truman left a trail of leadership and strength behind him. During his time in civil service he along with a brilliant staff combated many of the popular evils of his time. In 1884 Harry Truman was born. He was delivered in a room where there was barely any space for a bed. The attending physician, Dr. W.L. Griffin, received a fee of $ 15, and to celebrate the occasion the new father planted a seedling pine in the front yard. It wasn’t for another month that the doctor registered the child into the clerk’s office up the street, and even when he did the baby remained nameless. The problem was the middle name hey didn’t know whether to honor her father or his. Finally they came to a compromise and chose S. This could stand for either Solomon or Shipp. His first name would be Harry after his Uncle Harrison. Harry S Truman would finally be. Harry Truman liked to say in later years that he had the happiest childhood imaginable . Most of his childhood included his grandfather taking him riding side in a horse drawn cart, and hunting for bird nests while gathering wild strawberries. While in school kids made fun of his glasses as most kids do. These occurrences probably didn’t have a lot to do with him becoming president but it is important to see that he had a normal life as a child. His family wasn’t rich, he didn’t receive the best schooling, but he had love from his family and siblings and that might have been a important factor. As a boy the first and most memorable political event for young Harry was the day of Grover Cleveland’s second victory, in 1892. As Truman grew older his father john decided that it was about time Harry started to concentrate on his studies. He grew dutifully, conspicuously studious, spending long afternoons in the town library watched over by a white plaster

Christopher Columbus Biography

2004-10-29T03:11:33-04:00

Christopher Columbus was the oldest son of Domenico Colombo and Susanna Fontanarossa. Christopher was born between August and October 1451, in Genoa, Italy. Christopher also had two younger brothers, Bartholomew and Diego. Christopher received little formal education and was a largely self-taught man, later learning to read Latin and Write Castilian. Columbus began on the sea early making his first voyage, to the Aegean Island of Chios, in 1475. One year later he survived a Shipwreck off cape St. Vincent in which he had to swim ashore. In 1477 Columbus sailed to England and Ireland with Portuguese marine, he also bought sugar in Madeira for a Genoese firm. In 1479 Christopher Married Felipa Perestello e Moniz from a impoverished noble Portuguese family. Their son, Diego was born in 1480. Felipa died in 1485, and Columbus later began a relationship with Beatriz Enriquez de Harana of Cordabo, with whom Christopher had his second son, Ferdinand. Columbus and Enriquez never married, but Columbus supported her. In the mid-1480’s Christopher had become focused on his plans of discovery. His biggest dream was to find a westward route to Asia. In 1484 he had asked king John the II of Portugal to back his voyage west, but was refused. The next year he set out to Spain with his son, Diego to seek aid of Queen Elizabeth of Castile and her husband, King Ferdinand of Aragon. Even though the Spanish monarchs first rejected Christopher’s request, they gave him a small annuity to live on, and he remained determend to convince them. In January of 1492 Christopher obtained the support of Elizabeth and Ferdinand, after being rejected twice. On August 3rdthefleet of three ships-Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria-Set forth from Palos, on the Tinto river in southern Spain. The first sight of land came at dawn on October 12th from the Pinta Ship. The place of the first Caribbean landfall was most likely modern, San Salvador, or Waitling Island, in the Bahamas. Thinking he has reached the east Indies, Columbus referred to the native inhabitants of the Island as “Indians,” a term often used to identify indigenous people of the New World. The three ships sailed along other Bahama Islands and landed in Cuba, which Columbus falsely called Mainland of Cathay (China). There was little gold there and his exploration continued by sea to Ayti on December 6th, which Columbus

Mohandas Gandhi

2004-10-29T03:01:44-04:00

When Mohandas Gandhi returned to India from South Africa, he saw the British ruling India. The British brought some benefits to India but many costs to the Indian people, such as economic. When the British persuaded farmers to switch from growing crops to growing cotton, there was not enough food for the country and millions of people died from lack of food. The increasing taxes and lack of food made many Indians suffer on account of the British. Because of the poor living conditions and prejudice, Mohandas Gandhi started a nonviolent resistance movement in India. This was opposing the British in a nonviolent way. The Indians would not cooperate, not do their work, and defy the British. The purpose of this movement was to give India its independence. At first, it didn’t work out. The first nonviolent movements were a setback and ended in killing and violence. This was not what Gandhi wanted. He figured that the only way for people to stop fighting and rioting would be if he went on a hunger strike. Eventually, the hunger strike worked. When all the Indians were not cooperating with the British, Gandhi stopped fasting. But then the British jailed Gandhi for a couple of years. After he was released, Gandhi walked more than 250 miles to the Indian Sea. He arrived on the day of the massacre of Champara, a great massacre that killed 1,516 Indians with 1,650 bullets. He then made salt, which was a symbolic message for the Indians. He then was arrested for making salt. When Gandhi was in jail, Gandhi’s friend, Jawaharlal Nehru organized a nonviolence movement. Hundreds of Indians went to the Salt Works Factory and tried to get in. The Indians walked united, one line at a time, to the gates of the factory, where they were beaten down by sepoys. One journalist that saw the whole thing and reported, “It went on and on into night…India is free.” The Indians had broken the spirit of the British. Because of nonviolent resistance, Gandhi and his followers eventually gained India’s independence. The British finally backed off and let India become its own country without their help. Gandhi’s symbolic resistances to the British finally made the British look at the

Joseph Stalin: Russia’s Last Czar

2004-10-29T02:56:35-04:00

“The Father of All the Russia” may lie in a tomb, but his existence and cruelty haunt Russia to this very day. Steven Otfinoski wrote the biography Joseph Stalin: Russia’s Last Czar. Unlike Stalin’s own autobiography, Otfinoski’s biography covers the real facts, and this is why it is a good source of information. Iosif Vissarionovich Djugashvili, aka Joseph Stalin, was born in Gori, a village in Georgia, Russia on December 21, 1879. His father was a brooding, drunken violent man and a shoemaker by trade. At age seven, Iosif almost died of smallpox, but he survived with facial and psychological scars. He grew to hate his father, and one time he threw a knife at him to defend his mother. The knife missed its target, but did cause Iosif to run away to live with a neighbor. At age ten, his father died. A short time after the death of his father, his mother, Ekaterina, sent him to the village church school using money she earned by working in upper class homes. It was the only way she could get him away from the poverty of their daily lives. He became a choirboy, and because he graduated at the top of his class, Iosif received a small scholarship to the Seminary in Tbilisi. At the Seminary, young Iosif was introduced to the world of czarist Russia. Russia, during the time of the czars, was oppressive. Bureaucrats ran the government, the church and the educational system, and any infringement of the rules lead to very harsh punishment. The Tbilisi Seminary used religion as a weapon, pounding the students into submission. At first, Iosif excelled at his studies and caused little trouble, but the Seminary hardened him, and he learned to hate religion and all authority. He soon became devious, hypocritical and met secretly with other students to read Karl Marx’s Das Kapital. He became fascinated the Marx’s writings and soon lost all interest in his studies. Only a week from the end of his five-year course, he was expelled because of his insolent behavior. He had found his true vocation, one of a revolutionary. Joseph Stalin became the leader of Russia after Lenin’s death. Stalin had many physical characteristics that were unique. After having smallpox as a

Ben Franklin

2004-10-29T02:40:04-04:00

Throughout history icons emerge in each era that define that time, men who define the thinking, technology, culture, religion, and every other aspect of that time period. From the time of ancient Greece which possessed such prodigies as Socrates, and Aristotle men who were not only brilliant philosophers but also historians, mathematicians, and astronomers. To the Revolutionary period of America, which held such courageous enlightened men such as Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and Benjamin Franklin. Men who greatly helped shape America’s independence. A man who stands out among these names is “ The First American”, Benjamin Franklin who goes beyond being simply an icon of America’s conquest for freedom, but is truly an American hero. Benjamin Franklin’s heroism exists in his numerous achievements in politics, his scientific inventions, and his accomplishment of truly being “The First American”. Franklin’s contributions to the world of inventions, and science prove his ideal heroism. Some of Franklin’s contributions include his improvements on Franklin’s stove, he invented the Pennsylvania fireplace, which retained and dispersed heat evenly in a room. Franklin shaped perhaps the first idea of electricity; he also helped improved city’s pavements, street lighting, sanitations, fire companies, and police. These are a small amount of Franklin’s more material accomplishments, but they are also some of his strongest. Franklin is considered an American hero because although he was a politician, he felt the need to go above and beyond his regular duties. Franklin strived for perfection and had a strong to desire to help his fellow man. Whether it was improving the quality of his community by looking at such common aspects like city pavement, or street lights, or by making a large technological breakthrough and creating something like the musical armonica. Although Ben Franklin’s heroism was never symbolized in any battle, it was largely seen with his constant attempts in the world of science and innovation. Benjamin Franklin used an expressed his high level of intelligence for others to learn and prosper from him. Although Franklin’s use and discoveries in science and innovation are well-rounded accomplishments, he is most credited for his actions in political office. Benjamin Franklin’s ethical right mind helped shape our nation today. Franklin believed that America had to separate itself from its control under Great Britain. Perhaps Franklin’s most heroic act is the work he contributed to help make America the free nation it is today.

Ludwig van Beethoven

2004-10-12T16:15:04-04:00

Ludwig Van Beethoven Ludwig Van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany during the year of 1770. Beethoven was the eldest son of a singer in the Kapelle of the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne. He came from a musical family, and his early musical training was under his father's guidance. His father subjected him to a brutal regimen, hoping to exploit him as a child prodigy. While this plan did not succeed, young Beethoven's gifts were recognized and nurtured by his teachers and by members of the local aristocracy. His father also taught him piano and violin. Beethoven showed remarkable talent at an early age. His general education was not continued beyond the elementary school. He was practically illiterate in math. He had worked for a court in Bonn so his first contacts were in aristocratic circles. He needed financial support from them. In 1787 Beethoven first visited Vienna, at that time the center of the music world. His first task in Vienna was to establish himself as pianist and composer. He achieved both rapidly. There he performed for Mozart, whom he greatly impressed. Beethoven moved in 1792 to Vienna, where he had some lessons from Haydn and others, quickly establishing himself as a remarkable keyboard-player and original composer. In 1792 Haydn invited him to become his student, and Beethoven returned to Vienna, where he was to remain permanently. However, Beethoven's unorthodox musical ideas offended the old master, and the lessons were terminated. Beethoven studied with several other eminent teachers, including Antonio Salieri, but was developing according to his own singular genius and could no longer profit greatly from instruction. Public concerts were not yet the way of life in Vienna, but Beethoven did begin a series of charity concerts. Later in 1800 he gave his first concert for his own benefit. His first symphony, Trios for Piano Violin and Cello, were designed to impress Viennese society. Each trio is in 4 movements. Beethoven created parity among the instruments in these trios. The year 1801 marked the onset of Beethoven's tragic affliction, his deafness, which became progressively worse and, by 1818, when he became totally deaf.

Voltaire Bio

2004-08-02T21:46:23-04:00

François Marie Arouet (who later assumed the name Voltaire) was born in Paris on November 21st 1694. The family was wealthy, his father was a notary and his mother maintained contacts with friends interested in belles-lettres and Deism. From 1704 - 1711 François Marie was educated by the Jesuits at the College Louis-le-Grand, his later involvement with the writing and staging of plays may have been encouraged by the numerous plays, in Latin as well as French, that were staged at College Louis-le-Grand. Despite his father's wishes that he train for a career in Law François Marie, after a short period of work in a legal office, chose to attempt to pursue a literary career. He soon began to fall in with questionable company and to cause offense through the power and sarcasm of his wit and poetry. Because of these tendencies his father, on several occasions, arranged for him to spend time away from Paris. From about 1715 François Marie increasingly began moving in aristocratic circles including a famous salon-court that was maintained by the Duchesse du Maine at Sceaux. He became recognised in Paris as a brilliant and sarcastic wit - a lampoon of the French regent the Duc d'Orléans and also his being accused, (unjustly), of penning two distinctly libelous poems resulted in his imprisonment in the Bastille. This imprisonment being imposed following the composition of a lettre de cachet, an administrative order, issued at the request of powerful persons. François Marie was most aggrieved at this unjust sentence to imprisonment being imposed on him. It was during his subsequent eleven month period of detention that François Marie Arouet / Voltaire completed his first dramatic tragedy, Oedipe. This dramatic work was based upon the play Oedipus Tyrannus attributable to the ancient Greek dramatist Sophocles. (It was during these times that François Marie adopted the pen name Voltaire). Voltaire's Oedipe opened at the Thétre Français in 1718 and received an enthusiastic response. During his period of detention in the Bastille he had also begun to craft a poem centered on the life of Henry IV of France. An early edition of this work, which features an eloquent appeal for religious toleration, was printed anonymously in Geneva under the title of Poème de la ligue (Poem of the League, 1723). King Henry IV had been an Huguenot (protestant) claimant to the French throne but

Jean Jacques Rousseau

2004-08-02T21:45:51-04:00

Jean Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva on June 28th 1712, his mother died a few days after his birth. Some ten years later his father, a watchmaker by trade, left Geneva following a quarrel with a member of an influential family leaving his two sons to be raised by their aunt and uncle. Rousseau was apprenticed at the age of thirteen firstly to a notary and then to a coppersmith, but after three years he ran away. After several days of wanderings he was directed to the household of the wealthy and charitable Madame Louise de Warens at Annecy in Savoy who subsequently sent him to a hospice institution offering accomodation in Turin. Some two years later and after unsuccessfully embarking on several employments (including seminarian and music teacher), and after making a trip to Paris (from which he returned on foot!), Rousseau became secretary and companion to Madame de Warens at her new home at Chambéry. He continued in this role for about eight years and was able to find time to unsystematically learn much about philosophy, and to regularly attend the theater, alongside the performance of his duties. Rousseau left Madame de Warens household in 1740 (she had taken a new lover) and took on a number of employments as a clerk or as a tutor. In 1742 he went to Paris, where he earned his living as a music teacher, music copyist, and political secretary. He became a close friend of the French philosopher Denis Diderot, who commissioned him to write articles on music for the French Encyclopédie . In 1745 Rousseau became involved with Thérèse Lavasseur, a chambermaid who worked in the hotel in which he lodged. Their affair successively generated five children each of whom were given over to the foundling home at a very early age. He lived a life of relative poverty and obscurity until his later thirties. It was an essay that is usually referred to by its abbreviated title "Discours sur les sciences et les arts" (Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts) written in 1750 in response to a competition announced by the Academy of Dijon that first brought him to public notice. Not only did it win first prize but its content won a public celebrity after an edited version was published towards the end of 1750. In this essay

Donald Trump's Bio

2004-07-11T20:19:08-04:00

Donald Trump, one of the great New York City business tycoons, has written several biographies that explain in detail his dealings in the business world and his personal life throughout his career. The book that I have read is titled Trump: The Art of the Comeback. In this biography Donald tells about the time in the eighties and early nineties that he was struggling financially because of the economy and the hardships that he went through to make a comeback. Each chapter tells a story about his return to the top and how he did it. This book is his account of how he engineered one of the most remarkable business comebacks in history. He has accumulated a net worth of well over three billion dollars. One of the things that has helped Donald Trump throughout these times was his ability to make wise decisions based on his experience. I realized when reading this book that he was very talented in the area of decision making. He knew exactly when to buy or sell his assets to maximize his profits. Trump starts of by listing his top ten comeback tips. Some seem ridiculous, but apparently they work. He suggests things such as playing golf, being paranoid, going with your gut instinct, and always having a prenuptial agreement. The first chapter explains briefly his rise to the top and the rest of the book tells how he survived the low period and eventually regained his status. One of the main reasons for Donald’s downfall was the plummeting value of his vast real estate assets. He claims that his investments in Atlantic City are what eventually saved him from really going under between 1989 and 1992. Trump then bought Mar-a-lago, a gigantic mansion in Palm Beach and restored it. He vacations there and has had dozens of celebrities vacation there also. Donald Trump then acquired 40 Wall Street in 1995. The deal that he was able to make on this property was unbelievable. He paid the Kinson family one million dollars for a building that they had already previously paid for and had also sunk tens of millions into. He truly stole this property from them. The difficulty that the Kinson family was having was dealing with the German family that owned the ground lease. As soon as the Kinson family signed the papers he was on the phone working out a new

Martin Luther King Bio

2004-07-07T04:16:22-04:00

Martin Luther King was born in Atlanta, Georgia on 15th January, 1929. Both his father and grandfather were Baptist preachers who had been actively involved in the civil rights movement. King graduated from Morehouse College in 1948. After considering careers in medicine and law, he entered the ministry. While studying at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, King heard a lecture on Mahatma Gandhi and the nonviolent civil disobedience campaign that he used successfully against British rule in India. King read several books on the ideas of Gandhi, and eventually became convinced that the same methods could be employed by blacks to obtain civil rights in America. He was particularly struck by Gandhi's words: "Through our pain we will make them see their injustice". King was also influenced by Henry David Thoreau and his theories on how to use nonviolent resistance to achieve social change. After his marriage to Coretta Scott, King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. In Montgomery, like most towns in the Deep South, buses were segregated. On 1st December, 1955, Rosa Parks, a middle-aged tailor's assistant, who was tired after a hard day's work, refused to give up her seat to a white man. After the arrest of Rosa Parks, King and his friends, Ralph David Abernathy, Edgar Nixon, and Bayard Rustin helped organize protests against bus segregation. It was decided that black people in Montgomery would refuse to use the buses until passengers were completely integrated. King was arrested and his house was fire-bombed. Others involved in the Montgomery Bus Boycott also suffered from harassment and intimidation, but the protest continued. For thirteen months the 17,000 black people in Montgomery walked to work or obtained lifts from the small car-owning black population of the city. Eventually, the loss of revenue and a decision by the Supreme Court forced the Montgomery Bus Company to accept integration. and the boycott came to an end on 20th December, 1956. In 1957 King joined with the Reverend Ralph David Abernathy and Bayard Rustin to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The new organisation was committed to using nonviolence in the struggle for civil rights, and SCLC adopted the motto: "Not one hair of one head of one person should be harmed." There had been a long tradition of nonviolent resistance to racism in the United States. Frederick Douglass had advocated these methods during the fight

Al Capone Biography

2004-07-05T08:59:06-04:00

Al Capone is America's best known gangster and the single greatest symbol of the collapse of law and order in the United States during the 1920s Prohibition era. Capone had a leading role in the illegal activities that lent Chicago its reputation as a lawless city. Capone was born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York. Baptized "Alphonsus Capone," he grew up in a rough neighborhood and was a member of two "kid gangs," the Brooklyn Rippers and the Forty Thieves Juniors. Although he was bright, Capone quit school in the sixth grade at age fourteen. Between scams he was a clerk in a candy store, a pinboy in a bowling alley, and a cutter in a book bindery. He became part of the notorious Five Points gang in Manhattan and worked in gangster Frankie Yale's Brooklyn dive, the Harvard Inn, as a bouncer and bartender. While working at the Inn, Capone received his infamous facial scars and the resulting nickname "Scarface" when he insulted a patron and was attacked by her brother. In 1918, Capone met an Irish girl named Mary "Mae" Coughlin at a dance. On December 4, 1918, Mae gave birth to their son, Albert "Sonny" Francis. Capone and Mae married that year on December 30. Capone's first arrest was on a disorderly conduct charge while he was working for Yale. He also murdered two men while in New York, early testimony to his willingness to kill. In accordance with gangland etiquette, no one admitted to hearing or seeing a thing so Capone was never tried for the murders. After Capone hospitalized a rival gang member, Yale sent him to Chicago to wait until things cooled off. Capone arrived in Chicago in 1919 and moved his family into a house at 7244 South Prairie Avenue. Capone went to work for Yale's old mentor, John Torrio. Torrio saw Capone's potential, his combination of physical strength and intelligence, and encouraged his protŽ gŽ . Soon Capone was helping Torrio manage his bootlegging business. By mid-1922 Capone ranked as Torrio's number two man and eventually became a full partner in the saloons, gambling houses,and brothels. When Torrio was shot by rival gang members and consequently decided to leave Chicago, Capone inherited the "outfit" and became boss. The outfit's men liked, trusted, and obeyed Capone, calling him "The Big Fellow." He quickly proved that he was even better at organization than

Adolf Hitler Biography

2004-07-05T08:58:16-04:00

The seeds of Hitler's rise to power were planted following the outcome of the First World War. With Germany's defeat, many German men returned to Germany feeling betrayed by their country and government. Among them was Adolf Hitler, a young Austrian Corporal who had fought bravely for Germany. When the World War broke out, Hitler was very happy. The War had been a blessing to the young Hitler, who had been unsuccessful in civilian life. When Germany was defeated, Hitler was devastated. He wrote, "I could sit there no longer, once again, everything went black before my eyes, and I tottered and groped my way back to the place where we slept, and buried my burning head in the blankets and pillows." (Stewart p.31). On returning unemployed to Munich, Hitler was outraged exclaiming " in these days the hatred grew in me, hatred for those responsible for this deed." (Stewart p.31). Hitler promised to get back at people for those who had been responsible for Germany's defeat. ! With the signing of the Treaty of Versaille, Hitler blamed the defeat of Germany on the Jews, Communists, and the weak Weimar government. This is the government which held power following Germany's defeat. With his strong hatred for the Communists, the Jews, and the weak government, Hitler vowed to fight back, and to change the terrible things, which he believed, had been done to Germany. After the War, Hitler found a job as a prison guard sixty miles north from Munich. The job was boring, but it provided him with security, food, shelter, and something to do. When the job ended, Hitler went back to Munich, where he was offered a more challenging job due to his great dislike for the Communists who were provoking revolution in cities throughout Germany. In this assignment, Hitler was given the task of keeping a close watch on individual groups, which could have been a threat to the military of the Weimar Government. In this, Hitler learned many things and even was given special training at the University of Munich where he attended political philosophy classes. These classes may be where he began to take keen interest in German expanse. In 1919, Hitler was investigating a fifty-four member group which was called the German's Worker's Party. This group had funds adding up to about seven U.S. dollars. This group was anti-Communist ideas, and believed along with the Jews

The Tragedy Of Edgar Allan Poe Paper

2004-07-04T20:53:01-04:00

The Tragedy Of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe is one of the leading figures of American literature. He is known as a poet and a critic, but is most famous as the first master of the short story form, especially tales of the mysterious and gruesome. In Poe's poems, like his tales, his characters are tortured by nameless fears and longings. Today Poe is acclaimed as one of America's greatest writers, but in his own unhappy lifetime he knew little but failure. Poe had an unstable family life. The insecure place he held at home interfered with his emotional stability. He was born as the son of actors. "The two were not notably talented; they played minor roles in third-rate theatrical companies." (Buranalli 7) Between them they barely managed to make a living. Poe was the second of their three children. About the time the third child was born, the father died, or disappeared, and Mrs. Poe went to Richmond, Virginia with the two youngest children. The oldest child, William Henry, had been left in the care of his grandparents in Baltimore shortly after his birth. Mrs. Poe was overtaken by a fatal illness (tuberculosis). Devastated by the disease and worn out with the struggle to support her children, she died. Edgar, two years old, and the infant, Rosaline, were orphaned. Poe was taken into the home of John Allan, a wealthy merchant. His wife, Frances Allan, had no children and wanted to adopt Poe as her son. Mr. Allan was unwilling to commit himself to a step of such permanence. "The acting profession was despised at the time and was even considered immoral." (Meyers 11) Mr. Allan thought the little son of actor parents was a questionable person to inherit his name and the fortune he was busy accumulating. He was however, willing to support the child, to please his wife. Family was of the greatest importance in Richmond, the place where Poe spent most of his boyhood. Poe felt the difference between the children at school and himself. He was not close to his (foster) father, like other boys were. Mr. Allan's unwillingness to adopt him bothered him greatly. It hurt him that he was not wanted enough by his father to legally be his son.

Isaac Asimov Robotics Essay

2004-07-04T20:15:57-04:00

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov was born on January 2, 1920 in Petrouchi, Russia. His parents were Judah and Anna Asimov. Isaac also has a sister Veronica and a brother Stanley. In 1923 his family immigrated to the United States. He and his family grew up in Brooklyn, New York. In Brooklyn his family ran a small candy and magazine store. This is one of the places where Asimov began to learn about printing. Also it was here that Asimov learned good business and self-discipline skills (Bloom, 251). Asimov attended school and was a very bright student. He went to college at Columbia University. He graduated from there with his master's degree in Chemistry in 1941. His career was cut short though because in 1942 he moved to Philadelphia Naval Yard to work for the war. In 1945 he entered the army. In July of 1946 he was discharged from the army and he moved around for a few years till settling in West Newton, Massachusetts with Gertrude. It is there that he raised his family (Seiler,8). Asimov married Gertrude Blugerman on July 26th, 1942. They met on a blind date on Valentine's Day. In 1955 their first son was born they named him David. Four years later their daughter Robyn Joan was born. Asimov met another woman Janet Jepson at a mystery writers banquet. The two of them were immediately attracted to one another. In 1970 when Gertrude and Asimov separated he moved in with Janet. His divorce to Gertrude was officialized on November 16th, 1973. On November 30th, 1973 an official of the Ethical Culture Society married Asimov and Janet in her home. They did not have any children (7). Asimov worked for many years of his life before become just a writer. His first job was in 1929. When Asimov's mother became ill and could no longer work at the family business. This is where Asimov first learned his skills he would carry for the rest of his life. He was a hardworking diligent man. After the war and everything Asimov became an instructor at the Boston University of medicine. He was promoted to assistant professor in December of 1951. On July 1st, 1958 he gave up his teaching job and became a writer. Finally in 1979 he was promoted to professor (9). Being a very diligent writer Asimov wrote more than eight hours a day, seven days a week. Although he

William Faulkner Biography

2004-07-04T20:03:03-04:00

September 25, 1997 marks the centenary of the birth of William Faulkner, the South's--and perhaps America's--greatest writer. Almost all of Faulkner's most memorable work explores the intricate goings on in Yoknapatawpha County, his fictional north Mississippi world. Despite his focus on what he called his "own little postage stamp of native soil," Faulkner's fiction always pushes toward the universal. As much as cultures vary in space and time, the human condition remains constant; Faulkner's works, like all great literature, will never be dated. In his essay, "Mississippi," probably the best introduction to his life and his writing, William Faulkner ends with a striking statement expressing his volatile feelings toward the South: "Loving all of it even while he had to hate some of it because he knows that you don't love because; you love despite; not for the virtues, but despite the faults." Besides his deep affection for, and fascination with, the Southern folk--and I mean by that all Southerners, those of all color, class, and gender--Faulkner's love for his homeland centered on its rich landscape and its heroic past, particularly the period of settlement when those he called the "tall men" fought back the wilderness and laid the cultural foundations for future generations. But the region's ongoing history of racial injustice and intolerance, together with what he saw as traditional culture's inevitable decline before the forces of modernization and greed, painfully disturbed Faulkner. Faulkner's anguished feelings about the South's decline cloak much of his best work--generally considered that written between 1929 and 1944, including most notably, As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, Light in August, Absalom, Absalom!, and Go Down, Moses--in something close to tragic doom. Lurking almost everywhere, too, are his explosively conflicted love/hate feelings toward the region, expressed most clearly in Quentin Compson's anguished thoughts about the South at the end of Absalom, Absalom!: "I dont hate it he thought, panting in the cold air, the iron New England dark: I dont. I dont! I dont hate it! I dont hate it!" But of course Quentin--along with Faulkner--does hate it, as tenaciously as they love it. Faulkner's life as a writer was not an easy one. It was not until he received the Nobel Prize in 1950 that his stature as a writer--and his financial health--were secure. Before then, Faulkner was generally considered by most critics as a minor regionalist and something of a crackpot. Most of

Agatha Christie Biography

2004-07-04T19:07:49-04:00

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller Christy (September 15, 1890 - January 12, 1976), was a British crime fiction writer. Christy published over eighty books and other works, mainly whodunits. While her work is not considered part of the literary

George Orwell Biography

2004-07-04T18:20:09-04:00

George Orwell (1903-1950) was born Eric Arthur Blair in 1903 in Motihari, Bengal, India. His father, Richard Walmesley Blair was a civil servant for the British government. In 1904 Orwell moved with his mother and sister to England where he remained until 1922. He began to write at an early age, and was even published in college periodicals, but he did not enjoy school. Orwell wrote about his unfavorable prep-school experiences in the essay Such Such were the Joys (1968). Orwell failed to win a university scholarship and without the opportunity to continue his education he went to Bruma and served in the administration of the Indian Imperial Police from 1922 to 1927 when he resigned in part due to his growing dislike of British imperialism, a dislike he vocalized in his essays Shooting an Elephant (1950), and A Hanging (1931). When Orwell returned to Europe he was in poor financial condition and worked low paying jobs in France and England. Finally, in 1928, he decided to become a professional writer. Starting in 1930 Orwell became a regular contributor to the New Adelphi, and in 1933 he assumed the name "George Orwell" by which he would become famous. For his first novel he used his recent experience with poverty as inspiration and wrote Down and Out in Paris and London (1933). While teaching in a private school he published his second major work, Burmese Days (1934). Two years later Orwell married Eileen O'Shaugnessy. During the1930s Orwell had adopted the views of a socialist and traveled to Spain to report on their civil war. He took the side of the United Workers Marxist Party militia and fought alongside them, which earned him a wound in the neck. It was this war that made him hate communism in favor of the English brand of socialism. Orwell wrote a book on Spain, Homage to Catalonia, which was published in 1938. During the second World War Orwell served as a sergeant in the Home Guard and also worked as a journalist for the BBC, Observer and Tribune, where he was literary editor from 1943 to 1945. It was toward the end of the war that he wrote Animal Farm, and when it was over he moved to Scotland. It was Animal Farm that made finally Orwell prosperous. His other world wide success was Nineteen Eighty-Four, which Orwell said was written "to alter other people's idea of the kind

Count Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy Biography

2004-07-04T05:34:41-04:00

Biography Report on Adolph Hitler

2004-07-04T04:35:36-04:00

Biography Report on Adolph Hitler From the first day that Adolf Hitler seized power, January 30, 1933, he knew that only sudden death awaited him if he failed to restore pride and empire to post Versailles Germany. His close friend and adjutant Julius Schaub recorded Hitler's jubilant boast to his staff on that evening, as the last celebrating guests left the Berlin Chancellery building: No power on earth will get me out of this building alive! Adolf Hitler, murderer of millions, master of destruction and organized insanity, did not come into the world as a monster. He was not sent to earth by the devil, nor was he sent by heaven to "bring order" to Germany, to give the country the autobahn and rescue it from its economic crisis. At half past six on the evening of April 20th, 1889 an innocent child was born in the small town of Braunau Am Inn, Austria. The name of the child was Adolf Hitler. He was the son a Customs official Alois Hitler, and his third wife Klara. Initially Alois had taken his mother's name, Schicklgruber, but changed it in 1876 and became Hiedler, or Hitler. Quite important - it is hard to imagine tens of thousands of Germans shouting "Heil Schicklgruber!" instead of "Heil Hitler!" Adolf Hitler later confided to his only childhood friend, August Kubizek, "that the name Schicklgruber 'seemed to him so uncouth, so boorish, apart from being so clumsy and unpractical. But 'Hitler' sounded rich and was easy to remember." Adolf's mother, born Klara Pölzl, was 23 years younger than Alois. She was so closely related to her husband that a special dispensation was sought from Rome before they could marry in 1884. Of the six children born of this marriage, only two survived, Adolf and a younger sister called Paula. Young Adolf attended church regularly, sang in the local choir and spent hours playing 'cowboys and Indians' and revelled in the westerns penned by Karl May. He grew up with a poor record at school and left, before completing his tuition, with an ambition to become an artist or architect. Alois Hitler had died when Adolf was thirteen and Klara brought up Adolf and his sister, Paula, on her own. A neighbour of the Hitler family later recalled:'When the postmaster asked him one day what he wanted to do for a living and whether he wouldn't like to join the post-office, he

Michael Jordan Biography

2004-07-04T04:11:55-04:00

Michael Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 17, 1963. His parents, James and Delores Jordan, moved to Wilmington, North Carolina when he was still a toddler. Jordan has two older brothers, one older sister, and one younger sister. Jordan loved to play baseball when he was a child, and also played some basketball and football. His love for basketball began when his older brother, Larry, continuously beat him in one-on-one pickup games. As with any challenge Jordan faces, this determined Michael to become a better player. Jordan played basketball for Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina. Ironically, Jordan was cut from the varsity team as a sophomore. Instead of giving up after failing to make the team, Jordan used it to spur himself to greater achievements, practicing hour after hour on the court. "Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I'd close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it," Jordan said, "and that usually got me going again." He eventually made the team and led it to the state championship. Jordan accepted a basketball scholarship from the University of North Carolina. As a freshman, Jordan's ever-growing popularity began when he scored the game-winning basket in the 1982 NCAA championship game against the Georgetown Hoyas. Jordan was selected college player of the year in the 1983-84 season, and led the US Men's Basketball Team to an Olympic Gold Medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics under coach Bobby Knight. Jordan left college and entered the NBA in 1984, he was selected third in the draft (First pick: Houston--Hakeem Olajuwon; second pick: Portland--Sam Bowie) by the Chicago Bulls, a team that had won only 28 games the previous season. Ironically, Jordan played in his first game as a pro against Washington on Oct. 26, 1984. Jordan became an immediate impact in the league and proved that he belonged among the elite players. He finished his rookie season as one of the top scorers in the league, averaging 28.2 points per game, was named Rookie of the Year, and also made the All-Star team. Jordan led the Bulls into the playoffs in every season, but didn't make the NBA Finals until 1991, where he led the Bulls to their first of three consecutive NBA Championships (1991, 1992, and 1993). Jordan played in the 1992 summer Olympics with the

Vince Carter Biography

2004-07-04T04:10:30-04:00

Though he prefers the name "Vince", he was born Vincent Lamar Carter in Daytona Beach, FL at Halifax Hospital on January 26, 1977. He attended public and private schools, beginning at age 4, in Deland, South Miami and Daytona Beach. He was the only seventh grader to ever play on Campbell Junior High School's varsity basketball team as a starter. In addition to being captain of Mainland High School's volleyball team, he is said to be the most gifted and decorated basketball player to grace the court at Mainland High School where he graduated with honors in 1995. Other high school honors included USA Today, Parade, and McDonald's All-America and was voted Florida's 1995 Basketball Player-of-the-Year. Vince provided lots of musical excitement when he played baritone and saxophone in the marching and jazz bands, respectively, at Mainland and was voted head drum major for his senior year. In 1995, Vince was voted to the USA Junior National Team where he played in the World Championships. As a Tarheel at the University of North Carolina from 1995 through 1998, Vince garnered, for two consecutive years, the statistical leader award. In addition, he earned the best field goal percentage and the defensive player of the year awards in 1998. Vince helped the Tarheels make it to the final four in 1997 and 1998. In both of these games, he was the leading scorer. His outstanding college play propelled him to the five (5) finalists for the prestigious "John Wooden Award" and the national player of the year award. On June 24, 1998, Vince's parents watched with pride as the former Buccaneer and Tarheel was the fifth selection in the National Basketball Association (NBA) draft. During that rookie season, the highlights and awards started to roll in. Carter became the first Raptor ever to be named NBA Player of the Week on March 21, 1999 and was also named NBA Rookie of the Month in March and April on his way to being named NBA Rookie of the Year in a landslide victory, earning 113 of a possible 118 votes. During that rookie season, Carter led all rookies in scoring and blocked shots while leading his team in scoring, averaging 18.3 points per game. During Carter's second NBA season, his status as an NBA superstar was confirmed, leading the Raptors to the franchise's first winning season and playoff berth, while garnering impressive individual accolades. Carter led

Kobe Bryant Biography

2004-07-04T04:08:27-04:00

A Little About Kobe By Kobe Bryant I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 23, 1978 to Pamela and Joe Bryant. I have two sisters, Shaya and Sharia, who are both great athletes. The reason I have the name Kobe is unusual, and I love it. As part of our family lore, my grandmom told me when she first heard my name, she thought, "What in the world were Pam and Joe thinking naming (me) Kobe; perhaps they'll have time to change it before the birth certificate is registered. Maybe they'll give him a more conventional name." I'm happy to report my parents prevailed. My name's international flavor has served me well as I travel the globe playing basketball. I received a letter from Ghana, and the young man who wrote said his father's name is Kobe. Also, last year when I visited Japan, I got to visit the Kobe region, the source of my name. I loved Japan. It was beautiful and majestic, and the people of Kobe, who are still recovering from the earthquake of 1997, were friendly and quite knowledgeable about the NBA. As a schoolboy, I learned the fundamentals of basketball in Italy, but when I was eight or nine, basketball was not my only sport of choice. I was playing a lot of soccer at that age, too. I loved both sports. I think two things contributed to my choosing to concentrate solely on basketball. One, my annual trips back to Philly to visit with family and friends, and two, my growth spurt beginning around age 11. In Philly, soccer was not big. Basketball was. The only problem was the play was different on the Philly courts from anything I'd seen in Italy. At first, I didn't understand the school-yard rules, the trash talking, the machismo. But I learned fast how to handle myself playing Philly ball. I'd say the first big jump in my basketball skills occurred from when I was about 11 to age 13. It was at age 13 that I knew I could play with anyone. It was also at this age that I could finally beat my sisters, who are both outstanding basketball and volleyball players. My dad could still handle me, but he started cheating around this time, leaning on me, using his weight advantage to post me up. He cut me no slack. This went on until

Saddam Hussein The President of Iraq

2004-07-04T04:00:36-04:00

Huddled in an

Muhammad/Mohammad (PBUH) Biography

2004-07-04T03:35:07-04:00

My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels. Of humble origins, Muhammad founded and promulgated one of the world's great religions, and became an immensely effective political leader. Today, thirteen centuries after his death, his influence is still powerful and pervasive. The majority of the persons in this book had the advantage of being born and raised in centers of civilization, highly cultured or politically pivotal nations. Muhammad, however, was born in the year 570, in the city of Mecca, in southern Arabia, at that time a backward area of the world, far from the centers of trade, art, and learning. Orphaned at age six, he was reared in modest surroundings. Islamic tradition tells us that he was illiterate. His economic position improved when, at age twenty-five, he married a wealthy widow. Nevertheless, as he approached forty, there was little outward indication that he was a remarkable person. Most Arabs at that time were pagans, who believed in many gods. There were, however, in Mecca, a small number of Jews and Christians; it was from them no doubt that Muhammad first learned of a single, omnipotent God who ruled the entire universe. When he was forty years old, Muhammad became convinced that this one true God (Allah) was speaking to him, and had chosen him to spread the true faith. For three years, Muhammad preached only to close friends and associates. Then, about 613, he began preaching in public. As he slowly gained converts, the Meccan authorities came to consider him a dangerous nuisance. In 622, fearing for his safety, Muhammad fled to Medina (a city some 200 miles north of Mecca), where he had been offered a position of considerable political power. This flight, called the Hegira, was the turning point of the Prophet's life. In Mecca, he had had few followers. In Medina, he had many more, and he soon acquired an influence that made him a virtual dictator. During the next few years, while Muhammad s following grew rapidly, a series of battles were fought between Medina and Mecca. This was ended in 630 with Muhammad's triumphant return to Mecca as conqueror. The remaining two and one-half years of his life witnessed

Cat Stevens - How I Came to Islam

2004-07-04T03:32:44-04:00

I was brought up in the modern world of all the luxury and the high life of show business. I was born in a Christian home, but we know that every child is born in his original nature - it is only his parents that turn him to this or that religion. I was given this religion (Christianity) and thought this way. I was taught that God exists, but there was no direct contact with God, so we had to make contact with Him through Jesus - he was in fact the door to God. This was more or less accepted by me, but I did not swallow it all. I looked at some of the statues of Jesus; they were just stones with no life. And when they said that God is three, I was puzzled even more but could not argue. I more or less believed it, because I had to have respect for the faith of my parents. Gradually I became alienated from this religious upbringing. I started making music. I wanted to be a big star. All those things I saw in the films and on the media took hold of me, and perhaps I thought this was my God, the goal of making money. I had an uncle who had a beautiful car. "Well," I said, "he has it made. He has a lot of money." The people around me influenced me to think that this was it; this world was their God. I decided then that this was the life for me; to make a lot of money, have a 'great life.' Now my examples were the pop stars. I started making songs, but deep down I had a feeling for humanity, a feeling that if I became rich I would help the needy. (It says in the Qur'an, we make a promise, but when we make something, we want to hold onto it and become greedy.) So what happened was that I became very famous. I was still a teenager, my name and photo were splashed in all the media. They made me larger than life, so I wanted to live larger than life and the only way to do that was to be intoxicated (with liquor and drugs). After a year of financial success and

Brief Look at Benito Mussolini

2004-07-04T01:24:17-04:00

Benito Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883 in Predappio. The son of a blacksmith he was largely self-educated. He became a schoolteacher and a socialist journalist in northern Italy. In 1910 he married Rachele Guidi who bore his five children. Mussolini was jailed in 1911 for his opposition to Italy’s war in Libya. Soon after his release in 1912 he became editor of the socialist newspaper in Milan, “Avanti!”. When WWI began in 1914 Mussolini advocated Italy’s entrance into the war on the allied side and was expelled from the socialist party. He then started his own newspaper in Milan, Il Popolo d’Italia (The People of Italy) which later became the origin of the Fascist Movement. In 1916 Mussolini enlisted in the military. After his promotion to sergeant he was wounded and in 1917 he returned to his paper. During the Chaos that Gripped Italy after the war Mussolini’s influence grew swiftly. Mussolini and other war veterans founded Fasci di Combattimento in March of 1919. This Nationalistic antisocialist movement attracted much of the lower middle class and took its name from the Fasces, an ancient symbol of Roman discipline. The Fascist movement grew rapidly in the 1920’s, spreading through the countryside where it’s Black Shirt Militia won support of the land owners and attacked peasant leagues of Socialist Supporters. To take advantage of the opportunity Fascism shed it’s initial Republicanism gaining the support of the King and Army. On October 28, 1922 Mussolini led his Fascist March on Rome. Mussolini was immediately invited to form the Italian Government by King Victor Emmanuel III. Although Mussolini was given extraordinary powers to return order to Italy he governed constitutionally until 1924 after the violence of the 1924 elections resulting in the death of Socialist party deputy Giacomo Mattoetti. Mussolini moved to suspend constitutional government and establish a totalitarian regime. He proceeded in stages to establish a dictatorship by forbidding the parliament to initiate legislation, making him responsible to the king alone. By 1926 he had passed decrees issuing him the force of law, establishing total censorship of the press and suppressing all opposition parties. In 1929 Mussolini made one of his

Attila

2004-07-04T01:09:31-04:00

Attila King and general of the Huns; died 453. Succeeding in 433 to the kingship of Scythian hordes disorganized and enfeebled by internal discords, Attila soon made of his subjects a compact and formidable people, the terror of Europe and Asia. An unsuccessful campaign in Persia was followed in 441 by an invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire, the success of which emboldened Attila to invade the West. He passed unhindered through Austria and Germany, across the Rhine into Gaul, plundering and devastating all in his path with a ferocity unparalleled in the records of barbarian invasions and compelling those he overcame to augment his mighty army. In 451 he was met on the Plains of Chalons by the allied Romans under Actius and the Visigoths under Theodoric and Thorismond, who overcame the Huns and averted the peril that menaced Western civilization. Turning then to Italy, Attila, in the spring of 452, laid waste Aquileia and many Lombard cities, and was approaching Rome, whither Valentinian III had fled before him, when he was met near Mantua by an embassy -- the most influential member of which was Pope Leo I -- which dissuaded Attila from sacking the city. Attila died shortly after. Catholic interest in Attila centers chiefly in his relations with those bishops of France and Italy who restrained the Hunnish leader in his devastating fury. The moral power of these bishops, more particularly of the pope during the dissolution of the empire, is evidenced as well by the confidence in which the faithful looked to them for succour against the terrible invader as by the influence they sometimes exerted in staying that invader's destroying hand. St. Agnan of Orléans sustained the courage of his people and hastened the reinforcements that saved his apparently doomed city; at Troyes, St. Lupus prevailed upon Attila to spare the province of Champagne, and gave himself as a hostage while the Hunnish army remained in Gaul; when Rome seemed destined to meet the fate of the Lombard cities which Attila had pillaged, it was Pope Leo the Great who, by his eloquence and commanding personality, overawed the conqueror and saved the city. The terror which for centuries after clung to the name of Attila, "the Scourge of God", as he came to be called, and the gratitude of the people to their deliverers combined in time to encumber medieval hagiography with legends of saints

Attila, King of the Huns

2004-07-04T01:03:20-04:00

Although he reigned almost 20 years as king of the Huns, the image of Attila in history and in the popular imagination is based upon two aggressive military campaigns in the last two years of his life which threatened to dramatically redirect the development of Western Europe. Attila and his brother succeeded their uncle as leaders of the Huns in 434, with Attila in the junior role until his brother's death (perhaps at Attila's hand) 12 years later. The Hun kingdom was centered in modern-day Hungary. Attila embarked immediately upon a series of wars extending Hun rule from the Rhine across the north of the Black Sea as far as the Caspian Sea. From that base he soon began a long series of saber-rattling negotiations with the capitals of the Roman

Albert Einstein Relativity and the Cosmos

2004-07-04T00:44:07-04:00

Relativity and the Cosmos In November of 1919, at the age of 40, Albert Einstein became an overnight celebrity, thanks to a solar eclipse. An experiment had confirmed that light rays from distant stars were deflected by the gravity of the sun in just the amount he had predicted in his theory of gravity, General Relativity. General Relativity was the first major new theory of gravity since Isaac Newton's, more than two hundred and fifty years earlier. Einstein became a hero, and the myth building began. Headlines appeared in newspapers all over the world. On November 8, 1919, for example, the London Times had an article headlined: "The Revolution In Science/Einstein Versus Newton." Two days later, The New York Times' headlines read: "Lights All Askew In The Heavens/Men Of Science More Or Less Agog Over Results Of Eclipse Observations/Einstein Theory Triumphs." The planet was exhausted with World War I, eager for some sign of humankind's nobility, and suddenly here was a modest scientific genius, seemingly interested only in pure intellectual pursuits. What was General Relativity? Einstein's earlier theory of time and space, Special Relativity, proposed that distance and time are not absolute. The ticking rate of a clock depends on the motion of the observer of that clock; likewise for the length of a "yard stick." Published in 1915, General Relativity proposed that gravity, as well as motion, can affect the intervals of time and of space. The key idea of General Relativity, called the Equivalence Principle, is that gravity pulling in one direction is completely equivalent to an acceleration in the opposite direction. (A car accelerating forwards feels just like sideways gravity pushing you back against your seat. An elevator accelerating upwards feels just like gravity pushing you into the floor. If gravity is equivalent to acceleration, and if motion affects measurements of time and space (as shown in Special Relativity), then it follows that gravity does so as well.In particular, the gravity of any mass, such as our sun, has the effect of warping the space and time around it. For example, the angles of a triangle no longer add up to 180 degrees and clocks tick more slowly the closer they are to a gravitational mass like the sun. Many of the predictions of General Relativity, such as the bending of starlight by gravity and a tiny shift in the orbit of the planet Mercury, have been quantitatively confirmed by

Matthias Schleiden Cells

2004-07-04T00:32:17-04:00

Cells Discovery and Basic Structure In 1655, the English scientist Robert Hooke made an observation that would change basic biological theory and research forever. While examining a dried section of cork tree with a crude light microscope, he observed small chambers and named them cells. Within a decade, researchers had determined that cells were not empty but, instead, filled with a watery substance called cytoplasm. Over the next 175 years, research led to the formation of the cell theory, first proposed by the German botanist Matthias Jacob Schleiden and the German physiologist Theodore Schwann in 1838 and formalized by the German researcher Rudolf Virchow in 1858. In its modern form, this theorem has four basic parts: The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of life; all organisms are composed of cells. All cells are produced by the division of preexisting cells (in other words, through reproduction). Each cell contains genetic material that is passed down during this process. All basic chemical and physiological functions, for example, repair, growth, movement, immunity, communication, and digestion are carried out inside of cells. The activities of cells depends on the activities of sub-cellular structures within the cell (these sub-cellular structures include organelles, the plasma membrane, and, if present, the nucleus). The cell theory leads to two very important generalities about cells and life in general: Cells are alive. The individual cells of your organs are just as “alive” as you are, even though they cannot live independently. This means cells can take energy (which, depending on the cell type, can be in the form of light, sugar, or other compounds) and building materials (proteins, carbohydrates and fats), and use these to repair themselves and make new generations of cells (reproduction). The characteristics and needs of an organism are in reality the characteristics and needs of the cells that make up the organism. For example, you need water because your cells need water. Most of the activities of a cell (repair, reproduction, etc.) are carried out via the production of proteins. Proteins are large molecules that are made by specific organelles within the cell using the instructions contained within the genetic material of the cell. Cytology is the study of cells, and cytologists are scientists that study cells. Cytologists have discovered that all cells are similar. They are all composed chiefly of molecules containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen,

Abraham Lincoln Biography

2004-06-27T23:29:14-04:00

Abraham Lincoln: Biography Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was very important to the past history of our country. He helped to abolish slavery in this country and kept the American Union from splitting apart during the Civil War. At 22, he moved to New Salem, Illinois. With his gift for swapping stories and making friends, he became quite popular and was elected to the Illinois legislature in 1834. In his spare time, he taught himself law and became a lawyer. In 1847, he was elected to the U.S. Congress, but returned to his law practice until 1858, when his concern about the spread of slavery prompted him to return to national politics and run for the U.S. Senate. Lincoln rose to greatness from a humble beginning. Born in 1809 in a log cabin in Kentucky, Lincoln spent most of his childhood working on the family farm. He had less than a year of school but managed to educate himself by studying and reading books on his own. He believed that slavery and democracy were fundamentally incompatible. In an 1858 speech, he said: What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independance? It is not our frowning battlements, our bristling sea coats, our army and our navy . . . Our defense is in the spirit which prized liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism at your own doors. Familiarize yourself with the chains of bondage and you prepare your own limbs to wear them (World Book Encyclopedia). He lost his campaign for the Senate, but during the debates with his opponent Stephen Douglas, he became well known for his opposition to slavery. The southern states, which believed they depended upon slavery to remain prosperous in the cotton, tobacco, and rice industries, threatened to secede from the nation if Lincoln won the election. Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861, and by April 12, the southern states had formed the Confederate States of America and the Civil War began. It was during the Civil War that Lincoln proclaimed the slaves free in the Confederate states. This was his famous Emancipation Proclamation, issued in 1863. But Lincoln knew that something else had to be done to insure liberty for the slaves after the war. So he worked

Napolen Bonaparte Biography

2004-06-27T23:25:46-04:00

Napolen Bonaparte was born in 1769 and died in 1821. Napoleon was a military genius for the loyalty of his troops, and for his spectacular victories. The many change of the government in France, against the background of war, made possible the rise of a military dictator. Since childhood, Napoleon was taught strategies and tactics to help him succeed through battles. At the age of fifteen, he entered the advance military school, the Ecole Militaire in Paris. Napoleon was promoted to a general at the age of twenty-four, where he was put in charge of the Italian campaigns. After conquering most of the Italian Penninsula, Napoleon gained the support of the government and earned the respect of Sieyes and Tallyrand. They identified Napoleon as their strong man in the Coup of Brumaire. In 1799, Napoleon introduced a dictatorship to bring order to the chaos in France. He instituted many reforms, for example in the civil service and treasury. He guaranteed the French people equality and fraternity. In exchange, he took away their liberty. Another reform was the creation of the national education system. This was a pleasant addition because it adds knowledge to the Empire. Another was a knew constitution, in this he presented to the public in a plebiscite that required them either to accept fully his version or to allow him to govern without the restrictions of a constitutions. This was a lose-lose situation for the people. The support of the army was a major factor in his successful dictatorship. Napoleon put the three consuls in charge of the new executive branch in which he was the first consul. Napoleon also introduced many foreign policies. One was the continental system; this forbade the imputation of British goods into Europe. In the first coalition, England joined with Austria and Prussia. The French was defeated because of their embarrassing loss in the Mediterranean. They lost most of their supplies which doomed their chances for a victory. Austria allied with Russia and England to form the second coalition. This war was concluded by a brief interval of peace, which lasted from 1801 to 1803. A third coalition was formed by an alliance between England, Austria, and Russia. The French were conquered at sea, but with perseverance, successfully dominated at land. After their defeat, the Frence

Steven Spielberg Biography - 1st Person Narrative

2004-06-19T23:14:59-04:00

Lights! Camera! Action! Have you seen E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial? It’s about a 900-year-old Extra-Terrestrial who bonds with Elliot, A ten-year-old boy. There connection with one another goes far beyond empathy to literally being able to experience each

Thurgood Marshall Biography Essay

2004-06-12T17:16:22-04:00

Thurgood Marshall Short Biography (1908- 1993) Thurgood Marshall is one of the most well known figures in the history of civil rights in America and the first Black Supreme Court Justices. He served for 24 years then retired in 1991 due to advancing years and bad health. He died later in 1993 at the age of 85. He also served as the legal director for the NAACP in the years of 1940 through 1961, a pivotal time for the organization, as changing the policy of racial segregation was one of its goals. Marshall and his mentor Charles Hamilton worked together to develop a long-term plan to get rid of racial segregation in schools. Their plan was to start concentrating on the graduate and professional schools, thinking that the judges would be sympathetic to them, then move on to the elementary and high schools. This proved fruitful in the case of _Brown vs. The Board of Education_ in 1954, were it was declared that segregation of schools was illegal. At this time, Marshall was an experienced advocate of the Supreme Court. Marshall presented many cases before the Court in what was his hallmark styles, straightforward and plainspoken. President John F. Kennedy appointed Marshall to the Court of Appeals in 1961. This was not an easy confirmation: a group of senators held it up for months, he served initially under a special appointment made during a congressional recess. From 1965 to 1967, he served as Solicitor General under President Johnson. Marshall succeeded Justices Tom Clark on the Supreme Court, and had argued 32 cases before that body, and won 29 of them. On the Court Marshall said very little except to train his sarcasm on the lawyers struggling through their arguments and some times a fellow Justices. The key to Marshall's work was his convection that integration would allow equal rights under the law to take hold. He worked on behalf of Black Americans, but built a structure of individual rights that became the corner stone of protections for all Americans. He succeeded in creating new protections under law for women, children, prisoners, and the homeless. All their claims to full citizenship over the last century can be traced back to Thurgood Marshall. The press, even, can thank him for an expansion of its liberties. Marshall's deep convection in the power of racial integration came out of a middle class background in

Jackie Robinson Biography, Book Review, Essay

2004-06-10T06:02:55-04:00

The Story Of Jackie Robinson: Break Through To The Big Leagues When I chose this book I wasn't sure if Jackie Robinson was the kind of person that could have an impact on the world but as I read it I was positive he was. Jackie had a hard childhood. His father left one day to go to Memphis to look for a new job and never came home. Being the youngest child Jackie could not help his mom make money like his older brothers and sister but whenever he got the chance to help he did. Since Jackie's mom worked all day and there was no one to stay home with him, Jackie went to school with his older sister Willa Mae. While she was in class he was outside playing in the sandbox. His older brother Mack was the athlete of the family while Jackie was little. He came in second place to Jesse Owens in the Berlin Olympic 200 meter dash. When Jackie grew up he attended his local high school. After breaking many sports records he had many college offers. Jackie decided to go to UCLA so his brother Frank could attend all his games, but a few weeks before Jackie's first college game was played Frank was killed in a motorcycle accident. It took him a long time to recover from that loss. Jackie played 4 college sports: Basketball, Football, Baseball, and he ran track. As time went on Jackie realized that the sport that was the least important to him was the one he was most likely to succeed in BASEBALL! When most people think of Jackie Robinson they think of the first Negro player in a major league sport. When he was drafted to the Brooklyn Dodgers he broke the color barrier for all sports. The first session was hard for Jackie. Not all of the players liked him and most of the fans hated him. Whenever he got a hit or stole a base the fans would boo him. When the pitcher hit him with the ball or he struck out the fans would laugh at him you would think they had never seen other players get out before. But as his career went on people started to like him and admire his skills. The picture that pops into the minds of people when they think of Jackie is the one where he is

Queen Elizabeth the First: The Virgin Queen

2004-06-10T04:53:59-04:00

Elizabeth I (also known as Elizabeth the Great, or the "Virgin Queen") was born in 1533 into a dangerous world of political intrigue. When she was only two years old, her father, King Henry VIII killed her mother, Ann Boleyn, because she had not yet produced a male heir. Henry's routine killing of her successive stepmothers every few years traumatized Elizabeth, who loved her father. Although Henry finally did father a son, Edward VI, the boy did not live long, dying at the age of sixteen after a six-year reign, and thus Elizabeth's older sister Mary I came to the throne in 1553. Meanwhile, the young Elizabeth showed exceptional intelligence, excelling at her studies well beyond any of the other royal children. A Catholic, Mary married the Hapsburg prince of Spain, the soon-to-be Philip II. Mary would come to be known as "Bloody Mary" for her harsh treatment of English Protestants in her attempt to restore Catholicism to England. When Sir Thomas Wyat the Younger's Rebellion threatened Mary's rule, she believed Elizabeth to have been involved in the plot and imprisoned her in the Tower of London. By a combination of luck and skillful persuasion on the part of her political allies, Elizabeth survived this ordeal and became queen when Mary died in 1558. Elizabeth quickly consolidated power and returned the country to Protestantism, passing the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity, although by Reformation standards Catholics fared well under these acts. With the help of able advisors like Sir William Cecil (later Lord Burleigh) and the spy-networks of Francis Walsingham, she ruled the country ably and initiated an era of economic prosperity. In international affairs, Elizabeth manipulated the princes of Europe, using the prospect of marriage to her (and thus joint control over England) as a bargaining tool; indeed, preferring the power that came with perpetual eligibility, she ultimately never married at all. She was, however, involved in a scandalous romance with Robert Dudley (later called the Earl of Leicester), her Master of the Horse. Because Elizabeth was both husbandless and childless, to overthrow her would be to gain immediate control of the throne; plots against her proliferated. Most involved replacing her with Mary Queen of Scots, a Catholic member of the Stuart line. After Walsingham foiled the Babington Plot in 1586, Mary Queen of Scots was executed. Following Mary's beheading, Philip II of Spain, Catholic and enraged by Sir

Chaucer

2004-06-10T04:48:35-04:00

A person can almost wholly learn the history of the world though literature that has been written. This is because the people and times have such a great influence on the writers and their work. Authors did not simply grab ideas from the sky. These ideas came from their mind; they wrote about what they knew. And what they knew is what surrounds them, whether it be war, peace, or a time of transition. In the early centuries, religion ruled the land and people. The first rulers came about from the idea that God or some other Supreme Being from up above sent forth these people to rule over the land. Literature from these times was highly influenced by religion. Almost every piece of work up until the 18th century contains some kind of religious reference. Evidence of the role and impact of religion in society is shown in the epic poem Beowulf of the eighth century and Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales of the fourteenth century. The time in which Chaucer lived was "one of the most disagreeable periods of our national history" (Legouis 80). The Black Death destroyed a third of the population and many people turned to the church for help. Goeffery Chaucer, being "the great poetical observer of men, who in every age is born to record and eternize" (Blake 51), wrote The Canterbury Tales in the late fourteenth century in England. Religion dominated this time period in history; and therefore, it played a huge role in literary work. The Tale's plot is based on a very religious practice, a pilgrimage. The narrator of the Tales starts out by saying that he is "ready to go on my pilgrimage to Canterbury with a most devout heart" (Chaucer 3). A pilgrimage is a very sacred aspect of religion. It is an act of religious devotion, where a person or groups of people travel to a holy site in honor of a religious figure (Quinn 76). Almost every literary work ever produced at the time that Chaucer lived had religious undertones. This was because of the simple fact that "the church was the fountain of literacy and sole purveyor of what education there was during these centuries"(Vinson 8). The church was the law. If someone went against what the Bible said, then you went against the government. One might assume that if the Bible

Edgar Alan Poe: A Man of Secrecy

2004-06-10T02:28:45-04:00

Carl Sandburg Biography

2004-06-10T02:06:19-04:00

Carl Sandburg was born in Galesburg, Illinois in 1878. At the age of thirteen, he left his Seventh Ward School to support his family. Even when he was young, he was a hard worker. He raised money for his family by driving a milk truck and delivering the milk, shining shoes, and farming on wheat fields in Kansas. When the Spanish-American War took place in 1898, Sandburg was enlisted in the 6th Illinois Infantry. He described these years in a later autobiography, Always the Young Strangers, written in 1953. Then, Sandburg attended Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinios. He married Lilian Paula Steichen in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1910. From 1910 to 1912 he served as an organizer for the Social Democratic Party and secretary to the mayor. In 1913, Carl Sandburg's writing career started. Sandburg was transferred to Chicago, Illinois where his work could be appreciated. In Chicago, he was the editor of \"System\", a business magazine. Sandburg also joined the staff of \"Chicago Daily News\". A year later, in 1914, a few of his poems were published in \"Poetry\", a Chicago literary magazine. \"Poetry\" awarded Sandburg with the Levinson Prize for his poem \"Chicago\" in 1914. Many people criticized his poems because they felt that they were written too simply. However, other people believed that his work contained \"vivid descriptions\".
In 1916, Chicago Poems, a collection of Sandburg's best poems, was published. Carl Sandburg is known for many other books. These include Cornhuskers published in 1918, Smoke and Steel published in 1920, Pigeons published in 1923, Country published in 1929, Potato Face published in 1930, The People Yes published in 1936, Complete Poems, published in 1950, and Honey and Salt published in 1963. He also published Rootabaga Stories in 1922. These were stories written for his three daughters, Margaret, Janet, and Helga. Sandburg also wrote and read his works to his two grandchildren. Sandburg also wrote biographies on Abraham Lincoln. These included Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years, which was written in 1926, and Abraham Lincoln: The War Years, which was written in 1939.
Carl Sandburg has won many prizes for his poems and books. He was awarded prizes by the Poetry Society of America in 1919 and 1921. Sandburg also was awarded Pulitzer prizes for Abraham Lincoln: The War Years in 1940, and Complete Poems in 1951. He published a novel, Remembrance Rock, in 1948. Carl Sandburg also earned money from

Nostradamus

2004-06-10T02:03:34-04:00

Once, while passing through Italy, Nostradamus bowed before a young Franciscan monk, addressing him as "His Holiness." Others around him did understand his strange behavior and the reasons as to why someone would call a mere monk by such a title. However, years later, and after Nostradamus' death, that monk became Pope Sixtus V. This was just one of the hundreds of prophecies, or visions of the future, that the fifteenth-century prophet made during his lifetime. Nostradamus, born in the year of 1503 in France, spent his childhood under the guidance of his two grandfathers. After going to the University of Montpelier for three years, he received a bachelor's degree in the study of medicine. Around this time, there was an outbreak of the plague in various parts of France, and he quickly earned a good reputation with the use of his medicine. However, Nostradamus' "medicines" were not ordinary, as they consisted of psychological guidance and homemade formulas. Using these methods, he cured many victims of the plague who were previously labeled incurable. He later went back to Montpelier to earn his doctoral degree in medicine. Although Nostradamus was very interested in medicine, he began reading books about the occult and took a fancy to predicting the future. In 1550, he published his first book which contained prophecies for the coming year. The almanac proved so successful and accurate that he began publishing them annually. After several years, Nostradamus developed the idea of writing a complete almanac, entitled Centuries. This book came to consist of prophecies ranging in time from his present to the end of the world. In Centuries there were one thousand quatrains, or verses of four lines each. One which was particularly amazing was this: A Captain of great Germany, Shall come to yield himself by stimulating help, To the Kings of Kings with the help of Hungary, So that his revolt shall cause great bloodshed. This quatrain has been interpreted, in modern day, to mean that Hitler shall involve Hungary in a

Mark Twain

2004-06-10T01:53:41-04:00

Samuel Clemens was born and grew up in Hannibal, Missouri. This was the home of his later characters Tom Sawer and Huck Finn. In these books he incorporated such features that really existed in Hannibal; features such as Holidays Hill, Bear Creek and Lover’s Leap. Clemens described the residents of Hannibal as happy and content with the lives they led in their small town. In his late teens, Clemens left Hannibal on a riverboat to become a printer in St. Louis. He moved up in the ranks of printing and moved to New York and eventually to Washington D.C. Clemens remembered how much fun he had had on the riverboat and how glorious it must have been to be a pilot. He soon decided to move to New Orleans to become a pilot. On the boat, he often heard things like ‘Mark the twain, two fathoms deep’. He liked how the words “Mark Twain” sounded and in one of his first books, ‘Life on the Mississippi’ about his four years piloting the Spread Eagle along the twisting river, he decided to use the name Mark Twain. Mark Twain stopped piloting the riverboat in 1861, at the start of the Civil War, to join the Union. He went to war for two weeks and left immediately after being involved in the shooting of a civilian. He said he knew retreating better than it’s inventor did. He soon decided to travel 1,700 miles from the Missouri Territory , to the Nevada Territory. He passed through Overland City, Horseshoe City, and many large and small cities in between. Clemens commented that Salt Lake City was healthy. He said that the city had one doctor who was arrested once a week for lack of work. Virginia City was very lively from all of the gold and silver found near. He commented that the saloons, courts and prisons were busy and there was a whiskey mill every fifteen steps. Inspired by the vein of silver as wide as a New York City street under Virginia City, Twain decided to go prospecting. Many people went prospecting crazy but Twain thought it must have skipped over him. After not finding any silver, he wrote a book called Roughing It. Clemens soon went to San Francisco and took a job at the San

Matthias Schleiden

2004-06-10T00:37:07-04:00

Matthias Schleiden was a German Biologist and a master micoscopist. He lived from 1804 -1881. Schleiden was influenced by Schelling’s Naturphilosophie and the writings of

Andy Warhol Biography

2004-05-04T05:29:10-04:00

Andy Warhol, the American painter, printmaker, illustrator, and film maker was born in Pittsburgh on August 6, 1928, shortly afterwards settling in New York. The only son of immigrant, Czech parents, Andy finished high school and went on to the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, graduating in 1949 with hopes of becoming an art teacher in the public schools. While in Pittsburgh, he worked for a department store arranging window displays, and often was asked to simply look for ideas in fashion magazines . While recognizing the job as a waste of time, he recalls later that the fashion magazines “gave me a sense of style and other career opportunities.” Upon graduating, Warhol moved to New York and began his artistic career as a commercial artist and illustrator for magazines and newspapers. Although extremely shy and clad in old jeans and sneakers, Warhol attempted to intermingle with anyone at all who might be able to assist him in the art world. His portfolio secure in a brown paper bag, Warhol introduced himself and showed his work to anyone that could help him out. Eventually, he got a job with Glamour magazine, doing illustrations for an article called “Success is a Job in New York,” along with doing a spread showing women’s shoes. Proving his reliability and skills, he acquired other such jobs, illustrating adds for Harpers Bazaar, Millers Shoes, contributing to other large corporate image-building campaigns, doing designs for the Upjohn Company, the National Broadcasting Company and others. In these early drawings, Warhol used a device that would prove beneficial throughout his commercial art period of the 1950’s-a tentative, blotted ink line produced by a simple monotype process. First he drew in black ink on glazed, nonabsorbent paper. Then he would press the design against an absorbent sheet. As droplets of ink spread, gaps in the line filled in-or didn’t, in which case they created a look of spontaneity. Warhol mastered thighs method, and art directors of the 1950’s found in adaptable to nearly any purpose. This method functioned provided him with a hand-scale equivalent of a printing press, showing his interest in mechanical reproduction that dominates much of his future work. Such techniques used for almost all of his works derived from his beginning in the commercial arts. His pattern of aesthetic and artistic innovation, to “expect the unexpected,” began with his advertising art in the 1950’s. Much

Frederick Douglass

2004-03-24T02:47:16-04:00

Frederick Douglass: Elements of Douglas’ Abolitionist Argument The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass gives a first person perspective on the life of a slave laborer in both the rural south and the city. Frederick Douglass, having educated himself against terrible odds, was able to read and think endlessly about the evils of slavery and the reasons for its abolishment. The primary reason for his disgust with slavery was its effect of dehumanizing the slaves, as well as their masters. Throughout his autobiography Frederick Douglass talks of the many ways a slave and master would be corrupted by the labor system that was so deeply entrenched in the south as a result of the cotton gin, the resulting demand in cotton, and other such labor-intensive crops. The master justified his actions through a self-serving religion and a conscience belief that slaves were meant to be in their place. However, Frederick Douglass noticed that in order to maintain the slaves belief in this system the master had to resort to trickery and the dissolution of a slaves body and mind. According to Douglass, the treatment of a slave was worse than that of an animal. Not only was he valued as an animal, fed like an animal, and beaten like an animal, but also a slave was reduced to an animal when he was as much a man as his keeper. The mental faculty a slave had was diminished through the forbidden nature of reading and learning, as well as the constant drunkenness imposed on the slaves during holidays. As Douglass says, were it not for those holidays the slaves would have been impossible to keep. Frederick Douglass had moved into a new mistresses home who had never known of slavery, but he saw her corrupted by it soon enough. While she had initially taught him to read, fed him well, and looked upon him like an equal human being, she eventually forbade him from reading and whipped him at her husband’s request. The kind woman he had known became inhumane and degrading because that was required to maintain the unwarranted power over slaves. As time progressed Henry also thought of the injustice in working and paying the wages he had earned to a master who had no entitlement to them whatsoever. In slavery he had been unable to question anything of his masters doing. He was unable to have rage, sadness, or even

Anthony Comstock

2004-03-20T00:59:49-04:00

Anthony Comstock Anthony Comstock, born 1844, was a man who very strongly believed in the strict adhesion to Victorian principles and ideas. As such, he felt it his duty to take an active part in banning the print, sale, transport, or other distribution of “obscene” goods. Comstock is well known for his formation of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, or SSV. The SSV’s main goal was stop the corruption of youth within the city of New York by keeping obscene materials out of the hands of everyone, especially children. Children were felt by the SSV to need protection against obscenity because, as Anthony Comstock put it, “from infancy to maturity, the pathway of the child is beset with peculiar temptations to do evil.” The idea was to remove evil temptations from within the child’s grasp while they were maturing, so they

Napoleon Bonaparte

2004-02-23T04:31:46-05:00

I love power, but I love it only as an artist loves his art. I have only one passion and one mistress–France. I wake with her. I sleep with her. My only mistress is power, and I work too hard in winning her to allow myself easily to be robbed of her or even envied for possessing her. Ambition is so much a part of me and my temperament, of my constitution, that is has become the very blood of my veins and the air I breathe. –Napoleon Bonaparte (Casey, P. 23) Many have seen Napoleon as a madman for his dreams and ambitions, but he looked at them as goals within his reach that only required strength of character to achieve. Despite his short stature and his heritage of the petty nobility of Italian Corsica, he would grow to become the almighty Emperor of the West in Europe. He is a prime example of one who reached for the impossible, and achieved his dreams, if only for a short time. Napoleone Buonaparte was born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, on Corsica. His father, Carlo Maria Buonaparte, decided that his first son, Giusseppe, later Joseph, would be an ecclesiastic, and he would make his second son, Napoleone, a soldier. Stories claim that he would go to the citadel every night to watch the maneuvers, and once organized a gang of urchins to fight with the boys from the faubourg (Castelot, P. 4). Between the ages of 9 and 10, Napleone attended two military academies: the Collège d’Autun, and the military academy at Brienne. He was so tormented by the boys for being a foreigner and for his accent that he changed his name to the French spelling, Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1784, he was accepted to the elite military academy Ècole Militaire. He excelled in his studies and graduated within a year of being accepted. At the age of sixteen, he was made a second Lieutenant of artillery in the French Army. It was then that Napoleon began his distinguished military career. He went on leave to visit his family in Corsica frequently until he was called back to service in 1791. In 1793, his big break came. He was instrumental in capturing Toulon from the British. He was promoted to brigadier

Charles Darwin Biography

2004-02-22T06:50:21-05:00

Charles Darwin Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. He was the son of Robert Waring Darwin and his wife Susannah, and the grandson of the scientist Erasmus Darwin. His mother died when he was eight years old, and he was brought up by his sister. He was taught the classics at Shrewsbury, then sent to Edinburgh to study medicine, which he hated. Like many modern students Darwin only excelled in subjects that intrigued him. Although his father was a physician, Darwin was uninterested in medicine and he was unable to stand the sight of surgery. He did eventually obtain a degree in theology from Cambridge University, although theology was of minor interest to him also. What Darwin really liked to do was tramp over the hills, observing plants and animals, collecting new specimens, scrutinizing their structures, and categorizing his findings, guided by his cousin William Darwin Fox, an entomologist. Darwin's scientific inclinations were encouraged by his botany professor, John Stevens Henslow, who was instrumental, despite heavy paternal opposition, in securing a place for Darwin as a naturalist on the surveying expedition of HMS Beagle to Patagonia. Under Captain Robert Fitzroy, Darwin visited Tenerife, the Cape Verde Island, Brazil, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Chile, the Galapagos Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand, and Tasmania. In the Cape Verde Island Darwin devised his theory of coral reefs. Another significant stop on the trip was in the Galapagos Islands, it was here that Darwin found huge populations of tortoises and he found that different islands were home to significantly different types of tortoises. Darwin then found that on islands without tortoises, prickly pear cactus plants grew with their pads and fruits spread out over the ground. On islands that had hundreds of tortoises, the prickly pears grew substantially thick, tall trunks, bearing the pads and fruits high above the reach of the tough mouthed tortoises. During this five-year expedition he obtained intimate knowledge of the fauna, flora, and geology of many lands, which equipped him for his later investigations. In 1836, Darwin returned to England after the 5 years with the expedition, and by 1846 he had became one of the foremost naturalists of his time, and he also published several works on the geological and zoological discoveries of his voyage. He developed a friendship with Sir Charles Lyell, became secretary of the Geological Society, a position which Darwin held for four years. In 1839 Darwin married

Benito Mussolini Biography

2004-02-22T06:49:02-05:00

Benito Mussolini Benito Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883 outside the village of Dovia di Predappio in the Northeastern Italian province of Forli. He had one sister and one brother. They always fought and argued over little petty things with each other. His sister name was Edvige and his brother’s name was Armaldo. His mother Rosa Malteni was a well respect and appreciated schoolteacher. His father Allesandro Mussolini was both a blacksmith and a committee socialist. He received his name “Benito” from the Mexican Revolutionary Juarez. Benito grew up as a delinquent, disobedient, and did not have any manners. He was a bully to the other children around him. He would get into numerous of fights with other children. Benito Mussolini was brought up in one the poorest regions in Northeastern Italy. When he was in school, he always kept to himself and very quiet. He wasn’t a class clown, never cried or rarely laughed. He always sat in the back of the classroom and read a book. He rather do that than play with the other children in his class. He got kicked out his first boarding school. When he was growing up he was surrounded by many political philosophies. There was anarchism, socialism, and others. Both Benito and his father Allesandro had very bad violent tempers. When Benito grew up, he became a teacher in an elementary school in his nearby town; he spread the party of doctrine. He was an editor, Fascist leader, laborer, soldier, politician, and revolutionary. He also became a socialist. He graduated at a teacher training school in Forli, Italy. Then he moved to Switzerland to find a better place to work. When he was in Switzerland, he got in trouble with the law for fighting and vagrancy. So he decided to move back to Italy but in Trent. When he returned he worked for a Social Newspaper Company and wrote several literacy works. The newspaper was called “La Lotta di Classe (The Class Struggle). The towns’ people loved his newspaper. He made the editor of “Avanti” (forward); it was published in Milan. When Benito wrote some ignorant and cruel suggestions and ideas in the newspaper. So the he was fired. He then decided to created his own newspaper. He called it, “Li Popolo d’ Italia” (The People of Italy). He hoped the war between Italy and Turkey might lead to collapse of society that

Attilla the Hun Biography

2004-02-22T06:48:23-05:00

Attila the Hun Attila the Hun is known as one of the most ferocious leaders of ancient times. He was given the nickname “Scourge God” because of his ferocity. During the twentieth century, “Hun” was one of the worst name you could call a person, due to Attila. The Huns were a barbaric and savage group of people, and Attila, their leader, was no exception. He was the stereotypical sacker of cities and killer of babies. The Huns lasted long after their disappearance in mythology and folklore, as the bad guy. Generally, they were not fun people to be around. Priscus saw Attila the Hun at a banquet in 448. Priscus described him as being a short, squat man with a large head and deep-set eyes. He also had a flat nose and a thin beard. Historians say that his general personality was irritable, blustering, and truculent. He was said to be a persistent negotiator, and not at al pitiless. While Priscus was at the banquet in 448, he observed a few other details about Attila. All of Attila’s chief lieutenants were served dainties on silver platters, but he was served only meat on wooden plates. No other real qualities of Attila as a general really survived through time, but he is thought to have been an outstanding commander from his accomplishments as a barbarian. Huns themselves were mysterious and feared people. They first appeared in the Fourth Century around the Roman Empire. They rode their warhorses around and cause the Germanic barbarians and Romans alike to fear them. Yet, it was said that they were very uncivilized. It was said that they made no use of fire, and just ate the roots of plants they found in fields. They were also said to have eaten the almost raw meat of animals. The only reason the meat was “almost raw” was because they were said to have “cooked” it by placing it between their thighs and the backs of their horses to give it warmth. The Huns sometimes engaged in regular battle. They would attack in an order of columns, and scream very disorderly and savage cries. Most of the time, though, the Huns just fought in a very random way. They would scream and run about and then all come together in a large group. They would then, as a group, approach the camp or town of the people they

Archimedes Biography

2004-02-22T06:46:34-05:00

Archimedes Archimedes was a Greek mathematician and scientist. He was born in Syracuse, Sicily in the year 287 B.C. He was educated in Alexandria, Egypt. Due to the lack of information about Greek mathematics, many Greek mathematicians and their works are hardly known. Archimedes is the exception. Archimedes was very preoccupied with mathematics. For instance, he often forgot to eat and bathe because of his always wanted to solve problems. He found areas and volumes of spheres, cylinders and plain shapes. He showed that the volume of a sphere is two-thirds of the volume of the smallest cylinder that can contain the sphere. Archimedes was so proud of this concept that he requested that a cylinder enclosed a sphere, with an explanation of this concept, be engraved on his grave. Archimedes also gave a method for approximating pi. He was able to estimate the value of pi between 3 10/71 and 3 1/7. Math wasn’t as sophisticated enough to find out the exact pi (3.14). Archimedes was finding square roots and he found a method based on the Greek myriad for representing numbers as large as 1 followed by 80 million billion zeros. One of Archimedes accomplishments was his creation of the lever and pulley system. Archimedes proved his theory of the lever and pulley to the king by moving a ship, of the royal fleet, back into the ocean. Then, Archimedes moved the ship into the sea with only a few movements of his hand, which caused a lever and pulley device to move the ship. This story has become famous because Archimedes said, "Give me a place to stand on and I will move the earth. Another invention he invented was the Archimedean screw. This machine was built for raising water to highland areas in Egypt that could not receive water directly from the Nile River. This device is still used today for irrigation purposes even is some countries today. The most famous story of Archimedes life involves the discovery of Archimedes' Principle. The story begins when King Hieron asking a goldsmith to construct a gold wreath to the immortal gods. After some time, the king came to suspect that the wreath was not pure gold but rather filled with silver. In order to end his suspicion, the king asked Archimedes to determine whether the wreath was pure gold or filled with gold without destroying it. Archimedes agreed to

Andrew Carnegie Biography

2004-02-22T04:06:46-05:00

Andrew Carnegie Biography A man of Scotland, a distinguished citizen of the United States, and a philanthropist devoted to the betterment of the world around him, Andrew Carnegie became famous at the turn of the twentieth century and became a real life rags to riches story. Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, on November 25, 1835, Andrew Carnegie entered the world in poverty. The son of a hand weaver, Carnegie received his only formal education during the short time between his birth and his move to the United States. When steam machinery for weaving came into use, Carnegie’s father sold his looms and household goods, sailing to America with his wife and two sons. At this time, Andrew was twelve, and his brother, Thomas, was five. Arriving into New York on August 14, 1848, aboard the Wiscasset from Glasgow, the Carnegies wasted little time settling in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, where relatives already existed and were there to provide help. Allegheny City provided Carnegie’s first job, as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory, working for $1.20 a week. His father also worked there while his mother bound shoes at home, making a miniscule amount of money. Although the Carnegies lacked in money, they abounded in ideals and training for their children. At age 15, Carnegie became a telegraph messenger boy in Pittsburgh. He learned to send and decipher telegraphic messages and became a telegraph operator at the age of 17. Carnegie’s next job was as a railroad clerk, working for the Pennsylvania Railroad. He worked his way up the ladder, through his dedication and honest desire to succeed, to become train dispatcher and then division manager. At this time, young Carnegie, age 24, had already made some small investments that laid the foundations of his what would be tremendous fortune. One of these investments was the purchase of stock in the Woodruff Sleeping Car Company. In 1864, Carnegie entered the iron business, but did not begin to make steel until years later. In 1873, he built the Edgar Thomson works in Braddock, Pennsylvania, to make Bessemer steel. He established many other steel plants, and in 1892, he merged all of his interests into the Carnegie Steel Company. This act from Carnegie is fitting with one of his most famous quotations, “Put all of your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket.” This firm became one of