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| Abraham Lincoln |
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A century and a half later the name of Abraham Lincoln conjures up a legendary resonance to all those who hear it. It is a name spoken with reverence not only across the length and the breath of America but world wide. This celebrated national hero, heralded as Walt Whitman's "Captain" was indeed worthy of all the respect and regard that the land of prairies bestowed on him life based on handwork and conviction . Lincoln's life was a journey from the log cabin to the White House, Taking up cudgels against Slavery, during his term as through the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Thus, giving the United States its unique blend of colossal breath and unity and an unchallenged position on the world map. ( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Adolf Hitler |
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On 30th April 1945 Adolf Hitler the greatest dictator and tyrant of the century committed suicide in his Berlin bunker after Germany lost the war. The news rocked the headlines all over the world. Nations across the globe were shocked but no one mourned. Hitler's end was the end of an era of racism and hatred that had corroded the very foundation of civilization. Germany under Hitler's regime fully terrorized the world with its military might and unjust anti sometimes operations. The holocaust of the Jews by Hitler in the gas chambers and extermination camps left the world astonished at such rampant cruelty that paraded recklessly under Hitler's dictatorship. ( Read More ) |
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| Albert Einstein | ||||||||||||||||||
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The name Einstein has become synonymous with the word ‘genius'. The greatest scientist of this century, Albert Einstein's theories brought about a revolution in the world of thinking men. His theories were profound, although his ideas stemmed from common everyday occurances. A walk on the wet sands of a beach reminded him of surface tension, the elastic-skin effect of a liquid surface, that holds a drop together. This ability of going to the heart of the matter is what made Einstein rock the world of physics and mathematics with the theory of relativity and the quantum theory of light. The seemingly contradictory theories where one claimed that light consists of waves and the other said that it somehow consists of particles were proposed all at once. It was a revolutionary breakthrough in the world of science. Much of science is indebted to this unassuming German Jew with a soft manner and a brilliant mind. ( Read More ) |
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| Alexander The Great | ||||||||||||||||||
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To conquer the world was not only his dream but a reality which this young Greek general called Alexander had almost achieved when at the age of 32 he suddenly died. Dynamic, enterprising this young hero was spurred on by an insatiable appetite to have the world at his feet. Standing little over five feet he possessed that unique blend of youth and wisdom that to day puts him in an unchallenged position amongst the world's greatest generals. ( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Alfred Bernhard Nobel |
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The name of Alfred Nobel is synonymous with the prizes that people receive the world over for excelling in a field. It is a rare honor to receive the prize and aspirants all over the world work hard to achieve this distinction. Nobel Prizes, awards are granted annually to persons or institutions for outstanding contributions during the previous year in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, international peace and economic sciences. The yearly prizes are awarded from the interest accruing from a trust fund provided by the testament of the Swedish chemist, inventor and philanthropist Alfred Bernhard Nobel. ( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Amelia Earhart |
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The early 1920''s were yet to witness the wave of feminism and the society even in the west was essentially male dominated. It was at such a time in a New York office in the year 1928 that George Palmer Putman, publisher, author, entrepreneur was sitting at his desk and waiting. He was looking for a female candidate pilot to take up a vacancy on the plane Friendship, that was to make a transatlantic flight. The candidate had to be a young willing woman willing to risk her life, at no pay simply for the sake of adventure. It seemed in the day an arduous task to find woman who was both modest and dignified and was ready to face death with composure if the time so arrived. Putman''s prayers were answered in the person of Amelia Ear hart. Freckled, graceful with a pair of state- gray eyes, Amelia fulfilled all the credentials required by Putman. She was a social service worker with a passion for flying. She became the first woman to fly over the formidable waters of the Atlantic. ( Read More ) |
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| Anne Frank | ||||||||||||||||||
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It was august 1944. The World War II was at it's height. Germany under Hitler's dictatorship was a menace. The Jews were being persecuted by the Nazis. The terror of fascism had spread. The Jews were desperate for survival. In a small office building in Amsterdam hiding the German gun was the Frank family. Their only crime was, the they were Jews. ( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Benjamin Franklin |
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Benjamin Franklin (January 17 [O.S. January 6] 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the most important Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a leading author, political theorist, politician, printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat. As a scientist he was a major figure in the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As a political writer and activist he, more than anyone, invented the idea of an American nation,[1] and as a diplomat during the American Revolution, he secured the French alliance that helped to make independence possible. ( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Bill Gates | ||||||||||||||||||
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Bill Gates, the software magnet holds not only an enviable position in the business world today but is the acclaimed genius of our times. As the American business executive officer of the Microsoft Corporation, Gates dominates the world of hi tech computers. ( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Carl Jung | ||||||||||||||||||
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[ Anyone who wants to know the human psyche will learn next to nothing from experimental psychology. He would be better advised to abandon exact science, put away his scholar's gown, bid farewell to his study, and wander with human heart throught the world. There in the horrors of prisons, lunatic asylums and hospitals, in drab suburban pubs, in brothels and gambling-hells, in the salons of the elegant, the Stock Exchanges, socialist meetings, churches, revivalist gatherings and ecstatic sects, through love and hate, through the experience of passion in every form in his own body, he would reap richer stores of knowledge than text-books a foot thick could give him, and he will know how to doctor the sick with a real knowledge of the human soul. -- Carl Jung] ...( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Catherine II | ||||||||||||||||||
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Catherine's father, Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, held the rank of a Prussian general in his capacity as Governor of the city of Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland) in the name of the king of Prussia. Though born as Sophie Augusta Frederica (Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst, nicknamed "Figchen") a minor German princess in Stettin, Catherine did have very remote Russian ancestry, and two of her first cousins became Kings of Sweden: Gustav III and Charles XIII. In accordance with the custom then prevailing amongst German nobility, she received her education chiefly from a French governess and from tutors. ( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Charles Robert Darwin | ||||||||||||||||||
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Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist. After becoming eminent among scientists for his field work and inquiries into geology, he proposed and provided scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from one or a few common ancestors through the process of natural selection. The fact that evolution occurs became accepted by the scientific community and the general public in his lifetime, while his theory of natural selection came to be widely seen as the primary explanation of the process of evolution in the 1930s, and now forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory. In modified form, Darwin''s scientific discovery remains the foundation of biology, as it provides a unifying logical explanation for the diversity of life. ( Read More ) |
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| Charlie Chaplin |
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Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, Jr., KBE (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977), better known as Charlie Chaplin, was an English comedy actor. Chaplin became one of the most famous actors as well as a notable director and musician in the early to mid Hollywood cinema era. He is considered to be one of the finest mimes and clowns ever caught on film and has greatly influenced performers in this field. ( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Confucius | ||||||||||||||||||
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Confucius was a Chinese philosopher. He was one of the most influential figures in Chinese history. He lived between 551 BC to 479 BC though he died centuries before, his teachings and philosophy gave birth to a movement, "Confucianism" that lives on even today. In recent China, the stature of God was nearly granted to him. This would indeed have amused Confucius had he been living today because the he did not overly concern himself with religion. He said, "Respect the spirits, but keep them at a distance." Confucius was born in the state of Lu (present-day Shandong (Shantung) Province of the noble Clung clan. His original name was Clung Chic. ( Read More ) |
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| Diana ( Princess Diana ) |
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24 February 1981, in the white and gold ballroom of Buckingham palace as the notes of the National Anthem died away the Lord Chamberlain came center stage and said that the Queen had commanded him to make a special announcement. Lord MacLean in a manner that befits royalty, announced, "It is with great pleasure that the Queen and the Duke of Edindurgh announce the bethroal of their beloved son, the Prince of Wales, to Lady Diana Spencer, daughter of Earl Spencer and the Honourable Mrs. Shand-Kydd". This was indeed an illustrious moment in the history of the British royalty as Lady Diana was chosen by the exclusive royal family of Britain to be future Queen of England.( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Eleanor Roosevelt | ||||||||||||||||||
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Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884 -– November 7, 1962) was First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and assumed a role as an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, she continued to be an internationally prominent author and speaker for the New Deal coalition. She worked to enhance the status of working women, although she opposed the Equal Rights Amendment because she believed it would adversely affect women. ( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Francois Marie Arouet De Voltaire | ||||||||||||||||||
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If the pen be mightier than the sword, to the sparkling wit and gnawing sarcasm of Voltaire goes the credit of struggling to create a free spirit of the French Revolution much before its time. Often referred to as the conscience of the age of enlightenment, Voltaire strove to rip open the prejudices, the hypocrisies and the vanities of his age with his skillful penmanship. Like all libertines, his life was checkered with high and lows. From the plethora of rich varied experience and with an eye to see what is beyond, Voltaire''s writings created a sensation in Europe and earned him the nickname of "Vive Voltaire" in France. ( Read More ) |
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| Gautam Buddha | ||||||||||||||||||
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Siddhartha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from ancient India and the founder of Buddhism. He is generally recognized by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha (Sammasambuddha) of our age. The time of his birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians date his lifetime from circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE; more recently, however, at a specialist symposium on this question, the majority of those scholars who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death, with others supporting earlier or later dates. ( Read More ) |
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| Harry Houdini | ||||||||||||||||||
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Imagine if a man was tied and locked in a packing case that was bound with steel tape and dropped into the harbor off the Battery in New York City. What does one suppose would happen to such a man. Surely, he would meet his end. But this is exactly what did not happen to Harry Houdini the famous magician of the late nineteen and early twentieth century. He emerged free on the water surface within sixty seconds. Houdini was the man no lock could hold. ( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Helen Keller |
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The dawn of this century saw the working of determination and faith in the story of Helen Keller. Her''s was the heart rending tale of a little girl who being afflicted with fever at 19 months lost not only her eyesight but her, hearing and speech as well. To conquer this triple handicap and to rise above such basic limitations was not only an arduous task but must have seemed an impossible one too. Today too with the hi-tech gadgetry that the modern day world can boast of it still seems quite a fantastic feat. But Helen Keller''s diligence and fiercely invincible spirit has etched a story of success on the pages of history that inspires all humanity. ( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Imran Khan | ||||||||||||||||||
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Former captain of Pakistan''s cricket team and an excellent player Imran Khan wields a celebrity status around the world. His consistently good performance in the field together with his outstanding good looks has endowed him with charm that has become legendary. ( Read More ) |
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| John F Kennedy |
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John F Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States was also the youngest president elect of the country. His charismatic charm is legendary and as in his lifetime even today he''s counted amongst the most popular icons of the past, and is subject to the same idolatory. His intellectual excellence together with sagacious handling of the Cuban Missile crises, amongst other things, got him international recognition. No other President since has enjoyed such a concentrated fanfare, as this young President whose words at the inaugural address had have gone in the pages of history for posterity to quote and requite, " Ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country." He held the torch of a new generation of American who, were born in this century, who were tempered by war and disciplined by hard work and bitter peace.( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Lee Kuan Yew | ||||||||||||||||||
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Lee Kwan yew the guru of Asian values is the architect of modern Singapore He was the first prime minister of Singapore (1959-1990). Born to a wealthy Chinese family on 16 September 1923, he studied at Cambridge, England, and was admitted to the English bar in 1950. After his return he became a popular nationalist leader, and in 1954 he formed the People''s Action Party. Lee was a member of the delegation that negotiated Singapore''s independence from the British in 1956-58. After his Party''s victory in the subsequent elections, he became prime minister in 1959. Lee brought Singapore into the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, but Malay fear of Chinese domination forced Singapore to withdraw in 1965. Under his increasingly restrictive rule, the city-state became a center of international trade and relative prosperity in Asia. He resigned as prime minister in November 1990, but retained his leadership of the ruling People''s Action Party. ( Read More ) |
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| Leonardo Da Vinci | ||||||||||||||||||
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Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian polymath, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer. ( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Louis Braille |
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Louis Braille (January 4, 1809 – January 6, 1852) was the inventor of braille, a world-wide system used by blind and visually impaired people for reading and writing. Braille is read by passing the fingers over characters made up of an arrangement of one to six embossed points. It has been adapted to almost every known language. ( Read More ) |
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| Mahatma Gandhi |
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Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of satyagraha—resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa or total non-violence—which led India to independence and has inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is commonly known around the world as Mahatma Gandhi ('Great Soul', an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore). He is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence. ( Read More ) |
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| Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-Tung) |
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The Credit of establishing The People''s Republic of China after a hard bitter struggle of twenty five years goes to Mao Tse-tung. A visionary, a guerrilla leader, a philosopher Mao''s revolution of 700 million Chinese left the world dumfounded as the largest communist state in the world came into being and Mao became the chairman of the Communist Party of China at the age of 54. Challenging the USSR''s orthodoxy, Mao strayed from the Soviet Marxist model.( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Marilyn Monroe | ||||||||||||||||||
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Midst all the glamour and glitterati that the motion picture world provides the name of Marilyn Monroe stands supreme as the first most famous international sex symbol of the world. Oozing charm and charisma this nymph of the 50''s had the whole world crooning at her feet. If money, beauty, fame be the measure of success then Marilyn Monroe had it all. Two generations later she still wears the crown of the sexiest woman of the 20t century. The choice is unanimous.( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Martin Luther King Jr | ||||||||||||||||||
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Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States and he is frequently referenced as a human rights icon today. King is recognized as a martyr by two Christian churches. A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Mother Teresa | ||||||||||||||||||
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It would not be inappropriate to call Mother Teresa " The Saint of the 20th century." Bent down in poised grace, with her white sari draping her head she was the very image of God's love on this earth. In turbulent times like ours where the races for materialism has all but completely wiped out our consciousness it was this apostle of love and mercy that was a beacon to millions all over the world. Her inspirational selfless work for the homeless, the poor, the aged, the handicapped and the unwanted was nothing short of the manifestation of the Divine Self. ( Read More ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) | ||||||||||||||||||
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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,. ( Read More ) |
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| Pierce Brosnan |
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Pierce Brendan Brosnan,(born May 16, 1953) is an Irish-American actor and producer better known for portraying James Bond in four films from 1995 to 2002: GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. Since leaving the role, Brosnan has gone on to star in films such as Evelyn and Seraphim Falls. In 1996, he also formed, along with Beau St. Clair, a Los Angeles-based production company named Irish DreamTime. His current projects include Butterfly on a Wheel, Mamma Mia! and The Topkapi Affair, sequel to 1999s The Thomas Crown Affair. ( Read More ) |
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