People Flashcards
Thomas Edison 1847-1931
We can learn from the experience of the great inventor that sometimes a series of apparent failures is really a precursor to success.
One of the most famous and prolific inventors of all time, Thomas Alva Edison exerted a tremendous influence on modern life, contributing inventions such as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera, as well as improving the telegraph and telephone. In his 84 years, he acquired an astounding 1,093 patents. Aside from being an inventor, Edison also managed to become a successful manufacturer and businessman, marketing his inventions to the public.
Edison was a poor student. When a schoolmaster called Edison “addled,” his furious mother took him out of the school and proceeded to teach him at home. At an early age, he showed a fascination for mechanical things and for chemical experiments. In 1859, Edison took a job selling newspapers and candy on the Grand Trunk Railroad to Detroit. In the baggage car, he set up a laboratory for his chemistry experiments and a printing press, where he started the Grand Trunk Herald, the first newspaper published on a train. An accidental fire forced him to stop his experiments on board. Around the age of twelve, Edison lost almost all his hearing. however, and often treated it as an asset, since it made it easier for him to concentrate on his experiments and research. In 1862, Edison rescued a three-year-old from a track where a boxcar was about to roll into him. The grateful father, J.U. MacKenzie, taught Edison railroad telegraphy as a reward. Besides other telegraph inventions, he also developed an electric pen in 1875. Edison opened a new laboratory in Menlo Park, NJ, in 1876. This site later become known as an “invention factory,” since they worked on several different inventions at any given time there. Edison would conduct numerous experiments to find answers to problems. He said, “I never quit until I get what I’m after. Negative results are just what I’m after. They are just as valuable to me as positive results.”(2) Edison liked to work long hours and expected much from his employees. Edison’s experiments with the telephone and the telegraph led to his invention of the phonograph in 1877. Edison focused on the electric light system in 1878, setting aside the phonograph for almost a decade. Edison set up an electric light factory in East Newark in 1881,In order to prove its viability, the first commercial electric light system was installed on Pearl Street in the financial district of Lower Manhattan in 1882. Another Edison interest was an ore-milling process that would extract various metals from ore. Edison also became involved in promoting the use of cement and formed the Edison Portland Cement Co. in 1899. In 1913, Edison experimented with synchronizing sound to film. A Kinetophone was developed by his laboratory which synchronized sound on a phonograph cylinder to the picture on a screen. Although this initially brought interest, the system was far from perfect and disappeared by 1915. By 1918, Edison ended his involvement in the motion picture field. When Europe became involved in World War I, Edison advised preparedness, and felt that technology would be the future of war. He was named head of the Naval Consulting Board in 1915, an attempt by the government to bring science into its defense program. Henry Ford, an admirer and friend of Edison’s, reconstructed Edison’s invention factory as a museum at Greenfield Village, Michigan. He died on October 18, 1931, at his estate, Glenmont, in West Orange, New Jersey.
William Henry “Bill” Gates III October 28, 1955 - Now
Microsoft cofounder and chief executive officer He has become the wealthiest man in America and one of the most influential personalities in the ever-evolving computer industry. William H. Gates III was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington. He was the second child and only son of William Henry Gates Jr.,
Although Gates’s parents had a law career in mind for their son, he developed an early interest in computer science and began studying computers in the seventh grade at Seattle’s Lakeside School. At Lakeside, Gates came to know Paul Allen, a classmate with similar interests in technology who would eventually become his business partner.
Gates dropped out of Harvard in 1975, ending his academic life and beginning his career as a software designer. At this time, Gates and Allen cofounded Microsoft. They wrote programs for the early Apple and Commodore machines. One of Gates’s most significant opportunities arrived in 1980, when IBM approached him to help with their personal computer project, code name Project Chess. Gates developed the Microsoft Disk Operating System, or MS-DOS. (An operating system is a type of software that controls the way a computer runs.) Not only did he sell IBM on the new operating system, but he also convinced the computer giant to allow others to write software for the machine. The result was the rapid growth of licenses for MS-DOS, as software developers quickly moved to become compatible with (able to work with) IBM. By the early 1990s Microsoft had sold more than one hundred million copies of MS-DOS, making the operating system the all-time leader in software sales. For his achievements in science and technology, Gates received the Howard Vollum Award in 1984 from Reed College in Portland, Oregon.
His fortune at the time of his marriage was estimated at close to seven billion dollars. By 1997 his worth was estimated at approximately $37 billion, earning him the title of “richest man in America.”
On January 13, 2000, Gates handed off day-to-day management of Microsoft to friend and right-hand man Steve Ballmer. Aside from being the most famous businessman of the late 1990s, Gates also has distinguished himself as a philanthropist (someone working for charity). He and wife Melinda established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which focuses on helping to improve health care and education for children around the world. The foundation has donated $4 billion since its start in 1996.
Although many describe Gates as cold and distant, his friends find him friendlier since his marriage and since the birth of his daughter, Jennifer, in April 1996. Further, he recognizes his overall contribution to both the world of technology and his efforts in philanthropy. In Forbes magazine’s 2002 list of the two hundred richest people in the world, Gates was number one for the eighth straight year, coming in with a net worth of $52.8 billion.
Penicillin
the antibiotic derived from mold, allows doctors to easily treat patients for a variety of ailments previously considered incurable, including pneumonia, tetanus, gangrene, and scarlet fever as well as more mundane illnesses like respiratory and ear infections.
Martin Luther King Jr.
(January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family. In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank. In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, “l Have a Dream”, he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure. At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement. On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.
Aristole 384-322 BC
Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) numbers among the greatest philosophers of all time. Judged solely in terms of his philosophical influence, only Plato is his peer: Aristotle’s works shaped centuries of philosophy from Late Antiquity through the Renaissance, and even today continue to be studied with keen, non-antiquarian interest. A prodigious researcher and writer, Aristotle left a great body of work, perhaps numbering as many as two-hundred treatises, from which approximately thirty-one survive.[1] His extant writings span a wide range of disciplines, from logic, metaphysics and philosophy of mind, through ethics, political theory, aesthetics and rhetoric, and into such primarily non-philosophical fields as empirical biology, where he excelled at detailed plant and animal observation and taxonomy. In all these areas, Aristotle’s theories have provided illumination, met with resistance, sparked debate, and generally stimulated the sustained interest of an abiding readership.
Because of its wide range and its remoteness in time, Aristotle’s philosophy defies easy encapsulation. The long history of interpretation and appropriation of Aristotelian texts and themes—spanning over two millennia and comprising philosophers working within a variety of religious and secular traditions—has rendered even basic points of interpretation controversial. The set of entries on Aristotle in this site addresses this situation by proceeding in three tiers. First, the present, general entry offers a brief account of Aristotle’s life and characterizes his central philosophical commitments, highlighting his most distinctive methods and most influential achievements.[2] Second are General Topics which offer detailed introductions to the main areas of Aristotle’s philosophical activity. Finally, there follow Special Topics which investigate in greater detail more narrowly focused issues, especially those of central concern in recent Aristotelian scholarship.
Galileo Galilei 1564-1642
(born on February 15, 1564) was an Italian scientist who supported Copernicanism, the idea that Earth orbits the sun. Galileo defended his views in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. For doing so, he was tried by the Roman Inquisition, was found “suspect of heresy” and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. His findings changed our world view for all time.
While at Pisa, Galileo was exposed to the Aristotelian view of the world, then the leading scientific authority and the only one sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church. Galileo continued to study mathematics, supporting himself with minor teaching positions. During this time he began his two-decade study on objects in motion and published The Little Balance, describing the hydrostatic principles of weighing small quantities, which brought him some fame. This gained him a teaching post at the University of Pisa, in 1589. There Galileo conducted his fabled experiments with falling objects and produced his manuscript Du Motu (On Motion), a departure from Aristotelian views about motion and falling objects. Galileo developed an arrogance about his work, and his strident criticisms of Aristotle left him isolated among his colleagues. In 1604, Galileo published The Operations of the Geometrical and Military Compass, revealing his skills with experiments and practical technological applications.That same year, Galileo refined his theories on motion and falling objects, and developed the universal law of acceleration,which all objects in the universe obeyed. Galileo began to express openly his support of the Copernican theory that the earth and planets revolved around the sun. This challenged the doctrine of Aristotle and the established order set by the Catholic Church.In March 1610, he published a small booklet, The Starry Messenger, revealing his discoveries that the moon was not flat and smooth, but a sphere with mountains and craters. He found Venus had phases like the moon, proving it rotated around the sun.
While under house arrest, Galileo wrote Two New Sciences, a summary of his life’s work on the science of motion and strength of materials. It was printed in Holland in 1638.
But in time, the Church couldn’t deny the truth in science. In 1758, it lifted the ban on most works supporting Copernican theory, and by 1835 dropped its opposition to heliocentrism altogether. He played a major role in the scientific revolution and deserves the moniker of “The Father of Modern Science.”
Mohandas K. Gandhi 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948
Born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, India, Mohandas Gandhi studied law and came to aggravate for Indian rights both at home and in South Africa. He became a leader of India’s independence movement, organizing boycotts against British institutions in peaceful forms of civil disobedience. He was given the holy name Mahatmas and oversaw a diverse ashram. He was killed by a fanatic in 1948.
Indian nationalist leader. Born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, Kathiawar, West India. He studied law in London, but in 1893 went to South Africa, where he spent 20 years opposing discriminatory legislation against Indians. As a pioneer of Satyagraha, or resistance through mass non-violent civil disobedience, he became one of the major political and spiritual leaders of his time. Satyagraha remains one of the most potent philosophies in freedom struggles throughout the world today.
In 1914, Gandhi returned to India, where he supported the Home Rule movement, and became leader of the Indian National Congress, advocating a policy of non-violent non-co-operation to achieve independence. His goal was to help poor farmers and laborers protest oppressive taxation and discrimination. He struggled to alleviate poverty, liberate women and put an end to caste discrimination, with the ultimate objective being self-rule for India.
Following his civil disobedience campaign (1919-22), he was jailed for conspiracy (1922-4). In 1930, he led a landmark 320 km/200 mi march to the sea to collect salt in symbolic defiance of the government monopoly. On his release from prison (1931), he attended the London Round Table Conference on Indian constitutional reform. In 1946, he negotiated with the Cabinet Mission which recommended the new constitutional structure. After independence (1947), he tried to stop the Hindu-Muslim conflict in Bengal, a policy which led to his assassination in Delhi by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fanatic.
Even after his death, Gandhi’s commitment to non-violence and his belief in simple living–making his own clothes, eating a vegetarian diet, and using fasts for self-purification as well as a means of protest–have been a beacon of hope for oppressed and marginalized people throughout the world.
Source: http://www.biography.com/people/mahatma-gandhi-9305898
Five SAT THEMES that Gandhi could be connected to
- Failure comes before success (his private law practice failed before he became a great leader)
- Self-sacrifice as a characteristic of leadership and/or greatness (Jail time, assassination)
- Self-mastery, also as a characteristic of leadership and/or greatness (Controlling violent urges, giving up alcohol, meat, sex)
- Sticking to your principles (Thrown off the train/beaten/jailed for standing up to his “superiors”)
Achieving change/progress (He used non-violence, and also unified various groups of people, to accomplish his goals)
Nelson Mandela Born: July 18, 1918
was born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918. His father was Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu Tribe. Mandela himself was educated at University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand and qualified in law in 1942. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party’s apartheid policies after 1948. He went on trial for treason in 1956-1961 and was acquitted in 1961.
After the banning of the ANC in 1960, Nelson Mandela argued for the setting up of a military wing within the ANC. In June 1961, the ANC executive considered his proposal on the use of violent tactics and agreed that those members who wished to involve themselves in Mandela’s campaign would not be stopped from doing so by the ANC. This led to the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mandela was arrested in 1962 and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with hard labour. In 1963, when many fellow leaders of the ANC and the Umkhonto we Sizwe were arrested, Mandela was brought to stand trial with them for plotting to overthrow the government by violence. His statement from the dock received considerable international publicity. On June 12, 1964, eight of the accused, including Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1964 to 1982, he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town; thereafter, he was at Pollsmoor Prison, nearby on the mainland.
During his years in prison, Nelson Mandela’s reputation grew steadily. He was widely accepted as the most significant black leader in South Africa and became a potent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gathered strength. He consistently refused to compromise his political position to obtain his freedom.
Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. After his release, he plunged himself wholeheartedly into his life’s work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier. In 1991, at the first national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa after the organization had been banned in 1960, Mandela was elected President of the ANC while his lifelong friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became the organisation’s National Chairperson.
Steve Jobs February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011
Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, to two University of Wisconsin graduate students who gave him up for adoption. Smart but directionless, Jobs experimented with different pursuits before starting Apple Computers with Steve Wozniak in 1976. Apple’s revolutionary products, which include the iPod, iPhone and iPad, are now seen as dictating the evolution of modern technology.
While Jobs has always been an intelligent and innovative thinker, his youth was riddled with frustrations over formal schooling. A prankster in elementary school, Jobs’s fourth-grade teacher needed to bribe him to study. Not long after Jobs did enroll at Homestead High School (1971), he was introduced to his future partner, Steve Wozniak, through a friend of Wozniak’s. In 1976, when Jobs was just 21, he and Wozniak started Apple Computers. The duo started in the Jobs family garage, Jobs and Wozniak are credited with revolutionizing the computer industry by democratizing the technology and making the machines smaller, cheaper, intuitive and accessible to everyday consumers. In 1985, Jobs resigned as Apple’s CEO to begin a new hardware and software company called NeXT, Inc. The following year Jobs purchased an animation company from George Lucas, which later became Pixar Animation Studios. Apple eventually bought the company in 1997 for $429 million. That same year, Jobs returned to his post as Apple’s CEO.
Much like Steve Jobs instigated Apple’s success in the 1970s, he is credited with revitalizing the company in the 1990s. With a new management team, altered stock options and a self-imposed annual salary of $1 a year, Jobs put Apple back on track. His ingenious products such as the iMac, effective branding campaigns, and stylish designs caught the attention of consumers once again.
In 2003, Jobs discovered that he had a neuroendocrine tumor, a rare but operable form of pancreatic cancer. In 2004, he had a successful surgery to remove the pancreatic tumor.
Apple introduced such revolutionary products as the Macbook Air, iPod and iPhone, all of which have dictated the evolution of modern technology. Almost immediately after Apple releases a new product, competitors scramble to produce comparable technologies. In 2007, Apple’s quarterly reports were the company’s most impressive statistics to date. Stocks were worth a record-breaking $199.99 a share, and the company boasted a staggering $1.58 billion dollar profit, an $18 billion dollar surplus in the bank, and zero debt. In 2008, iTunes became the second biggest music retailer in America-second only to Wal-Mart. Half of Apple’s current revenue comes from iTunes and iPod sales, with 200 million iPods sold and six billion songs downloaded. For these reasons, Apple has been rated No. 1 in America’s Most Admired Companies, and No. 1 amongst Fortune 500 companies for returns to shareholders.
In respect to his personal life, Steve Jobs remained a private man who rarely discloses information about his family. What is known is Jobs fathered a daughter with girlfriend Chrisann Brennan when he was 23. In the early 1990s, Jobs met Laurene Powell at Stanford business school, where Powell was an MBA student. They married on March 18, 1991, and lived together in Palo Alto, California, with their three children. On October 5, 2011, Apple Inc. announced that co-founder Steve Jobs had died. He was 56 years old at the time of his death.
Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 in Torun, Poland. Circa 1508, Copernicus developed his own celestial model of a heliocentric planetary system. Around 1514, he shared his findings in the Commentariolus. His second book on the topic, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, was banned by the Roman Catholic Church not long after his May 24, 1543 death in Frauenburg, Poland.
Throughout the seven years he spent in Lidzbark-Warminski, Copernicus read several books on the subject of astronomy. Among the sources that Copernicus consulted was Regiomontus’s Epitome of the Almagest, which presented an alternative to astrologist Claudius Ptolemy’s model of the universe, and significantly influenced his research.
By 1508, Copernicus had begun developing his own celestial model, a heliocentric planetary system. Ptolemy had previously invented a geometric planetary model, which was inconsistent with Aristotle’s idea that celestial bodies moved in a circular motion at different speeds around a fixed point, the earth. In an attempt to reconcile such inconsistencies, Copernicus’s heliocentric solar system named the sun, rather than the earth, as the center of the solar system. Subsequently, Copernicus believed that the size of each planet’s orbit depended on its distance from the sun.
Though his theory was viewed as revolutionary and met with some controversy, Copernicus was not the first astronomer to propose such a theory; centuries prior, in 270 B.C., ancient Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos had identified the sun as the solar system’s central unit. Aristarchus’s ideas were quickly dismissed, however, because Ptolemy’s theories were far more eagerly accepted by the influential Roman Catholic Church, which adamantly supported the earth-based solar system theory. Still, Copernicus’s heliocentric solar system proved to be more detailed and accurate than Aristarchus’s, including a more efficient formula for calculating planetary positions throughout the year.
After moving to the Frombork Cathedral Chapter in the early 1500s, Copernicus further developed his heliocentric model, and went on to design and apply a complex mathematical system for proving his theory. In 1513, his dedication prompted him to build his own modest observatory so that he could view the planets in action at any given time.
Copernicus’s observations did, at times, lead him to form inaccurate conclusions, including his assumption that planets’ orbit occurred in perfect circles. As German astronomer Johannes Kepler would later prove in the 17th century, planetary orbits are actually elliptical in shape.
‘Commentariolus’ and Controversy
Around 1514, Copernicus completed a written work, Commentariolus (Latin for “Small Commentary”), a 40-page manuscript that he referred to as the “Sketch of Hypothesis Made by Nicolaus Copernicus on the Heavenly Motions.” Commentariolus summarized Copernicus’s heliocentric planetary system and strove to provide systematic proof—in the form of both astronomical observations and mathematical formulas—of the model.
The sketch set forth seven axioms, each describing an aspect of the heliocentric solar system: 1) Planets don’t revolve around one fixed point; 2) the earth is at the center of the moon’s orbit; 3) The sun is at the center of the universe, and all celestial bodies rotate around it; 4) The distance between the earth and sun is only a tiny fraction of stars’ distance from the earth and sun; 5) Stars do not move, and if they appear to, it is only because the earth itself is moving; 6) Earth moves in a sphere around the sun, causing the sun’s perceived yearly movement; and 7) Earth’s orbit around the sun causes the planets to orbit in the opposite direction.
Commentariolus also went on to describe in detail Copernicus’s assertion that a mere 34 circles could sufficiently illustrate planetary motion. Copernicus sent his manuscript to several friends and contemporaries, and while the manuscript received little to no response among his colleagues, a buzz began to build around Copernicus and his unconventional theories within two years of Commentariolus’s release. Adding an air of mystery to Copernicus’s growing reputation—and notoriety, for some—was his rejection to an invitation by the Lateran Council, which invited astronomers to provide advice in reforming the calendar.
Copernicus’s written works, Commentariolus and, later, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (Latin for “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres”), raised a fair share of controversy. Copernicus’s critics claimed that he failed to solve the mystery of the parallax—the seeming displacement in the position of a celestial body, when viewed along varying lines of sight—and that his work lacked a sufficient explanation for why the earth orbits the sun.
In addition to drawing criticism from scholars, Copernicus’s theories incensed the Roman Catholic Church; his model was considered heretical because it was contrary to the Church’s teachings. When De revolutionibus orbium coelestium was published in 1543, just before Copernicus’s death, religious leader Martin Luther voiced his opposition to the heliocentric solar system model. His underling, Lutheran minister Andreas Osiander, quickly followed suit, saying of Copernicus, “This fool wants to turn the whole art of astronomy upside down.”
Osiander even went so far as to write a disclaimer stating that the heliocentric system was a theory, not a fact, and add it to the book’s preface, leading readers to assume that Copernicus himself had written it. By this time, Copernicus was ailing and unfit for the task of defending his work.
Ironically, Copernicus had dedicated De revolutionibus orbium coelestium to Pope Paul III. If his tribute to the pope was an attempt to cull the Catholic Church’s softer reception, it was to no avail. The Church ultimately banned De revolutionibus posthumously, and the book remained on the list of forbidden reading material for nearly three centuries thereafter.
Justin Beiber
Born in 1994 in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, to a single mother, took second place in a local talent competition at a young age and later turned into a YouTube phenomenon. He signed a record contract with Usher and became the first solo artist to have four singles enter the Top 40 before the release of a debut album. His record “My World” has gone platinum in several countries. He lives and works in Atlanta.
Childhood
Born on March 1, 1994, in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, Justin Bieber was raised by a single mom in the small town of Stratford. Bieber, whose debut album, My World, hit stores in November 2009, is a true overnight success, having gone from an unknown, untrained singer whose mother posted YouTube clips of her boy performing, to a budding superstar with a big-time record deal, all in just two years.
Bieber always had an interest in music. His mother gave him a drum kit for his second birthday and, as he tells it, he was “basically banging on everything I could get my hands on.”
But it was an obscure talent contest in his hometown, in which the 12-year-old Bieber finished second that put him on the road to superstardom. As a way to share his singing with family, Justin and his mom began posting clips of Bieber performing covers of Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Ne-Yo on YouTube.
Within months, Justin was an Internet sensation, with a large following of fans, and an eager manager arranging for the teenager to fly to Atlanta to consider a record deal. There, Bieber had a chance meeting with Usher, who eventually signed the young singer to a contract.
Career Highlights
Bieber’s first single, “One Time,” went certified platinum in his native Canada shortly after its release in May 2009. His album My World matched that success, selling more than 137,000 copies within a week of hitting stores. Bieber broke into the Billboard Top 10 in early 2010 with “Baby,” which also featured Ludcris. Bieber soon released My World 2.0 (2010), which offered his growing fan base ten new songs.
In 2011, Bieber took to the big screen in the concert documentary Never Say Never. His fans crowded movie theaters to catch him in action on stage and get a glimpse of his life behind the scenes. The movie, which eventually earned more than $73 million at the box office, also had guest appearances by Kanye West, Miley Cyrus and Bieber’s musical mentor Usher. That same year, Bieber released an album featuring his own take on such holiday classics as “All I Want For Christmas Is,” his duet with Mariah Carey.
Bieber had his biggest hit single to date in April 2012 with “Boyfriend.” The song appears on his latest album Believe released in June.
Tarnished Image
While still only in his teens, Bieber has survived his first public scandal. A woman filed suit against Bieber in 2011, claiming that he was the father of her child. But a DNA test proved that the young pop star was not the father and the woman dropped her lawsuit. Bieber sang about the scandal in the song “Maria.”
That was only the beginning of a string of scandals, bad behavior and unfavorable press for the young pop artist. In March 2013, Bieber’s neighbor accused the singer of spitting on him in addition to threatening him. Two months later, members of Bieber’s neighborhood in Calabasas, California, complained about that he was driving too fast in a residential area. The charges against Bieber in both instances were declined.
On April 15, 2013, Bieber visited a museum in Amsterdam that paid tribute to Anne Frank. Upon writing that the young journalist “would have been a Belieber,” he faced more backlash from the public. On July 9, 2013, his image was scrutinized once again after he was recorded urinating in a janitor’s bucket and yelling “F— Bill Clinton,” holding a photo of the former president. Although he later apologized, his previously squeaky clean image began to tarnish even more.
On January 14, 2014, Bieber’s home in California was searched after he was accused of egging a neighbor’s house. Nine days later, Bieber was arrested for suspicion of drag racing and driving under the influence. After a Breathalyzer test showed that Bieber wasn’t sober, he was taken into custody where he stayed until he posted bail, which was set at $2,500.
Personal Life
Teen idol Justin Bieber broke the hearts of many of his young female fans in 2010 when he started dating television actress and singer Selena Gomez. It hasn’t been easy for Gomez to be Bieber’s girlfriend. She has been accosted by some of his devoted followers. There were even death threats against her posted on Twitter after the pair was photographed kissing while on vacation in 2011. The couple ended their relationship in November 2012.
Brittany Spears
Singer, songwriter and actress Britney Spears was born on December 2, 1981, in Kentwood, Louisiana. She began performing on the TV show The All New Mickey Mouse Club when she was 11 years old. Not long after, Spears began gaining fame as a pop artist. In January 1999, her song “Baby One More Time” reached the top of the pop charts. Spears has since been one of the most successful—and sometimes controversial—solo acts in pop music. Additionally, in 2012, she began appearing as a judge on the popular singing-competition show The X Factor.
Child star
Singer, songwriter and actress Britney Jean Spears was born on December 2, 1981, in Kentwood, Louisiana. For more than a decade, Britney Spears has been one of the most successful—and sometimes controversial—solo acts in popular music. For a time, however, she was better known for her personal struggles. Spears launched her latest comeback in 2008, releasing a new album and setting out on a world tour.
The middle of the three children, Spears developed an interest in performing at a young age. “Ever since I was 7 or 8 years old, my mom would have company over, and I was always performing for everybody in front of the TV. . .Even when I went to school, I was always the weird child; I would go outside and instead of playing, I wanted to have ‘Star Search’ competitions,” Spears told Hollywood Reporter.
When she was 8 years old, she auditioned for a spot on the Disney Channel’s The New Mickey Mouse Club. Spears did not get the part, but she did eventually achieve one childhood dream: showcasing her vocal talents on the popular entertainment competition Star Search in 1992.
Spears tried again for The New Mickey Mouse Club when she was 11. This time, she was picked for the cast, which also featured other up-and-coming talents such as Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and actress Keri Russell. Spears appeared on the children’s variety show for two seasons. “We had an amazing amazing time; we got to sing and dance and do everything,” she later explained to Hollywood Reporter.
Baby one more time
After its cancellation, Spears focused on developing her musical career. She eventually landed a contract with Jive Records. In December 1998, Spears released her first single, “…Baby One More Time.” The catchy pop tune reached the top of the pop charts at the end of January 1999, propelled in part by its music video. In the video, the teenaged Spears wore a skimpier version of the traditional Catholic schoolgirl uniform, drawing sharp criticism from the parents of her young fans. Despite her racy outfit, Spears claimed to be a sweet, innocent Southern girl at heart.
The …Baby One More Time album hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts that same year, and went on to sell more than 22 million copies worldwide. At the 1999 Billboard Music Awards, Spears picked up three awards—for female album artist of the year, female artist of the year and best new artist of the year. She was part of a teenage pop music wave, which included fellow Mickey Mouse Club alumnae Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson.
Building upon her meteoric rise, Spears released Oops! I Did It Again in 2000. The recording was an instant No. 1 hit on the album charts, selling more than 1 million copies in its first week. The singer’s personal life was also receiving more media attention, as rumors circulated that she was dating Justin Timberlake, then part of the hit pop group ‘N Sync.
A Sexier Image
With 2001’s Britney, Spears made the first move toward shedding her virginal image, while also taking her sound in a different direction. The track, “I’m a Slave 4 U,” sounded more like Prince than her bubble-gum pop of the past. “I’d get bored singing the same type of songs all the time. I still love my old stuff, but you have to extend yourself and grow,” she explained to Entertainment Weekly. Performing “I’m a Slave 4 U” at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, Spears made heads turn by dancing with a seven-foot albino python around her neck and wearing a barely-there costume.
Around this same time, Spears took a leading role in the feature film Crossroads. The coming-of-age drama received a drubbing from critics after its February 2002 release, but it ended up netting more than $37 million at the box office. Later that spring, Spears experienced another disappointment. She and Timberlake announced that they had broken up.
The following year, Spears created some headlines for her actions at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. She and fellow former Mouseketeer Christina Aguilera shared a kiss with pop superstar Madonna, during Madonna’s performance. Some saw this dramatic stage moment as another way for Spears to present the latest version of her more sexualized public persona. Spears acknowledged around this time that Madonna was an important influence on her. “I remember being in my living room and watching her on TV. I’d dance around in my short tops and sing and dream about being her,” Spears told Newsweek.
Spears’ next album, In the Zone, hit stores that November, which included an appearance by Madonna on the “Me Against the Music” track. The recording’s top single, “Toxic,” earned Spears her first Grammy Award win for Best Dance Recording.
Marraige
By January 2004, Spears appeared to be rebelling again—this time, against her intense work schedule. She married her childhood friend Jason Alexander in Las Vegas, but the union was annulled two days later. She then got involved with backup dancer Kevin Federline. At the time, Federline’s girlfriend Shar Jackson was pregnant with their second child. Spears’ relationship with Federline only intensified with the media’s scrutiny of her private life.
Spears experienced some troubles in her professional life around this time. She had to undergo surgery to correct a knee injury, forcing her to cancel the last part of her tour. Her personal life, however, seemed to be flourishing. Spears and Federline married on September 18, 2004, in Studio City, California.
Shortly after her wedding, she released Greatest Hits: My Prerogative. Spears covered the Bobby Brown hit “My Prerogative,” which seemed to be her way of talking back to her critics and lashing out about the media frenzy that continually surrounded her. The recording sold 5 million copies, a million less than In the Zone.
Despite her declining sales, Spears seemed contented. She and her husband announced that they were expecting their first child together in April 2005. “I find being pregnant empowering. I think it brings out a pure side of you,” Spears told People magazine. As fascinated as the media and the public had been about this young couple, few people tuned in to catch a glimpse of their 2005 reality show Britney and Kevin: Chaotic, which told the story of their early relationship through personal videos. That September, the couple welcomed son Sean Preston.
Troubles in the Spotlight
The new mother found herself in hot water in February 2006, after she was caught on film driving her car with her infant son in her lap. Her parenting skills became a subject of national debate, and she was even rebuked by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta for her actions. Calling her behavior “irresponsible” and “troubling,” Mineta said that Spears was sending “the wrong message to millions of her fans.” Spears apologized for the incident, claiming that she just wanted to get away from the paparazzi. “I love my baby more than anything, and as unfortunate an experience as this has been for me and my family, if it brings more attention to child safety then I fully support that,” she told People magazine.
In September 2006, Spears and Federline had a new addition to their young family with the birth of their son Jayden James. But Spears made a surprising move two months later when she filed for divorce, claiming “irreconcilable differences.” After her separation, Spears frequented the club scene for a time, partying with socialite Paris Hilton among others. She reportedly checked in and out rehabilitation, and then shaved her head in a California beauty salon while the paparazzi took pictures in February 2007. She told the salon owner that “my mom is going to freak.” The following month, Spears spent time at a treatment center in California.
By the summer, Spears and Federline were in the midst of a difficult custody battle. Federline sought full physical custody of their two sons. She was also estranged from her mother. Despite her personal challenges, Spears moved forward with her latest album. The single, “Gimme More,” was released in August and received a warm reception from the public and critics. But Spears’ performance of the song at that year’s MTV Video Music Award was a disaster. She appeared nervous on stage, sluggishly dancing and poorly lip-syncing. The following month, Spears was charged in connection to a hit-and-run incident in a parking lot.
Family struggles
Britney wasn’t the only member of her family making headlines in 2007, however. Her younger sister, actress Jamie Lynn, announced that she was pregnant at the age of 16. Jamie Lynn, who was a star on cable’s kid-friendly Nickelodeon channel at the time, became a controversial symbol of teen pregnancy.
Despite these setbacks, the album Blackout reached the second slot on the Billboard charts after its November release. This comeback of sorts seemed to be short-lived, as Spears appeared to have yet another breakdown in January 2008. She was taken to the hospital for psychiatric evaluation when she refused to return her sons to their father after a court-appointed visit. Federline eventually received full custody of the two boys.
By month’s end, Spears returned to the hospital for another evaluation. Rumors circulated that she had bipolar disorder, but that diagnosis has not been confirmed. Her mother, Lynne, later wrote in her memoir Through the Storm that she believed her daughter experienced postpartum depression.
While in the hospital, Spears became the subject of a power struggle between her parents, Jamie and Lynne, and her then-manager Sam Lufti. The couple believed that Lufti was a bad influence on their daughter and was trying to control her life. Her father went to court and obtained control over Britney’s personal, professional, and medical matters.
Comeback
Only two months after her personal crisis, Spears returned to the spotlight with a well-received guest appearance on the popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother. She released her next recording Circus in December, which instantly hit the top of the album charts, buoyed in part by the success of her single “Womanizer,” which was released two months earlier. The song had reached the No. 1 spot, proving that Spears was still a powerful force in the world of pop music. Rolling Stone critic Caryn Ganz heralded the recording as “clubby, adventurous pop.” And her fans agreed, sending the singles “Piece of Me” and “Circus” into the pop Top 20 and Top 10, respectively.
One year after her poor showing at the MTV Video Music Awards, Spears made a triumphant return, bringing home three awards for “Piece of Me.” She has been touring extensively to support the album, and her ex-husband even joined her for a time with their sons so that she could spend some time with her boys.
Spears seemed to have settled down after a turbulent time, telling Glamour magazine that “I don’t like going out … I love my home and staying in bed and watching Dancing with the Stars or reading a Danielle Steel novel. I’m kind of boring.”
Recent Projects
Spears proved that she can still make powerful pop music in 2011 with Femme Fatale, featuring such hits as “I Wanna Go” and “Till The World Ends.” The recording climbed to the top of the charts, becoming her sixth number-one album. In addition to all of this commercial success, Spears seemed happier in her personal life. She and then-boyfriend Jason Trawick got engaged in December 2011.
In 2012, Spears took on a new challenge: She joined the judges’ panel of the popular singing-competition show The X Factor in its second season, embracing the role of being a critc of others’ work. Fellow judge Simon Cowell described Spears as “very unpredictable,” according to People magazine. “You never know what is going to happen. She has taken this very seriously and she’s surprisingly quite mean.”
During an interview on The Ellen Show, Spears stated that she uses “constructive criticism” with the show’s contestants. She also explained that she prefers to be honest and candid in her critiques, saying, “I think it’s the thing to do.” Actress-singer Demi Lovato and music mogul L.A. Reid also served as judges during The X Factor’s second season. Spears and Reid left the series after 2012; Lovato stayed on and was joined by Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio.
In late November 2013, Spears made headlines when she released her eight studio album—and her first project in two years—Britney Jean, which the songstress called her “most personal album ever” in a post on her Twitter page. The album’s lead single, “Work Bitch,” was released in September 2013; other tracks include “Alien,” “Perfume” and “Passenger.” Britney Jean received mixed reviews, with some critics calling it “introspective” and “mature,” and others deeming it “forgettable.”
Anne Frank
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Albert Einstein 1879-1955
.success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane
was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1879. As a child, He revealed an extraordinary curiosity for understanding the mysteries of science (started only at age 10/11). A typical child (only to his socio-economic class — educated middle class), Einstein took music lessons, playing both the violin and piano — a passion that followed him into adulthood. Moving first to Italy and then to Switzerland, the young prodigy graduated from high-school in 1896.
In 1905, while working as a patent clerk in Bern, Switzerland, Einstein had what came to be known as his “Annus Mirabilis” — or “miracle year”. It was during this time that the young physicist obtained his Doctorate degree and published four of his most influential research papers, including the Special Theory of Relativity. In that, the now world famous equation “e = mc2” unlocked mysteries of the Universe theretofore unknown.
Ten years later, in 1915, Einstein completed his General Theory of Relativity and in 1921 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics (iconic status cemented in 1919 when Arthur Eddington’s expedition confirmed Albert Einstein’s prediction). It also launched him to international superstardom and his name became a household word synonymous with genius all over the world.
Einstein emigrated to the United States in the autumn of 1933 and took up residence in Princeton, New Jersey and a professorship at the prestigious Institute for Advanced Study.
Today, the practical applications of Einstein’s theories include the development of the television, remote control devices, automatic door openers, lasers, and DVD-players. Recognized as TIME magazine’s “Person of the Century” in 1999, Einstein’s intellect, coupled his strong passion for social justice and dedication to pacifism, left the world with infinite knowledge and pioneering moral leadership.
“All of science is nothing more than refinement of everyday thinking.” - Quoted in interview by G.S. Viereck, 1929
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