People
Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-68, American clergyman and civil-rights leader, b. Atlanta, Ga., grad. Morehouse College (B.A., 1948), Crozer Theological Seminary (B.D., 1951), Boston Univ. (Ph.D., 1955). The son of the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, King became (1954) minister of the Dexter Ave. Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala. He led the black boycott (1955-56) of segregated city bus lines and in 1956 gained a major victory and prestige as a civil-rights leader when Montgomery buses began to operate on a desegregated basis. King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which gave him a base to pursue further civil-rights activities, first in the South and later nationwide. His philosophy of nonviolent resistance led to his arrest on numerous occasions in the 1950s and 60s. His campaigns had mixed success, but the protest he led in Birmingham, Ala., in 1963 brought him worldwide attention. He spearheaded the Aug., 1963, March on Washington, which brought together more than 200,000 people. The protests he led helped to assure the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the year he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The following year King and the SCLC led a campaign for African-American voter registration centered on Selma, Ala. A nonviolent march from Selma to Montgomery was attacked by police who beat and teargassed the protestors, but it ultimately succeeded on the third try when the National Guard and federal troops were...
Abraham Lincoln , 1809-65, 16th President of the United States (1861-65). Early Life Born on Feb. 12, 1809, in a log cabin in backwoods Hardin co., Ky. (now Larue co.), he grew up on newly broken pioneer farms of the frontier. His father, Thomas Lincoln, was a migratory carpenter and farmer, nearly always poverty-stricken. Little is known of his mother, Nancy Hanks, who died in 1818, not long after the family had settled in the wilds of what is now Spencer co., Ind. Thomas Lincoln soon afterward married Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow; she was a kind and affectionate stepmother to the boy. Abraham had almost no formal schooling—the scattered weeks of school attendance in Kentucky and Indiana amounted to less than a year; but he taught himself, reading and rereading a small stock of books. His first glimpse of the wider world came in a voyage downriver to New Orleans on a flatboat in 1828, but little is known of that journey. In 1830 the Lincolns moved once more, this time to Macon co., Ill. After another visit to New Orleans, the young Lincoln settled in 1831 in the village of New Salem, Ill., not far from Springfield. There he began by working in a store and managing a mill. By this time a tall (6 ft 4 in./190 cm), rawboned young man, he won much popularity among the inhabitants of the frontier town by his great strength and his flair for storytelling, but most of all by his strength of character. His sincerity and capability won respect that was strengthened by his...
Julius Caesar (Caius Julius Caesar), 100? BC-44 BC, Roman statesman and general. Rise to Power Although he was born into the Julian gens, one of the oldest patrician families in Rome, Caesar was always a member of the democratic or popular party. He benefited from the patronage of his uncle by marriage, Caius Marius . In 82 BC, when Caesar refused to obey Sulla 's order to divorce Cornelia, the wealthy daughter of Lucius Cornelius Cinna , he was proscribed and subsequently fled from Rome (81 BC). On Sulla's death, Caesar returned (78 BC) and began his political career. He quickly gained popularity with his party and a reputation for oratory. In 74 BC he went into Asia to repulse a Cappadocian army. Upon his return, he agitated for reform of the government on popular lines and helped to advance the position of Pompey , the virtual head of the popular party. Caesar was made military tribune before 70 BC and was quaestor in Farther Spain in 69 BC; he helped Pompey to obtain the supreme command for the war in the East. He returned to Rome in 68 BC, and in Pompey's absence was becoming the recognized head of the popular party. His praise of Marius and Cinna made him popular with the people, but earned him the hatred of the senate. In 63 BC he was elected pontifex maximus [high priest], allegedly by heavy bribes. His later reform of the calendar with the help of Sosigenes, was one of his greatest contributions to history. In Dec., 63 BC, Caesar advocated mercy for ...
The accomplishments of people are documented throughout this category. We have the stories of historical figures like Lewis and Clark, who attempted to find the Northwest Passage and instead discovered much of the Great Plains. We also have the stories of Amelia Earhart, Pontius Pilate, and Sitting Bull.
In the area of literature and the arts, you’ll find the stories of authors, actors, dancers, p ... Read more
The history of medicine is also filled with important and amazing people. It started with Hippocrates, the inspiration behind the Hippocratic oath, and also includes Jonas Salk, the man who developed the polio vaccine, and Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.
Religions and philosophies are based on the lives, stories, and teachings of some amazing people – just a few are Buddha, Mohammad, Jesus Christ, and Confucius. Also, people who followed these religions have led amazing lives like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi.
The world of science and technology is also rich with stories of amazing inventors, researchers, scholars, and thinkers. This include Charles Babbage, who proposed and attempted to build the first computer, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who founded and built Apple Computer, and Eli Whitney, who invented the cotton gin.
From Louis Leakey to the first justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, there are many stories of important and influential people in social sciences and the law. In the area of sports and games, important names include Abner Doubleday, the inventor of baseball, Ivan Lendl, a tennis star, and Paavo Nurmi, a Finnish track star.
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