Published in 2015

An imprint of Om Books International

Corporate & Editorial Office

A12, Sector 64, Noida 201 301
Uttar Pradesh, India
Phone: +91 120 477 4100
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ombooksinternational.com

Copyright © Om Books International 2015

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing by the publisher.

ISBN: 978-93-84625-92-4

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 Contents
INCREDIBLE INNOVATORS

1. Alfred Nobel
2. Nikola Tesla
3. Marco Polo
4. Charles Goodyear
5. Johannes Gutenberg
6. Nicolaus Copernicus
7. Vasco DA Gama
8. Louis Braille
9. Isaac Newton
10. Thomas Newcomen
11. Benjamin Franklin
12. James Watt
13. Charles Babbage
14. Galileo Galilei
15. Charles Darwin
16. Samuel Colt
17. Eratosthenes of Cyrene
18. Karl Benz
19. Thomas Edison
20. Alexander Graham Bell
21. Aryabhata
22. Rudolf Diesel
23. Leo Hendrik Baekeland
24. The Wright Brothers
25. Guglielmo Marconi
26. Lee De Forest
27. Albert Einstein
28. Alexander Fleming
29. Percy Lebaron Spencer
30. Philo Farnsworth
31. Robert Noyce
32. Martin Cooper
33. Stephen Hawking
34. Tim Berners-Lee
35. Sid Meier

LEGENDARY LEADERS

36. Mahatma Gandhi

37. Cyrus the Great
38. Alexander the Great
39. Ashoka
40. Qin Shi Huang
41. Julius Caesar
42. Constantine
43. Nero
44. William the Conqueror
45. Saladin
46. Genghis Khan
47. Lorenzo de’ Medici
48. Joan of Arc
49. Henry VIII
50. Suleiman the Magnificent
51. Queen Elizabeth I
52. Peter the Great
53. George Washington
54. Thomas Jefferson
55. King Louis XVI

56. Napoleon Bonaparte

57. Simón Bolívar
58. Otto von Bismarck
59. Abraham Lincoln
60. Vladimir Lenin
61. Queen Victoria
62. King Khufu
63. Theodore Roosevelt
64. Winston Churchill
65. Muhammad Ali Jinnah
66. Joseph Stalin
67. Franklin Roosevelt
68. Benito Mussolini
69. Adolf Hitler
70. Jawaharlal Nehru
71. Charles de Gaulle
72. Joseph McCarthy
73. Ronald Reagan
74. Barack Obama
75. Jimmy Carter
76. Benazir Bhutto
77. Kim Jong-il
78. Margaret Thatcher
79. Martin Luther King Jr.
80. Mikhail Gorbachev
81. Indira Gandhi
82. J F Kennedy
83. Fidel Castro

BUSINESS BOOMERS

84. Henry Ford

85. Mark Zuckerberg
86. Richard and Maurice McDonald
87. Sam Walton
88. Warren Buffett
89. Rupert Murdoch
90. Dhirubhai Ambani
91. Philip Knight
92. Larry Ellison
93. Indra Nooyi
94. Richard Branson
95. Jeff Bezos
96. Donald Trump
97. Steve Wozniak
98. Steve Jobs

99. Narayana Murthy

100. Michael Dell
101. Bill Gates
102. Pierre Omidyar
103. Larry Page and Sergey Brin
104. JRD Tata
105. Joyce C Hall

GREATER GOOD

106. Mother Teresa

107. Harriet Tubman
108. Helen Keller
109. Qasim Amin
110. Clara Barton
111. Eleanor Roosevelt
112. Oskar Schindler
113. Rachel Carson
114. John Peters Humphrey
115. Florence Nightingale
116. Pope John Paul II
117. Malcolm X
118. Frantz Fanon
119. Che Guevara
120. Desmond Tutu
121. Kofi Annan
122. Ellen Sirleaf
123. Muhammad Yunus
124. Aung San Suu Kyi
125. Margaret Chan Fung Fu-Chun
126. Mary Scullion
127. Asma Jahangir
128. Oprah Winfrey
129. Princess Diana
130. Chen Guangcheng
131. Melinda Gates

PHENOMENAL PHILOSOPHERS

132. Socrates
133. Aristotle
134. Plato
135. Confucius
136. Pythagoras
137. Niccolo Machiavelli
138. Rene Descartes
139. John Locke
140. Voltaire
141. David Hume
142. Thomas Paine
143. Immanuel Kant
144. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
145. J S Mill
146. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
147. Leo Tolstoy
148. Karl Marx
149. Sigmund Freud
150. Jiddu Krishnamurti
151. Aurobindo Ghosh

152. Marshall McLuhan

153. Noam Chomsky

SPORTS STARS

154. Sachin Tendulkar

155. Don Bradman
156. Nadia Comaneci
157. Diego Maradona
158. Joe DiMaggio
159. Jack Nicklaus
160. Muhammad Ali
161. Martina Navratilova

162. Larry Bird

163. Michael Schumacher
164. Kapil Dev
165. Pele
166. Satchel Paige
167. Michael Jordan
168. Shane Warne
169. Tony Hawk
170. Steve Davis
171. Steffi Graf
172. Andre Agassi
173. Pete Sampras
174. Mike Tyson
175. Shaquille O’Neal
176. Zinedine Zidane
177. Jesse Owens
178. David Beckham
179. Tiger Woods
180. Ronaldo
181. The Williams Sisters
182. Roger Federer
183. LeBron James
184. Lionel Messi
185. Usain Bolt
186. Michael Phelps
187. Rafael Nadal

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

188. Alfred Hitchcock

189. Charlie Chaplin
190. D. W. Griffith
191. Warner Brothers
192. Lumiere Brothers
193. Shahrukh Khan
194. Victor Fleming
195. Humphrey Bogart
196. Georges Melies
197. Luis Bunuel
198. Walt Disney
199. Katharine Hepburn
200. Wilfred Jackson
201. Akira Kurosawa
202. William Hanna
203. Joseph Barbera
204. Robert Wise
205. Gregory Peck
206. Ingmar Bergman
207. Federico Fellini
208. Satyajit Ray
209. Jean-Luc Godard
210. Audrey Hepburn
211. Francois Truffaut
212. Roman Polanski
213. Woody Allen
214. George Lucas
215. Steven Spielberg
216. James Cameron
217. Matt Groening
218. Michael Moore
219. John Lasseter
220. Tim Burton
221. Joe Ranft
222. Johnny Depp

223. Quentin Tarantino

224. Andrew Stanton

LITERARY LORDS

225. William Shakespeare

226. Thomas Wyatt
227. John Lyly
228. Dante Alighieri
229. Francis Bacon
230. John Milton
231. William Wordsworth
232. Jane Austen
233. John Keats
234. Edgar Allan Poe
235. Charles Dickens
236. George Eliot
237. Emily Dickinson
238. Lewis Carroll
239. George Bernard Shaw
240. Arthur Conan Doyle
241. Robert Louis Stevenson
242. Oscar Wilde
243. Mark Twain
244. Rabindranath Tagore
245. William Randolph Hearst
246. W. B. Yeats
247. Virginia Woolf
248. Ezra Pound
249. T. S. Eliot

250. Agatha Christie

251. J. R. R. Tolkien
252. F. Scott Fitzgerald
253. Ernest Hemmingway
254. Enid Blyton
255. George Orwell
256. Tennessee Williams
257. Walt Whitman
258. Roald Dahl
259. Hergé
260. Salman Rushdie
261. Toni Morisson
262. Dan Brown
263. J. K. Rowling

AMAZING ARTISTS

264. Leonardo Da Vinci

265. Masaccio
266. Botticelli
267. Donatello
268. Michelangelo
269. Giorgio Vasari
270. Gian Lorenzo Bernini
271. Raphael
272. Ansel Adams
273. Salvador Dali
274. Albrecht Altdorfer
275. Rembrandt
276. Johannes Vermeer
277. Gustave Eiffel
278. Andy Warhol
279. Robert Frank
280. Frederic Auguste Bartholdi
281. Paul Cezanne
282. Claude Monet
283. Auguste Rodin
284. Pierre-Auguste Renoir
285. Antoni Gaudi
286. Vincent Van Gogh
287. Gustav Klimt
288. Edvard Munch
289. Alexander Bogomazov
290. Franz Marc
291. Pablo Picasso

292. Titian
293. Henri Cartier-Bresson
294. Jackson Pollock
295. Édouard Manet
296. Ravi Varma
297. Frank Gehry

MESMERISING MUSICIANS

298. Michael Jackson

299. The Beatles
300. Louis Armstrong
301. Frank Sinatra
302. Miles Davis
303. Johnny Cash
304. James Brown
305. Elvis Presley
306. Pavarotti
307. Bob Dylan
308. John Lennon
309. Jimi Hendrix
310. Jim Morrison
311. Bob Marley
312. Freddie Mercury
313. David Bowie
314. Elton John
315. Yanni
316. Johann Sebastian Bach
317. Madonna
318. Mozart
319. Beethoven
320. The Rolling Stones
321. Pink Floyd
322. Kurt Cobain
323. The Eagles
324. ABBA
325. Eminem
326. A. R. Rahman

FANTASTIC FOOD LORDS

327. Jamie Oliver

328. Bartolomeo Scappi
329. John Montagu

330. Henri Nestlé

331. George Crum
332. Milton Hershey
333. John Stith Pemberton
334. James Beard
335. Ruth Wakefield
336. Julia Child
337. Irvine Robbins and Burton Baskin
338. Wolfgang Puck
339. Thomas Keller
340. Alain Ducasse
341. Anthony Bourdain
342. Nigella Lawson
343. Gordon Ramsay
344. Marco Pierre White
345. Mario Batali
346. Matt Preston
347. Madhur Jaffrey
348. Curtis Stone
349. John Cadbury

FABULOUS FASHIONISTAS

350. Christian Dior

351. Giorgio Armani
352. Charles Lewis Tiffany
353. Pierre Cardin
354. Hubert de Givenchy
355. Louis Vuitton
356. Coco Chanel
357. Yves Saint Laurent
358. Ralph Lauren
359. Mario Prada
360. Gianni Versace
361. Vera Wang
362. Donna Karan
363. Dolce and Gabbana

364. Christian Louboutin

365. Alexander McQueen
 Incredible Innovators
This section focusses on innovators whose work has contributed to important innovations. Let’s
find out about their inventions and contributions as well as their lives. Read on and get to know
these incredible innovators better.

1. ALFRED NOBEL
lfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, entrepreneur and inventor with

A 354 patents to his name. He was born on 21st October, 1833, in

Stockholm, Sweden. As a young man, he worked at his father’s arms
factory. While studying in Paris, he met Sobero, an Italian chemist, who
invented nitro-glycerine, a highly explosive liquid. Nobel was interested in
the use of nitro-glycerine for construction. While experimenting in 1866, he
mixed it with a fine sand called “Kieselguhr” that turned the liquid into paste.
He converted this paste into rods that could then be inserted into drilling
holes. Nobel got a patent on this material and named it “dynamite.”
His work and inventions made him a wealthy man. He used this fortune to
establish the Nobel Prize, which honours people all around the world for their
great accomplishments in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and world
peace. He died on 10th December, 1896.

2. NIKOLA TESLA
N ikola Tesla was a famous electrical engineer, futurist and inventor,
who is best known for his design of the modern electrical supply
system. He was born on 10th July, 1856, in modern day Croatia. Tesla studied
in Austria and went to America to work with Thomas Edison.
Tesla’s most renowned invention was the “Tesla coil” in 1891, which is
still used in radio technology. Tesla was also a pioneer in the discovery of
radar and X-ray technology. Though his patents earned him a lot of money,
he spent a lot on experiments too. He died in poverty on 7th January, 1943, in
New York.

3. MARCO POLO
M arco Polo was a well-known merchant and traveller. He was born in
1254 in Venice, Italy. He travelled throughout China as a messenger
and spy for Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire. During his trips all over
Asia, he learned about different cultures, foods, cities and people. Marco told
detailed stories of his journeys to a writer named Rustichello, who wrote
them all down in a book called The Travels of Marco Polo.
He influenced European cartography, altering the world map with his
discoveries. He passed away on 8th January, 1324, in Venice, Italy.

4. CHARLES GOODYEAR

C harles Goodyear was an American entrepreneur, who developed the

process of vulcanisation of rubber. He was born on 29th December,
1800, in Connecticut, USA. In 1834, he went to a rubber company to sell a
valve he had made and discovered that rubber melted to glue in hot weather.
Goodyear then conducted many experiments with rubber, discovered the
process of vulcanisation and patented it in 1844. This process made rubber
water-proof and weatherproof, and revolutionised its use. Goodyear died on
1st July, 1860, in New York City. The Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Company
was founded in his name in 1898 by Frank Seiberling.

5. JOHANNES GUTENBERG
ohannes Gutenberg was a German blacksmith, goldsmith, publisher and

J printer who is known as the “father of printing”. He was born in 1398 in

Mainz, Germany. He is best known for his invention of the modern
printing press in 1439. This former stone cutter’s masterpiece was the first
book ever printed from a movable press. It was the 42–line Bible, completed
in 1455.
Gutenberg’s printing press led to a dramatic increase in printing and started
an interest in journalism. It led to the creation of newspapers, books, journals
and magazines. He passed away on 3rd February, 1468, in Mainz, Germany.

6. NICOLAUS COPERNICUS
 We know certain facts about Copernicus’ early life. But a
biography written by his ardent disciple, Georg Joachim
Rheticus, is unfortunately lost.

N icolaus Copernicus was a Polish mathematician, scholar, economist,

artist, diplomat and an astronomer. He was born on 19th February,
1473, in Torun, Poland. In 1496, he travelled to Italy to study law.
Copernicus is best known for his theory called “De Revolutionibus Orbium
Coelestium”, meaning, “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres”.
Copernicus’ theory was commonly known as “heliocentrism”. It states that
the Sun is at the centre of the universe, while Earth and all the other planets
rotate around it in circular paths. It was Copernicus’ theory that led to an
astronomical revolution. His theory greatly influenced many great scientists
including Galileo, Kepler, Descartes and Newton.
Copernicus came up with this theory between 1508 and 1514. He wrote
this in a manuscript called the Commentariolus (Little Commentary).
However, the final version of his theory was published in 1543, the year he
died. He passed away on 24th May, 1543.

7. VASCO DA GAMA
V asco da Gama was a Portuguese navigator and explorer, who was
famous for the discovery of the sea route from Europe to India via the
Cape of Good Hope in Africa. He was born in Sines, Portugal, in 1460.
Vasco da Gama was given a fleet of ships by the King of Portugal to find a
trade route around Africa to India. He left on his first voyage from Lisbon,
Portugal, on 8th July, 1497, with 170 men and 4 ships. He returned home a
hero, as he found the trade route to India. He passed away on 24th December,
1524, in Cochin, India.

8. LOUIS BRAILLE

L ouis Braille was a French educator famous for inventing a system of

reading, writing and printing, exclusively for the blind. He was born on
4th January, 1809, in Coupvray, near Paris, France. He was blinded in an
accident when he was three years old. He attended the Royal Institute for
Blind Youth, where he studied with raised imprints of letters on an embossed
paper. He published his code in which he used six raised dots in different
combinations in 1829. He also developed the Braille code for music. He died
on 6th January, 1852.
9. ISAC NEWTON
 Newton published his legendary book, Philosophiae
Naturalis Principia Mathematica in 1687, a masterpiece that
introduced the world to the three laws of motion and the
universal principle of gravity.

S ir Isaac Newton was an English physicist and mathematician, who is

considered to be one of the most influential scientists of all time. He
was born on 4th January, 1643, in Woolsthorpe, England. After finishing
school in 1661, he went to Cambridge University, where he concentrated on
science, mathematics and philosophy. He read books by Galileo, Rene
Descartes, Euclid and Johannes Kepler. He became a professor soon after he
graduated from Cambridge around 1669.
The discovery of the gravitational theory is credited to Isaac Newton. He is
the one who found a relation between gravity and heavenly bodies in the
solar system. He realised that the same relation exists between the Earth and
the objects on it. After his discovery of gravitational force, Newton
elaborated on his theory, giving us the three laws of gravity. Gravity plays a
large role in our daily lives and Newton’s research has made it easier for us to
understand this phenomena. He died on 20th March, 1727, in London,
England.

10. THOMAS NEWCOMEN

T homas Newcomen was an English engineer and inventor, who invented
the first steam engine. He was born on 24th February, 1664, in
Dartmouth, England.
As Newcomen was an ironmonger by profession, he was aware that
pumping water out of mines with the help of horses was very expensive. He
conducted research for more than 10 years on inventing a steam pump. He
made a significant contribution with his invention of the steam engine. His
first working engine was installed at a coalmine at Dudley Castle in
Staffordshire in 1712. Thomas Newcomen passed away on 5th August, 1729,
in London, England.

11. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

B enjamin Franklin was not only one of the founding fathers of the USA,
but also a well-renowned printer, scientist, inventor, author, politician
and diplomat. He was born on 17th January, 1706, in Boston. Even as a child,
his passion for reading and experimentation was very intense. He wrote many
letters and books.
He suspected that lightning was an electrical current and conducted an
experiment to see if it would pass through metal. He invented the lighting
rod, Franklin stove and bifocal glasses among other things. He conducted
extensive research and published many theories about electricity. He died on
17th April, 1790.

12. JAMES WATT

J ames Watt was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, renowned
for his work on the steam engine. He was born on 30th January, 1736, in
Greenock, Scotland. Watt designed a separate condensing chamber for the
steam engine that immensely prevented the loss of power and steam. He
received his first patent in 1769 for this device.
By 1790, Watt was an accomplished and wealthy man. He patented several
other important inventions including the rotary engine, the double-action
engine and the steam indicator. The unit of measurement of electrical and
mechanical power, “Watt”, is named in his honour. Watt died on 25th August,
1819, in Heathfield, Scotland.
13. CHARLES BABBAGE
harles Babbage was an English inventor and mathematician, who is also

C known as the “father of computers”. He was born in London on 26th

December, 1791. He was often unwell as a child and was educated
mainly at home. He later grew fond of mathematics and went on to pursue it
further at Cambridge University in 1810. In 1820, he invented the “difference
engine”, a machine which could perform mathematical calculations. His
mathematical machines were based on ideas that were later used in modern
computers. He passed away at his home in London on 18th October, 1871.

14. GALILEO GALILEI

 Galileo made many discoveries using the telescope, such as
the four large moons around Jupiter and the phases of the
planet Venus. He also discovered sunspots and stated that
the Moon was not smooth and was, in fact, covered with
craters.

G alileo Galilei was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, physicist and

philosopher. He was born on 15th February, 1564, in Pisa, Italy. He
grew up during the Italian Renaissance, which greatly influenced him.
Galileo began his education at the Camaldolese monastery. He was an
accomplished musician and an excellent student. He went to the University of
Pisa to study medicine in 1581, but he soon became interested in physics and
mathematics.
Galileo experimented with pendulums, levers, balls and other objects. He
tried to describe how they moved with mathematic equations. His
experimentation led to the invention of the advanced measuring device called
the “hydrostatic balance”. In 1609, having heard of the invention of a
telescope, he decided to build his own telescope. He took the archaic
telescope and made great improvements to it. Galileo used it extensively to
observe outer space. Soon, Galileo’s advanced version of the telescope was
used throughout Europe. He passed away in Arcetri on 8th January, 1642.

15. CHARLES DARWIN

C th
harles Robert Darwin was a British scientist and naturalist who
proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection. He was born on
12 February, 1809, in Shrewsbury, England. Darwin went to the University
of Edinburgh Medical School to study medicine and later, Cambridge
University, where he interacted with many naturalists.
Charles Darwin formulated his theory of evolution around 1838 and
worked on it for 20 years privately. Darwin’s Theory of Evolution stated that
all life forms are related to and descended from a common ancestor. When
another naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, wrote to him with similar theories,
the two collaborated and published their theories in 1858. Darwin passed
away on 19th April, 1882.

16. SAMUEL COLT

S amuel Colt was an American inventor and industrialist who was famous
for his invention of the revolver and its mass production for commercial
sale. He was born on 19th July, 1814, in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. He
studied in Glastonbury and started working at his father’s mill at the age of
15.
 Colt made a wooden model of the revolver when he was young and
patented it in France, England and USA. His invention made him a rich man.
He died on 10th January, 1862.

17. ERATOSTHENES OF CYRENE

ratosthenes was a famous Greek scientific scholar, mathematician, geologist,

E geographer and astronomer. He was the first person to use the word
“geography” in Greek and invented the subject of geography as defined
today. Eratosthenes was born around 276 BCE in Cyrene (modern day
Libya).
Eratosthenes’ initial years were spent in Cyrene, but later he went to
Athens for further studies. He proposed a simple algorithm for finding prime
numbers. He was also the first person to make a map including parallels and
meridians, which is now known as latitudes and longitudes. He was also the
first person to give a relatively accurate measurement of the Earth’s
circumference.
He rightly deduced that as the Sun is at a great distance from the Earth, the
rays are almost parallel when they hit the Earth. Using this knowledge and
the distance between two cities, he was able to roughly measure the Earth’s
circumference!
His mathematical work was highlighted in the writings of Greek geometer
Pappus of Alexandria. His geographical work was brought to light in the
books of Greek geographer Strabo. Eratosthenes passed away in 194 BCE at
the age of 82.

18. KARL BENZ

 The original Benz car had only three wheels and was called
the “Motorwagen”. It is currently preserved in Munich. It
first ran in early 1885, but its design was not patented until
29th January, 1886.

K arl Benz was a German car engineer who invented the petrol-powered
car. He was born on 25th November, 1844, in Muhlburg, Germany. In
spite of being poor, his mother gave him the best education that his family
could afford. Benz studied at the local grammar school in Karlsruhe. He
completed his higher studies at the Polytechnical University under the
instruction of Ferdinand Redtenbacher. He was originally interested in
locksmithing, but eventually followed his father’s footsteps towards
locomotive engineering. During these years, he dreamed of inventing a
vehicle that would eventually become a “horseless carriage”.
 In 1885, Benz built a gasoline-powered car. This automobile, known as the
motor car, remained a rare invention for which he got his first patent. Though
there were other people in Germany working on a similar invention, Karl
Benz got the patent first. He soon started his own company called “Benz and
Company”. It became the world’s largest manufacturer of automobiles by
1900. He passed away on 4th April, 1929.

19. THOMAS EDISON

homas Alva Edison was a scientist and inventor, who pioneered several
significant inventions. He was born on 11th February, 1847, in Ohio, USA.
T Edison began working at the young age of 13. By the age of 16, he was
working as a telegraph operator. He soon became interested in
communications, which was the focus of many of his inventions.
Edison is most well-known for inventing the phonograph, the electric light
bulb and the motion picture. He invented ways of producing electricity and
distributing it through wires. Edison power stations were all over the world
by the 1890s. He passed away on 18th October, 1931, in West Orange, New
Jersey.

20. ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL

A lexander Graham Bell was an influential scientist, engineer and
inventor. He was born on 3rd March, 1847, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He
is widely credited with the invention of the first practical telephone. His
mother and wife were both deaf, which had a major influence on his work.
He also had a strong interest in other scientific fields such as developing the
photophone, conducting medical research and searching for alternative fuel
sources. He passed away on 2nd August, 1922.

21. ARYABHATA
A ryabhata was one of India’s greatest mathematicians. He was born
around 476 CE. When he was a teenager, he left his hometown and
went to Nalanda University in Kusumapura.
By the time Aryabhata was 23 years old, he was already writing his first
book, known as Aryabhatiya, which was about math and astronomy. He was
one of the first to state that the Earth spins on its axis. He also calculated the
value of pi to be 3.1416, which is very close to the actual value—3.14159.
But his greatest contribution to mathematics remains the “zero”, without
which mathematics would not be the same. He died in 550 CE.
 22. RUDOLF DIESEL

R udolph Christian Karl Diesel was a German inventor and engineer, who
invented the famous internal combustion engine commonly known as
the diesel engine. He was born on 18th March, 1858, in Paris, France.
Although Diesel’s parents were German, the family lived in Paris till 1870.
Diesel studied at the Technical High School in Munich and excelled at
engineering. He thought of making an internal combustion engine and
conceived the idea in about 1890. He patented it in 1892 and it became a
huge success. He died on 29th September, 1913.

23. LEO HENDRIK BAEKELAND

L eo Hendrik Baekeland was an American chemist best known for his

invention of Bakelite. He was born on 14th November, 1863, in Ghent,
Belgium. Baekeland received his doctorate from the University of Ghent at
the age of 21 and taught there until 1889.
He soon set up his own company to manufacture his first invention
“Velox”, a photographic printing paper, which could be developed under
artificial light. He then started his own laboratory in New York, where he
invented Bakelite in 1907. It was the first synthetic plastic which opened
doors to the use of plastic in the future. He passed away on 23rd February,
1944.

24. THE WRIGHT BROTHERS

B rothers Wilbur and Orville Wright were inventors and pioneers in the
aviation industry. Wilbur was born in Millville, Indiana, on 16th April,
1867, and Orville was born in Dayton, Ohio, on 19th August, 1871. They
went to high school but did not get their diplomas. On 17th December, 1903,
the Wright brothers launched the first successful air flight in Kitty Hawk.
They were the first to make a successful aircraft that was powered by an
engine. They received a patent for their design in 1906.

25. GUGLIELMO MARCONI

G uglielmo Marconi was a physicist and inventor, who was best known
for his work on radio transmission. He was born on 25th April, 1874, in
Bologna, Italy. Marconi began experimenting with electro-magnetics as a
student at the Livorno Technical Institute. He developed a system of wireless
telegraphy for which he received his first patent in England.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun for
their development of practical wireless telegraphy. His development of a
radio telegraph system led to the establishment of many associated wireless
inventions. He died in Rome on 20th July, 1937.

26. LEE DE FOREST

L ee De Forest was an American inventor who is remembered as the

“father of the radio” and the “grandfather of the television”. He was
born on 26th August, 1873, in Iowa, USA. Even as a child, he was fascinated
with machinery and technological advancements.
He experimented with long-distance radio signals and, in 1906, invented an
electronic device named the “audion vacuum tube”. His invention laid the
foundation for the field of electronics. He passed away on 30th June, 1961, in
Hollywood, California.
27. ALBERT EINSTEIN
 Einstein didn’t do very well in school and one teacher even
told him that he would never be successful.

G erman genius, Albert Einstein, was born on 14th March, 1879, in Ulm,
Germany. He had exceptional grades in physics and mathematics. Two
things sparked his interest in the sciences. One was a compass that his father
gave him when he was 10 years old. The other was a geometry book he found
when he was 12. Soon after he graduated, Einstein worked in a patent office
evaluating patents for electromagnetic devices.
He worked on many influential theories and projects. Einstein came up
with theories about light, matter, gravity, space and time. Einstein is more
than just a world-famous scientist, his name represents intelligence and
knowledge! In 1921, he received the Nobel Prize for his achievements in
theoretical physics. He is best known for developing the theory of relativity.
He is regarded as one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century. He died
on 18th April, 1955.

28. ALEXANDER FLEMING

 His discovery of lysozyme was also accidental. He was
studying a culture plate of bacteria when a bit of his mucus
fell in it. A few days later, he saw signs of the bacteria
dissolving.

A lexander Fleming was a world famous pharmacologist and botanist. He

was born on 6th August, 1881. His most popular discoveries are the
enzyme lysozyme in 1921 and penicillin, the antibiotic, in 1928. He
originally wanted to become a surgeon, but after spending time in the
laboratories of the Inoculation Department at St. Mary’s Hospital, he decided
to pursue bacteriology instead. During World War I, he worked as a
bacteriologist with the Royal Army Medical Corps and studied soldiers’
wounds. He discovered that using strong antiseptics on wounds actually did
more harm than good.
 In 1928, Fleming made an accidental discovery from a contaminated petri
dish. The contaminated bacteria contained a powerful antibiotic, which was
later called penicillin. Penicillin stops the growth of harmful bacteria that is
responsible for many other dangerous diseases. He, along with two other
scientists, received a Nobel Prize for his discovery in 1945. Fleming saved
millions of lives with his accidental discovery! He passed away on 11th
March, 1955.

29. PERCY LEBARON SPENCER

ercy Lebaron Spencer was an American engineer and inventor, who is
famous for the invention of the microwave oven. He was born on 19th
P July, 1894, in Howland, Maine, USA. Spencer went to school for a brief
period before starting work at the age of 12. Spencer learnt in detail
about electricity when he was 16 years old. He also taught himself chemistry,
physics, trigonometry and calculus. While working with Raytheon, a US
defence contractor, he accidently discovered how a candy bar had melted
while working near a radar set. This led to the invention of the microwave
oven. He died on 8th September, 1970.

30. PHILO FARNSWORTH

hilo Taylor Farnsworth was an American scientist and inventor. He was born
on 19th August, 1906, in Utah, USA. This talented prodigy began inventing
P gadgets in grade school. In 1938, Farnsworth unveiled a prototype of
the first all-electric television that he had sketched in his chemistry class
as a teenager. He led the research in nuclear fusion. Farnsworth also
contributed to the development of the baby incubator, the electron
microscope, the astronomical telescope and infra red night vision devices. He
passed away on 11th March, 1971, in Salt Lake City, USA.

31. ROBERT NOYCE

R obert Norton Noyce is also known as the “Mayor of Silicon Valley” as
he was the co-inventor of the microchip that led to the personal
computer revolution. He was born on 12th December, 1927, in Burlington,
Iowa. He grew up in Grinnel, Iowa and completed his studies there.
Noyce ran two of the companies that had the greatest impact on the silicon
industry—“Fairchild Semiconductor” and “Intel”. When he was at Intel,
Noyce managed and looked after Ted Hoff’s invention of the microprocessor.
He passed away on 3rd June, 1990, in Austin, Texas.

32. MARTIN COOPER

M artin Cooper was a visionary and pioneer in the field of wireless
communication. He was born on 26th December, 1928, in Chicago.
He earned his Bachelors and Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from
the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1950 and 1957 respectively.
 He began working with Motorola’s Cellular Research project. He invented
the first wireless cellular phone in 1973. It took about 17 years from the first
phone call for cellular communication to be fully developed and marketed to
the world.

33. STEPHEN HAWKING

 In 1974, Hawking was inducted into the Royal Society, a
worldwide fellowship of scientists. He was awarded the
Eddington Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society. He
prides himself for making his complex physical concepts
accessible to the common public by writing the bestseller, A
Brief History of Time.

S tephen William Hawking is an English physicist, cosmologist and

author. He was born on 8th January, 1942, in Oxford, England. He
completed his schooling in England and went to Oxford University for higher
studies.
He moved to Cambridge University to carry out research in Cosmology.
When he returned home after his first term at Cambridge, he experienced
clumsiness and a slight speech impediment. Shortly after his 21st birthday, he
was diagnosed with an incurable form of a motor neurone disease. Doctors
initially gave Hawking two years to live. He began using a wheelchair and
eventually lost his power of speech.
He is most well-known for his contribution on the “Big Bang Theory” and
the discovery of “Black Holes”. He completed his PhD and enjoys a career as
a leading theoretical physicist. In 1979, he was appointed as the Lucasian
Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, the most famous academic chair in
the world.

34. TIM BERNERS-LEE

S ir Timothy John “Tim” Berners-Lee is a British computer scientist
known for the invention of the world wide web. He was born on 8th
June, 1955, in London, England. He went to Queen’s College, Oxford
University, where he received a degree in physics. In 1990, he produced the
first version of the world wide web, the first web browser and the first web
server. It was available online in 1991. He is currently the Director of the
World Wide Web Consortium, the group that oversees the standards of the
web.

35. SID MEIER

S id Meier is a Canadian-American programmer and designer who is
known as “the father of computer gaming”. He was born on 24th
February, 1954, in Detroit, USA. Meier graduated with a degree in computer
science from the University of Michigan. In 1982, Sid co-founded
“MicroProse Software” that made the first simulation video game—F 15
Strike Eagle.
Meier was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Science’s
Hall of Fame and the Computer Museum of America’s Hall of Fame in 1999
and 2002, respectively. Meier and his games have been awarded with every
major award in the gaming industry.
 Legendary Leaders
There are some people who have shaped history and consequently the present. Some of
them were revolutionary in the way they led their nation, some were great leaders for
different reasons and some were just downright evil in their outlook. But their influence
and leadership cannot be denied. Read on to find out more about these legendary leaders.

36. MAHATMA GANDHI

M ohandas Karamchand Gandhi was one of the most famous freedom
fighters of the Indian nationalist movement against the British. He
was born on 2nd October, 1869, in Porbander, Gujarat, India. He is fondly
remembered as Gandhiji or Mahatma Gandhi. He studied law in England and
took up a job as a lawyer in South Africa.
On his return to India, he followed non-violent methods of protests like
fasts and marches against the British rule. The “Quit India Movement”
initiated by him was a great success and India became independent on 15th
August, 1947. He was assassinated on 30th January, 1948.

37. CYRUS THE GREAT

C yrus the Great was a significant figure in the history of the Persian
Empire. He was the first world leader to be referred to as “The Great”.
He was born around 590–580 BCE. Cyrus founded Persia by uniting the two
original Iranian tribes—the Medes and the Persians.
Until he became king, Persia was a peaceful state of the Medes Empire.
Under his rule, the Persian Empire embraced the ancient Near East, most of
Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia as well. Cyrus declared the first
Charter of Human Rights known to humankind. He passed away in about 530
BCE.
 38. ALEXANDER THE GREAT

P rince Alexander III of Macedonia is known as Alexander the Great. He

was born on 20th July, 356 BCE, in Pella, Macedonia. He was educated
by the famous philosopher Aristotle.
He set out to conquer the massive Persian Empire. Against overwhelming
odds, he led his army to victories across the Persian territories of Asia, Syria
and Egypt, without suffering a single defeat. He founded more than 70 cities
throughout the Mediterranean region and west up to India, spreading trade
and the Greek culture wherever he went. He passed away at the young age of
32 in 324 BCE.

39. ASHOKA

K ing Ashoka was an Indian emperor of the Mauryan Dynasty, who ruled
most of the Indian sub-continent during his reign. Born in 304 BCE, he
ascended the throne by 273 BCE. Ashoka was a great philanthropist and
worked for the welfare of his people.
He converted to Buddhism after the famous Kalinga War and ceased all
military conquest and violence. He built many monuments in Buddha’s
honour. To honour Ashoka’s achievements, the Government of India has
adopted the Ashoka Chakra on the Sarnath Pillar built during his reign as the
country’s national symbol. He died in 232 BCE.

40. QIN SHI HUANG

Q in Shi Huang was the first ruler to create a unified Chinese Empire. He
was born as Prince Zheng in 259 BCE. He ascended the throne at the
young age of 13. He conquered the other Chinese states and soon became the
leader of China. He hired over 7,00,000 workers to construct his tomb. They
built a vast army of 8,000 soldiers, horses and chariots that he thought would
protect him in the afterlife. He died while travelling to Eastern China in 210
BCE.

41. JULIUS CAESAR

 Julius Caesar changed the ancient calendar to the modern
Julian calendar with 365 days and a leap year.

J ulius Caesar was a famous Roman general, statesman and author. He was
born in Rome around 100 BCE to an aristocratic family. He became the
head of his family at the young age of 16 after his father passed away. Julius
Caesar joined the Roman Army in 81 BCE and was the first Roman to invade
England in 55 BCE and again in 54 BCE.
In 65 BCE, Caesar was appointed an “adele”, which put him in charge of
Rome’s public entertainment. He became very popular amongst the Romans.
Soon after, Caesar joined the army and left Rome in order to avoid Sulla, the
dictator of Rome and his allies.
When Sulla died, Caesar returned to Rome in about 46 BCE. He was a
military hero from his years in the army and he quickly rose up the ranks of
the Roman government. He made significant changes to Rome by
constructing new buildings and temples. He soon became the most powerful
man in Europe as the Senate made him the dictator. He was assassinated on
15th March, 44 BCE.

42. CONSTANTINE
C onstantine the Great is one of history’s most popular leaders. He was
born in 272 CE in modern Serbia. He was well-educated.
He was the first Roman emperor to follow Christianity. He laid the
foundation for the growth of western medieval culture. He ruled from 306–
337 CE. While he ruled the Eastern Roman Empire, he chose his capital to be
the small town of Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople.
Constantinople remained the seat of the Eastern Roman Empire until 1453.
He passed away in 337 CE.

43. NERO
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, also known as Nero, was the
fifth Roman emperor, who was infamous for the alleged burning of Rome to
construct his famous landscape villa known as the Domus Aurea or the
“Golden House”. He was born on 15th December, 37 CE.
Nero succeeded the throne in 54 CE, following Claudius’ death. He was
popular amongst the people as he eliminated capital punishment and allowed
slaves to bring complaints against their masters. Nero was described as a
generous and reasonable leader until he got his mother murdered in the year
59 CE. He passed away on 9th June, 68 CE, in Rome.

44. WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR

W illiam the Conqueror, or William I, was one of the greatest rulers of
England. He was born around 1028 in Normandy, France. William I
was crowned Duke of Normandy in 1035, when he was just seven years old.
Not only did he conquer England, he also made it the most powerful
government in Europe. William I popularised the English language. Although
he never spoke English and was illiterate, he significantly influenced the
evolution of the English language. He added many French and Latin words to
the English dictionary. William ruled England until his death on 9th
September, 1087, in Rouen, France.
45. SALADIN
aladin was the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria who founded the famous
Ayyubid dynasty. He was born around 1138 Tikrit, Mesopotamia, which is

S now in Iraq. He gained control over Yemen and Palestine as well. He

was a strict and ruthless ruler. He had tremendous military and political
skills to remain the unquestioned leader of the Arabs. He encouraged the
growth and spread of Islamic religious institutions. He courted their scholars
and preachers as well as constructed colleges and mosques. He passed away
in 1193.

46. GENGHIS KHAN

 During his years in exile with his mother and brothers, they
were forced to live on wild fruits, ox carcasses and small
game that they could hunt.

G enghis Khan was one of the most famous conquerors of history, who
founded the Mongolian Empire. He was born in Mongolia around
1162. His father was the chief of his tribe, but was killed when Genghis was
quite young. The tribe, refusing to be led by someone so young, forced him
and his family to go into exile. Slowly, he started making alliances with
different tribes and at the young age of 20, he successfully built a large army.
He subdued various tribes of Northeast Asia under his rule. At the age of 27,
he was elected Khan.
After uniting the nomadic tribes of Mongolia, he conquered most of central
Asia and China. At their peak, the Mongols controlled an area almost the size
of Africa. Many historians have written about the Mongol invasions and the
destruction they caused. The Mongol Empire was the largest empire in the
world before the British Empire and lasted much after Genghis Khan’s death
in 1227.

47. LORENZO DE’ MEDICI

L orenzo de’ Medici or “Lorenzo the Magnificent” was an Italian
statesman and Florentine’s famous ruler and patron during the Italian
Renaissance. He was born on 1st January, 1449, in Florence. Italy. He ruled
Florence initially with his brother, Giuliano, and on his own after his
brother’s assassination. He was best known for his patronage of the arts.
Those under his protection included great Renaissance artists such as
Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci. He passed away on 9th April, 1492.

48. JOAN OF ARC

J oan d’Arc also known as “Joan of Arc” or the “Maid of Orleans” was a
Roman Catholic saint who believed she was working under divine
guidance. She was born around 1412 in Domrémy, France. She was a peasant
girl who had mystical visions about her leadership in a battle between the
French and the English.
Joan of Arc was captured during battle at the city of Compiegne. She was
executed by the English at the young age of 19 on 30th May, 1431.
 49. HENRY VIII

H th
enry VIII was the King of England. He presided over the initial stages
of the English Renaissance and the English Reformation. He was born
on 28 June, 1491, in England. He excelled at book learning and physical
activity as a child.
He was appointed Duke of York and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland while he
was still a child. In 1501, he was appointed as the Prince of Wales. In 1509,
when Henry was 18 years old, he succeeded the throne after his father’s
death. He died at the age of 56 in 1547.

50. SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT

S uleiman I or Suleiman the Magnificent was the longest reigning Sultan
of the Ottoman Empire. He was born on 6th November, 1494, in
Trabzon, Turkey. Suleiman I wanted to be a governor when he was 15 years
old. After Selim I passed away, he succeeded the throne.
 Suleiman I prepared written laws and applied them strictly. He was often
called “Kanuni” or Law Giver. He reined for 46 years from 1520 to 1566. He
led his empire to prosperity which was never surpassed. He died on 7th
September, 1566, while he was commanding the siege of Sziget.

51. QUEEN ELIZABETH I

ueen Elizabeth I, also known as “Gloriana” or “Good Queen Bess”, was the
fifth and last monarch of the Tudor Dynasty of England. She was born
Q on 7th September, 1533, in Greenwich, England. She was crowned
Queen of England on 15th January, 1559.
Highly educated, Elizabeth I turned her court into a centre for learning.
She also strengthened the currency and promoted government reforms,
leading to a growth of the economy. Elizabeth’s 45-year reign is known as
the Elizabethan Age, during which England became a strong European
power. She died on 24th March, 1603, in Richmond, England.

52. PETER THE GREAT

eter the Great, or Peter I, was the ruler of the Tsar kingdom of Russia and
later, the Russian Empire. He was born on 9th June, 1672, in Moscow.
P He started the Northern War with Sweden in 1700 that lasted for 21
years and resulted in Russia’s victory. When the Northern War ended, Russia
was declared an empire and Peter the Great proclaimed himself as Emperor in
1721.
He was the first leader to organise a Russian army. He also founded the
Russian navy. He passed away on 8th February, 1725.

53. GEORGE WASHINGTON

 George Washington gave the idea for greeting American
presidents as “Mr. President”. He is believed to have written
20,000 letters in his two terms as President.

G eorge Washington was the commander-in-chief of the colonial armies

of the American Revolution, who went on to become the first
President of the USA. He was born on 22nd February, 1732, in Virginia,
USA. Washington grew up in Colonial Virginia. His father was a landowner
and planter who died when Washington was just 11 years old. Washington
first worked as a surveyor, which made him travel from one place to another
for two years. He joined the colonial army in 1752 and went on to lead the
colonial armies during the American Revolution.
Washington is known as one of the Founding Fathers of the USA. He was
elected President in 1789 and served two terms in office. Washington also
presided over the convention that drafted the United States Constitution. He
went on a tour of the entire country to know the problems of the people and
to find their solution. He passed away on 14th December, 1799, in Virginia.

54. THOMAS JEFFERSON

T homas Jefferson was one of the Founding Fathers of the USA. He is
most famous for being the main author of the Declaration of
Independence. He was born on 13th April, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia.
Jefferson was believed to be an obsessive student, who spent more than 15
hours with his books on a regular basis.
In 1775, Jefferson was elected to the Continental Congress to write the
Declaration of Independence which states that “all men are created equal”.
The declaration also states the reasons the colonists wanted to separate from
England. He passed away on 4th July, 1826.

55. KING LOUIS XVI

K ing Louis XVI was the last monarch of France preceding the French
Revolution of 1789. He was born on 23rd August, 1754, in Versailles,
France. His parents passed away when he was just 13 years old.
Louis-Auguste ascended the throne on 10th May, 1774, and became Louis
XVI when he was just 20 years old. The country’s finances were facing
problems and the expense of supporting the American Revolution almost
drove the French to bankruptcy. His reign ended with his trial and execution
for treason during the French Revolution on 21st January, 1793.

56. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

N apoleon Bonaparte was the first Consul and Emperor of France. He

was born on 15th August, 1769, in Ajaccio, St. Helena Island. He
received his education at a military school. He was promoted quite rapidly to
the position of the Commander of the French army in the fight against
Austria and its allies.
Napoleon defeated the British at Toulon and regained the territory for
France. This made him popular and he also earned a promotion. Napoleon
conquered Ottoman-ruled Egypt in 1798 to strike at British trade routes with
India. He overthrew the French government and took control in 1799. He
died on 5th May, 1821.

57. SIMÓN BOLÍVAR

S imón Bolívar was a South American soldier, who was the leader of the
revolution against the Spanish Empire. He was born on 24th July, 1783,
in Caracas, Venezuela. Initially, he was tutored at home and later completed
his graduation in Europe.
Bolívar played an important role in the fight for independence against
France. He joined the resistance movement when Napoleon named Joseph
Bonaparte King of Spain. He succeeded in uniting most of South America in
a federation free from Spanish control. He passed away on 17th December,
1830.

58. OTTO VON BISMARCK

tto Eduard Leopold Von Bismarck was the founder and chancellor of the first
German Empire. He was born on 1st April, 1815, in Schönhausen,
O Germany. At the age of 24, he decided to run his family’s estate at
Kneiphof. In 1847, he was sent to Berlin as a delegate to the new
Prussian parliament, where he emerged as a reactionary voice against the
liberal, antiautocratic revolutions of 1848. He passed away on 30th July, 1898
in Friedrichsruh, Germany.

59. ABRAHAM LINCOLN

A braham Lincoln was one of the most influential American presidents,
who also abolished slavery. He was born on 12th February, 1809, in
Kentucky, USA. He had very little formal schooling and educated himself to
be a lawyer.
He was the 16th President of the USA. He successfully led his country
through its worst constitutional and moral crisis—the American Civil War. In
1863, he issued the law and proclaimed the freedom of slaves in the Southern
states. Gradually, slavery was banned all over America and all slaves were
freed. He was assassinated in 1865 in Washington DC.

60. VLADIMIR LENIN

ladimir Illych Ulyanov was a politician and a Russian communist, who was
the first head of the Soviet State. He was born on 22nd April, 1870, in
V
arrest.
Ulyanovsk, Russia. He was an excellent student. He joined the
revolutionary movement and changed his name to Lenin to avoid

Lenin spent the years leading up to the 1917 Revolution in exile. He was
the founder of the Russian Communist Party. He established the first
communist government in 1917. He died in 1924.

61. QUEEN VICTORIA

A lexandrina Victoria, famously known as Queen Victoria, was the
longest reigning monarch in English history. She was born on 24th
May, 1819, in London, England. She was just 18 when she ascended the
throne. After the death of her husband, Prince Albert, she went through a
phase of depression, staying out of public view for three years. When Queen
Victoria recovered, she began to take a strong interest in the British Empire
and its colonies. Queen Victoria’s 63-year long, victorious reign was known
as the Victorian Age. She died on 22nd January, 1901.

62. KING KHUFU

K hnum-Khufu was an Egyptian pharaoh well-known for the
construction of one of the Seven Wonders of the World—the Great
Pyramid of Giza. He ascended the throne in 2589 BCE.
He came to power when he was just 20 years old and started working on
his pyramid immediately. It took him about 23 years to complete the entire
project. A total of 23,00,000 building blocks were moved, each one weighing
about 2.5 tons! To create a monument of this magnitude in those days is
phenomenal and historians are still speculating how it was built. Some
historians claim that he used slaves, others believe that they were paid
labourers.
The surviving depiction of King Khufu is the smallest piece of Egyptian
royal sculpture ever discovered – 3-inch-tall tall ivory statue. It is estimated
that his reign ended with his death in 2566 BCE.

63. THEODORE ROOSEVELT

heodore Roosevelt was a soldier and a writer who became the 26th President
T of the USA. He was born on 27th October, 1858, in New York. He was
educated by private tutors and was a very intelligent child.
When the Spanish War broke out in 1898, he formed a voluntary group of
soldiers who called themselves “Rough Riders”. They became famous after
their victorious fight in Cuba.
He served as the American President from 1901–1909. He worked hard to
improve the quality of life for the average American. He died on 6th January,
1919.

64. WINSTON CHURCHILL

 Winston Churchill was an amateur painter who painted more
than 600 paintings in his lifetime.

W inston Churchill was a British author, statesman and politician who

served as Britain’s Prime Minister during World War II. He was
born on 30th November, 1874, in Oxfordshire, England. Churchill had a poor
academic record due to which his father made him join the army. He became
popular as a journalist while he reported his travels to Spain during the Cuban
War of Independence and his visit to British India.
In 1900, Churchill won a seat to the British Parliament and became the
Prime Minister in 1940. His leadership during World War II enabled the
British Empire to stand against Hitler and the Germans. Churchill led Britain
from the brink of defeat to victory. He served his country for many years.
Churchill authored many books, some of which are History of the English-
Speaking Peoples, The Second World War, Savrola and The River War.
Churchill was also awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his work,
especially The Second World War. Churchill resigned from active politics in
1955. He died on 24th January, 1965.

65. MUHAMMAD ALI JINNAH

M uhammad Ali Jinnah was an Indian politician, who was the first
governor-general and founder of Pakistan. Jinnah was born on 25th
December, 1876, in Karachi, Pakistan. He completed his matriculation from
University of Bombay and went to England to study law.
Jinnah joined the Indian National Congress in 1906. He joined the Muslim
League seven years later. The independent state of Pakistan as envisioned by
Jinnah became a reality on 14th August, 1947. He was sworn in as Pakistan’s
first governor-general the next day. He is famous in Pakistan as “Quaid-I
Azam” or “Great Leader”. On 11th September, 1948, he died near Karachi,
Pakistan.

66. JOSEPH STALIN

oseph Stalin was one of the most powerful dictators of the Soviet Union, who

J transformed it into a major world power. He was born on 18th December,

1878, in Georgia.
His reign of terror caused the suffering and death of millions, but he played
a key role in the defeat of Nazism.
Stalin promoted himself as Lenin’s heir when the latter died in 1924. Later,
he defeated all his rivals and became the dictator of the Soviet Union by the
late 1920s. He died on 5th March, 1953.

67. FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT

F ranklin D. Roosevelt was the 32nd President of America and the only
one to be elected to office four times. He was born on 30th January,
1882, in New York. His father pushed him to study law at Columbia
University Law School, but he had little interest for the legal profession.
Roosevelt was elected to the New York Senate, where he rose as a
Democratic politician. He led his country through two of the greatest crises of
the 20th century—the Great Depression and World War II. He died on 12th
April, 1945, in Warm Springs, Georgia.
68. BENITO MUSSOLINI
enito Mussolini was an Italian journalist, politician and fascist dictator. He

B was born in 1883 in Forli, Italy. His father influenced a passion for
socialist politics and defiance against authority in him. Mussolini
followed in his father’s political footsteps, but was expelled by his party for
his support of World War I.
In 1919, Mussolini created the Fascist Party. He was elected as Prime
Minister in 1922. He ruled constitutionally till 1925, after which he assumed
dictatorship and gained all the power in Italy. He was one of the key figures
in the creation of fascism.
He exploited his forces during World War II and was killed by his own
people on 28th April, 1945, in Mezzegra, Italy.

69. ADOLF HITLER

 Hitler started “the Holocaust” or the systematic state-
sponsored mass murder of six million Jews during World
War II.

A dolf Hitler was the leader of the Nazi party and one of the most
powerful dictators of all times. His aggressive actions are considered
to be one of the causes of World War II. He was born on 20th April, 1889, in
Austria. Hitler did not do well in school and wanted to become an artist.
Hitler volunteered to fight for Germany in World War I. He was rewarded
with the Iron Cross for his bravery in World War I. After the war, Hitler
joined a tiny political group in Munich that later came to be known as the
Nazi Party. Hitler spread his ideology and became the sole leader of the Nazi
party and eventually, the dictator of Germany. Due to his cruel yet successful
reign over most of Europe, Hitler is known as the “Evil Mastermind” of
Europe. When Hitler realised that he was at the brink of losing World War II,
he committed suicide on 30th April, 1945.

70. JAWAHARLAL NEHRU

J awaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India. He was born on
14th November, 1889, in Allahabad, India. Initially, Nehru was educated
at home. Later, he studied at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Nehru was interested in politics. He went on to become Mahatma Gandhi’s
favourite disciple and an important leader in the Indian freedom struggle.
Jawaharlal Nehru, also referred to as “Pandit Nehru”, is considered to be one
of the architects of modern India. Nehru was affectionately referred to as
Chacha Nehru as he was very fond of children. He died on 27th May, 1964.

71. CHARLES DE GAULLE

C harles de Gaulle was a French soldier, writer and statesman, who is
often known as the Father of France. He was born on 22nd November,
1890, in Lille, France. He came from a family of writers, teachers and
administrators. However, he decided to join the army. He was the leader of
the Free French Forces that fought during World War II. He founded the
French Fifth Republic and became its first president. He guided France
through the writing of the constitution. He passed away on 9th November,
1970.

72. JOSEPH MCCARTHY

J oseph McCarthy was a famous American politician, who served as a US

senator from 1947 to 1957. He was born on 14th November, 1908, in
Wisconsin, USA. McCarthy studied law from Marquette University. The
term “McCarthyism” was developed to refer to McCarthy’s anti-communist
practices.
McCarthy was an attorney. He served as a judge for three years before
enlisting for the Marines during World War II. After the war, he won the
Republican nomination in 1946 and was elected that autumn and again in
1952. His term ended with his death on 2nd May, 1957.

73. RONALD REAGAN

onald Reagan was a radio, television and film actor, who went on to become

R the 40th President of the USA. He was born on 6th February, 1911, in
Illinois, USA. He studied economics and sociology.
Reagan became involved in politics and ran for the Governor of California.
He was elected President in 1981. He is most famous for being President
during the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. He passed away on 5th
June, 2004.

74. BARACK OBAMA

 Obama’s father was a rural goatherd in Kenya. His father
came to the USA to study, where he fell in love with Obama’s
mother.

B arack Obama is the 44th President of the USA and the first African
American to hold the office. He was born on 4th August, 1961. He
graduated with a degree in Political Science from Columbia University, New
York City, in 1983.
For a few years after graduating, he worked as a writer and editor for
Business International Corp., a research, publishing and consulting firm in
Manhattan. He went back to school three years later and graduated from
Harvard University’s law school in 1991.
After this, he moved to Chicago and became active in the Democratic
Party. He initiated and organised Project Vote, a drive that encouraged
thousands of African Americans to vote. In 1996, he was elected to the
Illinois Senate. He kept moving up the ranks till finally, in 2008, he was
elected as the President. He was reelected as President in November, 2012.

75. JIMMY CARTER

J ames Earl Carter Jr. is an American politician, who went on to become
the 39th President of the USA. He was born on 1st October, 1924, in
Plains, Georgia, USA. Carter attended Georgia South Western College and
Georgia Institute of Technology. He completed his graduation from the US
Naval Academy.
Carter started his political career when he stood for election for the Georgia
State Senate. Later, he ran for President and was elected to the office in 1977.
He is credited with adding two new departments in his cabinet—the
Department of Energy and the Department of Education. Carter received the
Nobel Peace Prize for his work in 2002.

76. BENAZIR BHUTTO

B enazir Bhutto was a Pakistani politician, who was the first woman
leader of a Muslim nation in modern history. She was born on 21st
June, 1953. She served two terms as prime minister, one in 1988–1990 and
other in 1993–1996. Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was also a prominent
Pakistani politician. She studied at Harvard University, graduating in 1973.
She endured frequent house arrests between 1979 and 1984 and was even
exiled for two years from 1984–1986. She returned to Pakistan after her
exile. She was assassinated on 27th December, 2007.

77. KIM JONG-IL

 In order to create better films in North Korea, Kim had a
South Korean director and his wife kidnapped and brought
to the North, where they were forced to serve him till they
escaped.

K im Jong-il was the Supreme Leader of North Korea for 17 years. He

was born on 16th February, 1941, in Russia. He attended a pilot’s
training college for two years but graduated from Kim Il Sung University in
1963.
The official North Korean version of his life claims that he was born at the
base of Mount Paektu, the highest peak on the Korean plateau. It also states
that several auspicious signs, like a double rainbow in the sky, were sighted
during his birth.
Kim Jong-il succeeded his father, Kim il-Sung, as the dictator of North
Korea in 1994. Kim Jong-il is the third member of the family to lead North
Korea. He was referred to as “Dear Leader”. He was known to encourage the
arts. Creativity in literature and films flourished during his tenure. He passed
away on 17th December, 2011.

78. MARGARET THATCHER

 All of Margaret Thatcher’s theories, combined with her
personal look and style, came to be known as Thatcherism.
She was one of the most dominant political figures of 20th
century Britain.

M argaret Thatcher was the first woman Prime Minister of Britain. She
was born on 13th October, 1925, in Lincolnshire, England. She
studied chemistry from Oxford University and also practised as a barrister
from 1954. Thatcher had great interest in politics.
Thatcher ran for the parliament in 1950, but was not successful. She was
elected to the House of Commons in 1959 and worked her way up the ranks.
Thatcher was elected as the Prime Minister in 1975. She was the only British
Prime Minister of the 20th century to have held office for three consecutive
terms. Thatcher introduced many social and political reforms to tackle
unemployment. She stated that the individual should not be completely bound
by the state and advocated privatisation of state owned enterprises, sale of
public houses to tenants, limits on the amount of money printed, etc. Thatcher
announced her resignation as Prime Minister in November 1990, but
continued to influence national politics. She passed away on 8th April, 2013,
in London.

79. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

M artin Luther King Jr. was an American activist and humanitarian who
was the leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He
was born on 15th January, 1929, in Georgia, USA. King earned a bachelor’s
degree in sociology and divinity. He finished his PhD from Boston
University.
Martin Luther King Jr. experienced racism when he was young and
decided to do something to put an end to it. He worked towards racial
equality and equal rights for all in the USA. He was assassinated at the young
age of 39 on 4th April, 1968.

80. MIKHAIL GORBACHEV

M ikhail Gorbachev was the President of the Soviet Union from 1990–
1991. He was born on 2nd March, 1931. He tried to democratise the
country’s political system, which eventually led to the downfall of
communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. His efforts were
internationally recognised and he won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1990. He
was named a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
the Soviet Union in 1971.

81. INDIRA GANDHI

 As a child, Indira decided to help the country. Alongwith her
friends, she formed a monkey brigade who spied on police
and distributed flags.

I ndira Gandhi was an Indian politician who served as India’s Prime

Minister for three consecutive terms and starteda fourth term that ended
abruptly with her assassination. She was born on 19th November, 1917, in
Allahabad, India. Indira Gandhi studied at Vishwa Bharati University in West
Bengal and then at Oxford University in the UK. She joined the Congress
Party in 1938. In 1942, she got married to Feroze Gandhi, a member of the
Congress party. They had two children, Sanjay and Rajiv.
In 1947, the Congress Party came to power when her father took office,
and she became a member of its working committee in 1955. Later, she was
elected to the largely honorary post of party president. She was made a
member of the Rajya Sabha in 1964 and that year, Lal Bahadur Shastri also
named her as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting. She brought
about a remarkable change in the country’s economic, political, international
and national policies. She was assassinated on 31st October, 1984, in New
Delhi, India.

82. J F KENNEDY
J ohn Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35th President of the USA. He was born
on 29th May, 1917, in Massachusetts, USA. He grew up in a powerful
political family in Brookline, Massachusetts. In September 1941, Kennedy
joined the US Navy. After the loss of his brother and brother-in-law, who
were both defending their country, John ran for Congress in the early 1950s
and won.
Kennedy ran for presidency in 1960 against then Vice President Richard
Nixon. He won in one of the closest elections in history. He served as
President from 1961 to 1963 until his assassination. He was assassinated in
Texas on 22nd November, 1963.

83. FIDEL CASTRO

F idel Castro was a Cuban revolutionary and politician, who also served
as the Prime Minister and President of Cuba. He was born on 13th
August, 1926, in Birán, Cuba. He began law school in 1945 and soon became
interested in politics.
He organised a revolution to overthrow the government, but was
unsuccessful and sent to prison. Once released, he planned his next revolution
in Mexico. Castro overthrew Batista’s government in 1959. In July 1959,
Castro took over as leader of Cuba. He ruled Cuba from 1959 to 2008.
 Business Boomers
This section focusses on people who have become super successful by revolutionising
businesses. Their work has contributed to providing opportunities to the world too. Let’s
find out not only about their success stories, but also their personal lives. Read on and get to
know these business boomers.

84. HENRY FORD

H enry Ford was an American industrialist, who founded the Ford Motor
Company. He was born on 30th July, 1863, in Michigan, USA.
At the age of 19, Ford made a tractor from an old mowing machine and a
steam engine. Later, he developed a gasoline powered vehicle known as the
Ford Quadricycle in 1896. It was a vehicle mounted on four bicycle wheels
and looked like a horseless carriage. He then met Thomas Edison, who
encouraged him to develop a better second model. “Model T” was launched
in 1908 and was an instant success. Ford also developed a system of
assembly line production that led to the mass production of cars. He passed
away on 7th April, 1947.

85. MARK ZUCKERBERG

 Mark Zuckerberg is colourblind and can’t see the colours
red and green. He can see blue though. Hence, the design of
Facebook is in blue.

M ark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American computer programmer and

entrepreneur who co-founded Facebook, a social networking website.
He was born on 14th May, 1984, in New York, USA. Zuckerberg studied at
the Phillips Exeter Academy. He used computers and started writing
computer programmes in middle school. Later, he joined Harvard University
in 2002.
While he was at Harvard, along with his roommates, he started a social
website called the facebook.com, where Harvard students could put in their
personal details in a template he had developed. The website developed by
Zuckerberg was different as it laid emphasis on real email addresses and
names. He was helped by his roommates Dustin Moskovitz and Chris
Hughes. Zuckerberg left Harvard to work on his new company Facebook. He
launched Facebook in 2004 and by 2006, anyone with an email address could
join Facebook. Facebook has more than 1.19 billion users now, making
Zuckerberg a billionaire. The story of the birth of Facebook was depicted in
the film The Social Network.

86. RICHARD AND MAURICE

MCDONALD
R ichard “Dick” McDonald and Maurice “Morris” McDonald were the
founders of the world’s largest fast food chain, McDonalds. Richard
McDonald was born on 16th February, 1909 and his brother, Maurice
McDonald, on 26th November, 1902, in New Hampshire, USA.
They started drive-in restaurants that specialised in serving burgers to its
customers. In 1948, the McDonald brothers introduced the “Speedee Service
System” which started the trend of the modern fast food restaurant as it is
today. Maurice died on 11th December, 1971 and Richard on 14th July, 1998.

87. SAM WALTON

amuel Moore Walton is an American businessman who founded the largest

S retail chain stores of America—the Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. He was born

on 29th March, 1918, in Oklahoma, USA. He did many odd jobs while
he was studying to make ends meet. He decided to open his own business
after World War II, as he was always interested in retail.
He was given a loan of $20,000 by his father-in-law to open a variety store
in 1945. He opened the first Walmart Store in 1962. He passed away on 5th
April, 1992.

88. WARREN BUFFET

 In 2006, Buffett announced that he would give away 99% of
his fortune to charity (about $62 billion), mainly to the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation. Warren Buffett was awarded
the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.

W arren Buffett is an American investor and business tycoon who is

believed to be one of the most successful investors of the 20th
century. He was born on 30th August, 1930, in Nebraska, USA. Even as a
child, Buffett enjoyed investing, earning and saving money. Buffett bought
three shares of a company at the young age of 11.
Buffett graduated with a degree in Business Administration from the
University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Buffett, at age 20, had earned almost
$10,000 from his childhood businesses. He joined the Columbia Business
School and earned a Masters degree in 1951. He formed his firm, Buffett
Partnership, in his hometown, Omaha. Buffett invested in undervalued
companies whose stocks shortly began to rise. This made him extremely rich
and gained him the title—“Oracle of Omaha”. In 1965, Buffett became a
majority holder in the textile firm Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and it was the
success of this firm that made him one of the wealthiest men in America.

89. RUPERT MURDOCH

 In 1993, Murdoch purchased Star TV, a pan-Asian television
service based in Hong Kong, as part of his plan to build a
global television network.

R upert Murdoch is an American-Australian entrepreneur and publisher

as well as the founder of News Corporation, a media conglomerate. He
was born on 11th March, 1931, in Melbourne, Australia.
Rupert Murdoch’s father was a famous war correspondent and newspaper
publisher. Murdoch first experienced the world of publication when he was
the co-editor of his school journal. He inherited his father’s papers, the News
and the Sunday Mail. He quickly adopted a “sensationalist” style in all his
newspapers. His papers were dominated by news of scandal and he often
wrote the headlines himself. He bought many American newspapers in the
1970s. Murdoch also branched out into entertainment when he purchased 20th
Century FOX Film Corp. in 1985 and launched the news channel, FOX
News.
In 2011, Murdoch’s companies, including “News of the World”, regularly
hacked the phones of several celebrities. He faced investigations for bribery
and corruption by the British government and the FBI. On 21st July, 2012,
Murdoch resigned as director of News National.

90. DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

D hirajlal Hirachand Ambani was an Indian entrepreneur who founded
Reliance Industries, which became one of the world’s largest industrial
empires. He was born on 28th December, 1932, in Gujarat, India.
Ambani started his career by working with a firm in the British Colony of
Yemen in the 1950s. He moved to Mumbai in 1958 to start his own business
of spices. After making minimal profits, he opened the first Reliance textile
mill in Naroda, Ahmedabad and earned the title of “Prince of Polyester”.
Ambani established Reliance Industries in 1966, which now consists of more
than 85,000 employees. He passed away on 6th July, 2002.

91. PHILIP KNIGHT

P hilip Hampson Knight is an American business magnate and
philanthropist who is the co-founder of Nike, Inc. He was born on 24th
February, 1938. Knight graduated from the University of Oregon in Eugene,
USA. He loved sports and was a runner himself.
Knight went to Stanford Graduate School of Business and realised that his
true potential lay in being an entrepreneur. He co-founded Nike, Inc. In 1971,
Knight and Nike helped start a sports business revolution in the 1970s that
portrayed their new tennis shoes as symbols of athletic prowess and success.

92. LARRY ELLISON

arry Ellison is an American businessman who is best known for co-founding

the Oracle Corporation, an enterprise software company. He was born on 17th
L August, 1944, in New York, USA. He was given up for adoption by his
biological mother when he was nine months old. He attended the
Universities of Illinois and Chicago, briefly.
Ellison was inspired by a research paper written by computer scientist
Edgar F. Cord that spoke of a relational database model. Ellison, along with
Minor and Oates, worked and developed a program based on the same model.
They released Oracle in 1979.

93. INDRA NOOYI

I ndra Nooyi is the CEO of PepsiCo and the chairman of the board. She
was born on 28th October, 1955, in Chennai, India. She graduated with a
degree in chemistry from Madras Christian College in 1974 and got a
Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of
Management in Kolkata, two years later. After coming to the USA, she
pursued another Master’s degree in Private and Public Management from
Yale school of Management. In 2006, she became the first woman to lead this
“Fortune 500” company.

94. RICHARD BRANSON

 Apart from owning a multi-million dollar business, Branson
also holds records in powerboat racing and hot-air
ballooning.

S ir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English investor,

entrepreneur and the founder of the famous Virgin Group of companies
that include 400 different companies. He was born on 18th July, 1950, in
London, England. Branson was not very good at studies as he suffered from
dyslexia.
Branson started a youth culture magazine called Student at the age of 16.
He started a mail-order record company called “Virgin” to help fund his
magazine efforts in 1969. He was then able to start a record shop on Oxford
Street. By 1984, he became the majority shareholder in an airline which he
later renamed Virgin Atlantic Airways. It started off with just a single aircraft
but it survived in spite of stiff competition from established airlines.
In 2004, Branson formed Virgin Galactic, a space tourism company that is
working towards offering commercial suborbital passenger flights.

95. JEFF BEZOS

J eff Bezos is an American entrepreneur and investor, who is famous as the
e-commerce pioneer who started Amazon.com, Inc. He was born on 12th
January, 1964, in New Mexico, USA. Bezos studied electrical engineering
and computer science at Princeton University.
Bezos quit his lucrative job at an investment bank to open a virtual
bookstore called “Amazon.com”. Amazon.com became the leader of e-
commerce and one of Internet’s biggest success stories. Bezos purchased The
Washington Post in a $250 million deal in 2013. This business boomer has
broadened his market with Amazon offering the sale of videos, CDs, clothes,
electronics, toys, jewellery and beauty products throughout the world.

96. DONALD TRUMP

D onald John Trump Sr. is an American investor, author, television
personality, real estate developer and business magnate. He was born
on 14th June, 1946, in Queens, New York. He graduated from the Wharton
School of Finance in 1968. He began his career at his father’s company
which focussed on middle-class rental housing. He soon became one of the
most powerful landlords of America. He is the chairman and president of the
Trump Organisation and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts.
However, in the 1990s, he became bankrupt. He fought his way back to the
top and wrote a book about it, called The Art of The Comeback.

97. STEVE WOZNIAK

Steve Wozniak has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of
Engineering Degree by various universities for his
 contributions to technology.

S teve Wozniak is an American computer engineer and programmer. He

co-founded the company Apple Inc. in partnership with his friend Steve
Jobs. He was born on 11th August, 1950, in California, USA. He was
fascinated by electronics at an early age. Steve Wozniak met Steve Jobs
through a mutual friend during his brief stint at the University of California in
Berkeley. Wozniak quit his job at Hewlett-Packard to team up with Steve
Jobs and form Apple Computers in 1976.
Wozniak only enjoyed engineering and not management. As many other
engineers joined Apple, Wozniak no longer felt needed there. He ended his
full-time employment with Apple permanently on 6th February, 1985, 12
years after having founded the company. Wozniak founded a new venture
called CL 9, which developed and brought the first programmable universal
remote control to market in 1987. In 2002, Wozniak founded Wheels of Zeus
(WOZ), to create wireless GPS technology. Wozniak published his
autobiography, iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the
Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It.

98. STEVE JOBS

 Jobs was credited as the executive producer of the animated
movie Toy Story.

S teven Paul Jobs was an American inventor and entrepreneur who co-
founded Apple Inc. He was born on 24th February, 1955, in California,
USA. He was adopted at birth by Paul and Clara Jobs. The family moved
from San Francisco to Mountain View, a suburban town in Santa Clara
county, also known as Silicon Valley.
Jobs was introduced to Steve Wozniak by a mutual friend in 1970 with
whom he shared a common love of electronics. Together, they created the
Apple I and Apple II computers. While Jobs concentrated on the design,
Wozniak took responsibility of the electronics. The Apple II was the first
personal computer capable of colour graphics. Jobs insisted that Apple should
design all the software and hardware of all Apple products.
Jobs started “Pixar Animation Studios” after he bought the computer
graphics division of “Lucas film” in 1986. Jobs has been described as a
perfectionist, brilliant, self-centred and temperamental. Not only was he a
businessman and a technologist, he was also an artist and a designer. He
passed away on 5th October, 2011.

99. NARAYANA MURTHY

agavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy is an Indian engineer, entrepreneur and

N an IT industrialist, who co-founded Infosys. He was born on 20th

August, 1946. Murthy studied electrical engineering and M.Tech from
the National Institute of Engineering, Mysore, and Indian Institute of
Technology, Kanpur, respectively.
Infosys is an international firm providing engineering, consulting,
technology and outsourcing services. Murthy was instrumental in the
progress of the IT sector in India. He created many employment opportunities
as well. Infosys was the first Indian company to be listed on the American
Stock Exchange, NASDAQ.

100. MICHAEL DELL

M ichael Dell is an American investor, author and entrepreneur, who is
the founder of Dell, Inc., one of the leading manufacturers of
personal computers. He was born on 23rd February, 1965, in Texas, USA. He
was interested in technology since childhood. At the age of 15, he purchased
an Apple computer and took it apart, just to see how it worked. When he was
in college, he started building computers and selling them directly to people
while focussing on cheaper prices and customer support. He started a
personal computer revolution in the 1980s with the launch of the Dell
Computer Corporation (Dell Inc).

101. BILL GATES

 Bill Gates is believed to be one of the richest people in the
world. In addition to his work, he is also famous for his
charitable organisation, the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation. It funds health programmes, provides study
grants and many other programmes on global development.

W illiam Henry “Bill” Gates III is an American programmer, inventor

and entrepreneur, who co-founded Microsoft Corporation with Paul
Allen. He was born on 28th October, 1955, in Seattle, Washington, USA. Bill
Gates wrote his first computer software programme at the age of 13.
Gates left Harvard to devote his career to Microsoft, a company he started
in 1975 with his old friend Paul Allen. He started by developing software for
micro-computers. Microsoft licenced an operating system named MS-DOS
for use on IBM PC, i.e., personal computer. Gradually, all companies wanted
Microsoft software and Microsoft went on to become the world’s largest
personal-computer software company. Gates is not only a tech guru, he is
also a popular writer! The Road Ahead, his book, was published in 1995. He
also wrote Business @ the Speed of Thought, in 1999, a book that shows how
computer technology can solve business problems in new ways.

102. PIERRE OMIDYAR

P ierre Omidyar is an Iranian-American entrepreneur, who founded the
online auction website—eBay. He was born on 21st June, 1967, in Paris,
France. Omidyar earned a degree in computer science from Tufts University
in 1988. He worked for Apple and Macintosh before he founded eBay.
eBay is a multibillion-dollar online auction company that changed the
course of online shopping and e-commerce. Omidyar was amazed at the
number of buyers and sellers that his sight attracted. He was forced to start a
new website which only focussed on auctions. By the end of 1998, it was one
of the world’s most profitable websites.
 103. LARRY PAGE AND SERGEY
BRIN

L arry Page and Sergey Brin are computer scientists, who co-founded
Google, the online search engine. Larry Page was born on 26th March,
1973, and Sergey Brin was born on 21st August, 1973, in Moscow. Brin’s
family migrated to the USA to escape Jewish persecution in 1979, where he
met Page at Stanford University.
They developed a new search engine technology, which they named
“Google”, based on the mathematical term “googol” which means 1 followed
by 100 zeros. After its launch in 1998, Google has become the most popular
search engine in the world.

104. JRD TATA

J RD Tata was an Indian businessman, who pioneered India’s first airline

and laid the foundation of Tata Group, India’s largest industrial empire.
He was born on 29th July, 1904, in Paris, France. JRD went to different
schools in Paris, Mumbai and Yokohama.
JRD founded Tata Motors in 1945. He was the first licenced pilot in India
and launched India’s first international airline. He was the director of the Tata
Group of companies that excelled in the field of technology, hospitality,
chemicals, power, engineering and automobiles. He died on 29th November,
1993.

105. JOYCE C HALL

oyce C Hall was an American businessman and co-founder of Hallmark
Cards, Inc., which is the largest greeting-card manufacturer in the world. He
was born on 29th August, 1891, in Nebraska, USA.
J Joyce dropped out of high school with $3,500 that he collected by
doing odd jobs. He went to Kansas City to seek his fortune. Hall arrived with
two shoeboxes full of scenic picture cards in Kansas City. He hoped to sell it
to dealers throughout the Midwest. With the money that Hall earned, he
established a wholesale greeting-card business in Kansas City in 1910. He
died on 29th October, 1982.
 Greater Good
This section focusses on people who have worked for the betterment of society even if it
meant sacrificing their freedom. Let’s find out about their contributions and charities as
well as about their lives. Read on and get to know these Miracle Workers.

106. MOTHER TERESA

M th
other Teresa or “Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata”, as she is
popularly known, was a world famous humanitarian. She was born
on 26 August, 1910, in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. Her birth name was
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. It is believed that Agnes loved the stories of the
missionaries of Bengal. At the age of 12, she decided to commit her life to
religion.
Agnes joined the Sisters of Loretto in Ireland in 1928. She then taught in
an Order’s school in Kolkata for 17 years. In 1946, she believed that she
experienced a divine intervention that she was to devote her life to helping
the poor and needy. Mother Teresa learnt basic medical training at Holy
Family Hospital, Patna, and started helping poor people, especially in the
slums of Kolkata. Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a
religious congregation aimed to care for poor, ill and homeless people. She
believed in extending care to all those people like lepers and cripples who felt
unloved as they were shunned by society. She died on 5th September, 1997.

107. HARRIET TUBMAN

arriet Tubman was an African American bondwoman who escaped slavery

H and then led the abolitionist movement. She was born in 1820. She
worked as a maid, nurse, field hand, cook and woodcutter. She married
a free black man. She then heard a rumour that she was going to be sold. She
left her family and fled to Philadelphia. She later came back and freed her
sisters and children from slavery. Over the next 10 years, she helped about
300 slaves to escape to Canada. She was sometimes called the “Moses of her
people”. She died on 10th March, 1913.

108. HELEN KELLER

H elen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist and
lecturer, who was famous for being the first deaf blind person to earn a
Bachelor of Arts Degree. Keller was born on 27th June, 1880, in Alabama,
USA. She became blind and deaf when she was 18 months old. Her teacher,
Anne Sullivan, played a very important role in her life.
Keller participated in many campaigns to raise awareness, money and
support for the blind. She was appointed Councillor of International Relations
for the American Foundation of Overseas Blind. She died on 1st June, 1968.

109. QASIM AMIN

asim Amin was an Egyptian jurist, who was most famous as the founder of

Q the Cairo University as well as one of the founders of the Egyptian

national movement. He was born on 1st December, 1863, in Egypt. He
studied law from Khedival School and went to France for further studies.
Amin was a reformer, philosopher and judge who was famous for
advocating women’s rights. He was considered to be the “first feminist” of
the Arab world. He died on 22nd April, 1908.

110. CLARA BARTON

C larissa Harlowe Barton was an American teacher, nurse, pioneer and
humanitarian, who is most famous for founding the American Red
Cross. Barton was born on 25th December, 1821, in Massachusetts, USA.
Barton was educated at home.
 At a time when few women worked, Barton built a career helping others.
She worked with a relief organisation known as the International Red Cross
when she visited Europe. She proposed an American branch when she
returned home and became the first president of the American Red Cross in
1881. Barton died on 12th April, 1912.

111. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

A nna Eleanor Roosevelt was the longest-serving First Lady of USA,
who was a writer and a famous humanitarian. She was born on 11th
October, 1884, in New York City. She was sent to boarding school after the
demise of her parents.
Roosevelt travelled thousands of kilometres to help those in need during
the Great Depression. During World War II, she went to work for the Red
Cross. She also represented USA at the United Nations (UN) for seven years
and helped in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She died
on 7th November, 1962.

112. OSKAR SCHINDLER

O skar Schindler was a German industrialist who is famous for saving

1,100 Jews from the Nazis. He was born on 28th April, 1908. He
started working with his father when he was just 16. He employed many Jews
as his workers to save them from being killed by the Nazis. He gave away a
lot of luxury items in bribes to save the Jews working in his factory. His
factory was moved to Czechoslovakia. He made a list of 1,100 Jewish
workers he thought were integral to his factory, submitted it to the Jewish
Labour Office and took them with him. He then manufactured faulty arms
that were engineered to fail. He died on 9th October, 1974.

113. RACHEL CARSON

achel Carson was an American marine biologist, humanitarian,

environmentalist and writer, who played a significant role in spreading

R awareness about the environment movement. She was born on 27th

May, 1907, in Pennsylvania, USA. She earned a Bachelors and Masters
degree in Biology from Johns Hopkins University. She joined the US Fish
and Wildlife Service in 1936. She conducted research on the effects of
pesticides on the food chain and published it in Silent Spring, her most
influential work. She died on 14th April, 1964.

114. JOHN PETERS HUMPHREY

J ohn Peters Humphrey was a Canadian jurist, legal scholar and human
rights advocate, who is most famous as the author of the first draft of the
Universal Declaration on Human Rights. He was born on 30th April, 1905, in
New Brunswick, Canada. He earned a degree in Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor
of Commerce and Bachelor of Law.
 Humphrey oversaw the implementation of 67 international conventions and
the constitutions of dozens of countries during his tenure at the UN for 20
years. He passed away on 14th March, 1995.

115. FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE

 Florence Nightingale’s math skills were as excellent as her
nursing skills. She used statistics to better understand health
care.

F lorence Nightingale, often called the “Lady with the Lamp”, was a
social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. She was
born on 12th May, 1820, in Florence, Italy. She assisted the ill and the poor
from a very young age. She believed that nursing was her divine purpose.
Nightingale nursed the British and the allied soldiers during the Crimean
War. She established the St. Thomas Hospital and the Nightingale Training
School for Nurses in 1860 to formalise nursing. She turned hospitals into
cleaner spaces and proved that trained nurses and clean hospit als helped sick
people get better. She often walked around the wards at night, carrying a
lantern in her hand, which is why she came to be known as the “Lady with
the Lamp”. She died on 13th August, 1910.

116. POPE JOHN PAUL II

P ope John Paul II was the head of the Catholic Church for 27 years. He
was born as Karol Jozef Wojtyla on 18th May, 1920, in Wadowice,
Poland. Wojtyla learned 12 languages when he was about 18 years old. He
was ordained in 1946 and became the bishop of Ombi in 1958. In 1964,
Wojtyla became the archbishop of Krakow. He was made a cardinal by Pope
Paul VI in 1967. Wojtyla was elected Pope in 1978 and was the first non-
Italian to become Pope in more than 400 years. He travelled to 129 countries
during his pontificate and advocated human rights for all. He died on 2nd
April, 2005.

117. MALCOLM X
M alcolm X was an African-American Muslim leader and a human
rights activist, who worked towards the feeling of unity and
belongingness amongst African-Americans in the USA. He was born on 19th
May, 1925, in Nebraska, USA. He was involved in criminal activities during
his teenage years. He underwent a complete transformation when he was in
prison. He served as a spokesman for the Nation of Islam during the 1950s
and 1960s. He passed away on 21st February, 1965.
 118. FRANTZ FANON

F rantz Omar Fanon was a French philosopher, psychiatrist, revolutionary

and writer who opposed colonisation. He was born on 20th July, 1925,
in Martinique, France. Fanon was stationed at France during World War II.
He trained as a psychiatrist in Lyon and took up a post in colonial Algeria.
Fanon joined the Blida-Joinville Psychiatric Hospital as a psychiatrist. It
was here that he radicalised his methods of treatment and began socio-
therapy, which was connected with his patients’ cultural backgrounds. Fanon
wanted to expose the serious repercussions of racial discrimination and
proved the same through his psychotherapy. He passed away on 6th
December, 1961.
119. CHE GUEVARA
rnesto “Che” Guevara was an Argentine physician, author, leader, diplomat,
military theorist and Marxist revolutionary, who was a major figure of
E the Cuban revolution. He was born on 14th June, 1928, in Santa Fe,
Argentina. He completed his medical studies at the University of
Buenos Aires and joined politics. He met Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro
and his brother Raul in Mexico, and helped them overthrow the Batista
government in Cuba. He was killed by the Bolivian army on 9th October,
1967.

120. DESMOND TUTU

esmond Tutu is a well-known South African activist and bishop, who was

D most famous for opposing apartheid. He was born on 7th October,

1931, in Klerksdorp, South Africa. After learning to be a teacher, he
began to study theology and was ordained a priest in 1960.
In 1978, Tutu was appointed General Secretary of the South African
Council of Churches. His efforts to solve the issue of inequality during the
1980s won him the Nobel Prize for Peace (1984). Throughout his life, he has
been fighting for a democratic and just society without racial divisions.

121. KOFI ANNAN

ofi Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat, who served as the seventh Secretary

K General of United Nations (UN) for nine years. He was born on 8th
April, 1938, in modern day Kumasi, Ghana. Annan attended many
schools and colleges and studied international relations in the USA and
Switzerland. He started working for the UN as a budget officer for the World
Health Organisation (WHO). He became an international civil servant and
worked for the UN. Later, he became a special envoy to Syria.

122. ELLEN SIRLEAF

E llen Johnson Sirleaf, winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace for her work
towards women’s rights, is a Liberian politician and economist who is
also the President of Liberia. She was born on 29th October, 1938, in
Monorovia, Liberia. Sirleaf studied accounts and economics at the College of
West Africa and married James Sirleaf at the age of 17.
Sirleaf moved to the USA and continued her studies at the University of
Colorado. She returned to Liberia in 1972 and began her political life by
serving as the Assistant Minister of Finance from 1972–1973 under President
William Tolbert, who represents the growing Americo-Liberian elite.

123. MUHAMMAD YUNUS

M uhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi banker and economist, who is the
co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2006. He was born on
28th June, 1940, in Chittagong, Bangladesh. He completed his Masters degree
from Dhaka University. He also earned a PhD in economics from Vanderbilt
University, USA.
He developed the idea of “micro loans”, a system of credit loans for the
poor and needy. These loans were given to people whose income was not
enough to qualify for loans from banks.
 124. AUNG SAN SUU KYI

A ung San Suu Kyi is the chairperson of the National League for
Democracy in Burma, who was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in
1991. She was born on 19th June, 1945, in Rangoon, Burma. Her father, the
de facto Prime Minister of the state that would be Burma later, was
assassinated by his rival when she was two.
Suu Kyi completed her higher education at the University of Oxford. She
spent more than 15 years of detention for her opposition of the military
government in Burma. She gave many speeches calling for freedom and
democracy and political activities across the country, and was chosen as the
Leader of the Opposition in 2012.

125. MARGARET CHAN FUNG FU-

CHUN
M argaret Chan Fung Fu-chun is a social activist and Chinese civil
servant, who is the Director-General of the WHO. She was born in
1947 in Hong Kong. Chan studied home economics from Northcote College
of Education in Hong Kong. Later, she obtained her medical degree at the
University of Western Ontario, Canada. Chan earned her Masters degree in
public health from the National University of Singapore as well. Chan joined
World Health Organisation as Director of the Department for Protection of
the Human Environment in 2003.

126. MARY SCULLION

ister Mary Scullion is an American Roman Catholic Religious Sister, who is

S a famous activist for the homeless and mentally ill. She earned a degree
in psychology from St. Joseph’s University. She started working for the
Sisters of Mercy in 1976. She is a co-founder of the Woman of Hope
organisation that offers homes and support services to women who are
mentally ill. She also upheld the cause of many other charitable trusts and
foundations. She was ranked as one of the “World’s Most Influential People”
by Time Magazine in 2009.

127. ASMA JAHANGIR

A sma Jahangir is a Pakistani lawyer who is an advocate of the Supreme
Court of Pakistan and a human rights activist, famous for her work for
the betterment of religious minorities, women and children. She was born on
27th January, 1952, in Lahore, Pakistan. She was born into a family with a
history of human rights work and activism.
 Jahangir has worked towards defending human and women’s rights, rights
of children and religious minorities in Pakistan. She is a founding member of
the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

128. OPRAH WINFREY

Winfrey has co-authored five books and runs a magazine

named O, the Oprah Magazine. She has also lent her name
to animated films like Charlotte’s Web and Princess and the
Frog
O prah Winfrey is an actress, philanthropist and one of the most popular
television anchors who is famous for her talk show—The Oprah
Winfrey Show. She was born on 29th January, 1954, in Kosciusko, USA.
Winfrey graduated from Tenesse State University and secured a job as a co-
anchor and reporter for ABC News in Baltimore.
Winfrey hosted a talk show named AM Chicago by a Chicago TV station,
which became very popular. She then started her own talk show, “The Oprah
Winfrey Show”, which made her one of the most popular and richest people
in the USA. The Oprah Winfrey Show was aired for almost two and a half
decades.
Winfrey is listed as the world’s richest woman of the 20th century by the
Forbes magazine. She has also been hailed as the most influential woman of
her generation. She founded Oprah’s Angel Network that supports many
charitable organisations.

129. PRINCESS DIANA

 Princess Diana’s first autobiography was called Diana: Her
True Story and was published in June 1992, while its sequel,
Diana: Her New Life, was published in 1994.

iana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of Prince Charles, the heir apparent
to Queen Elizabeth II. She was born as Diana Spencer on 1st July, 1961.
Although she was not good at academics, she was an accomplished pianist.

D Diana married Prince Charles on 29th July, 1981. She was one of the
most loved and adored members of the British royal family.
Princess Diana used her international celebrity status to help raise
awareness about illnesses, poverty, drug abuse and homelessness. She upheld
the cause of AIDS, child abuse and leprosy. Princess Diana founded as well
as associated herself with many charities. Even after her divorce from Prince
Charles in 1996, she continued to work for different charitable organisations.
Princess Diana was deeply involved in efforts to ban land mines.
Her popularity as a member of the Royal family brought unprecedented
attention to her public and private life. She became one of the most
photographed personalities in the world.
Diana was killed in a car accident while trying to evade journalists on 31st
August, 1997, in Paris, France.

130. CHEN GUANGCHENG

C hen Guangcheng is a visually challenged Chinese civil rights activist,
who is best known for exposing abuses in the official family planning
policies of China. He was born on 12th November, 1971. Guangcheng spent
more than four years in prison on charges of disturbing public order. He was
also under house arrest in his village of Dongshigu in Shandong province
from September 2010 to April 2012, after which he fled to the US embassy in
Beijing. After negotiations between the USA and China, he left for the USA,
where he intended to study at New York University.

131. MELINDA GATES

M elinda Gates is an American businesswoman and philanthropist, who
is also the wife of Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft. She was
born on 15th August, 1964, in Texas, USA. She earned her degree in
computer science and economics from Duke University.
Gates is the co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She is
working towards providing lifesaving medicine and basic, good quality
education to children all around the world. Melinda Gates was ranked third in
the Forbes list of the 100 Most Powerful Women in 2013.
 Phenomenal Philosophers
There are some people who have influenced the world with their ideas and ways of
thinking. Some of these philosophers were well ahead of their time. Read on to find out all
about their ideas, ideals and personal lives.

132. SOCRATES
S ocrates was a Greek philosopher whose thoughts and ideas have greatly
influenced modern philosophy. He was born in Athens in 469 BCE.
Although Socrates did not write any books himself, we know of his
philosophies through the writings of his contemporaries and students like
Plato, Aristotle and Aristophanes.
 Socrates became famous because he went around Athens asking questions
like “What is beauty?”, “What is wisdom?” and “What is the right thing to
do?”. He was the first to question the purpose of life.
His questions made him a controversial figure and the comic dramatists of
Athens often mocked him and his beliefs. He was sentenced to death for
corrupting the youth of Athens in 399 BCE.

133. ARISTOTLE
 Aristotle’s father was the physician of Amyntas III,
Alexander the Great’s grandfather.

A ristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, who is

considered to be one of the greatest intellectual figures of Western
history. He was born in 384 BCE in Greece. He is considered to have laid the
foundation for Christian and Islamic philosophy. Aristotle’s theories and
philosophies remained pertinent even after the Renaissance.
Aristotle studied under Plato at the “Academy” for 20 years. He wrote
most of his theories in the form of dialogues. He wrote extensively during
this period. Plato’s influence on him is evident in his writings.
Aristotle believed that the dead are more blessed and happier than the
living and to die is to return to one’s own home.
Aristotle’s intellectual range was vast. He covered many sciences as well
as arts. He wrote about biology, botany, chemistry, ethics, history, logic,
metaphysics, rhetoric, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, physics,
poetics, political theory, psychology and zoology. He died in 322 BCE.

134. PLATO
 Plato’s real name was Aristocles. It is believed that “Plato”
was a nickname given to him by his wrestling coach as he
was big-built.

P lato was a Greek mathematician and philosopher, who is believed to be

the founder of modern science and philosophy. He was born around 428
BCE in Athens. Plato is believed to have been born in a wealthy family and
educated in grammar and music. He was also a student of the great
philosopher Socrates. Plato founded the “Academy,” which is believed to be
the first university or institute for higher learning in the world. Aristotle, one
of the most famous philosophers of all time, was one of the students at the
Academy.
Plato believed that everything happens for a reason. He believed that the
perfect models of all things on the Earth existed in a world unseen by
humans. He also believed that society would remain stable and fair only if
philosophers were in power. He wrote down his teachings in different forms
of conversations called “Dialogues”.
Plato’s work explored justice, beauty, society and equality. He questioned
aesthetics, political philosophy, theology, cosmology, language and the
philosophy of life itself. He died in 347 BCE.

135. CONFUCIUS
onfucius was a famous Chinese teacher and philosopher, whose political

C theories and thoughts are popularly known as Confucianism. He was

born around 551 BCE. He became interested in learning at the age of
15. He is believed to be the most learned man of his times. He became
very famous and people sent their children to study with him. He is believed
to be the first private tutor of China. He also worked as a shepherd, clerk and
book keeper. Confucianism stresses the need to develop responsibility and
morals through rigid rules of behaviour. He died in 479 BCE.

136. PYTHAGORAS
P ythagoras was a Greek mathematician and philosopher, who is most
famous for his mathematical theorem called the Pythagoras theorem. He
was born in Samos, Greece, around 570 BCE. He was interested in
astronomy, philosophy, mathematics and music. He was very well educated
and played the lyre as well.
Pythagoras studied triangles and perfect, odd and even numbers. He
contributed to our understanding of triangles, angles, proportion, areas and
polygons. The Pythagorean Theorem is believed to be the foundation stone of
geometry. It simply states that the square of the hypotenuse (longest side of a
right angled triangle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.
This theory has a number of practical uses in fields like trigonometry,
oceanography, meteorology and geology. He died around 490 BCE.

137. NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

N iccolo Machiavelli was an Italian politician, philosopher, humanist,
historian and writer, who is believed to be the founder of modern
political science. He was born on 3rd May, 1469, in Florence, Italy.
Machiavelli studied grammar and Latin. He went on many diplomatic
missions and was responsible for the Florentine military as well. He became
the secretary of the Florentine Republic. His most famous work, The Prince,
brought him a reputation of being an atheist and an immoral person. He died
on 21st June, 1527, receiving his last rites from the Church that he had
bitterly criticised.

138. RENE DESCARTES

R ene Descartes was a highly influential French mathematician,
philosopher, scientist and writer, who is considered to be the Father of
Modern Philosophy. He was born on 31st March, 1596, in France. Descartes
studied mathematics and physics. He studied law from the University of
Poitiers.
Descartes believed that ethics was a science with its root in metaphysics.
He focussed on moral and ethical behaviour. He also invented analytic
geometry. He died on 11th February, 1650.

139. JOHN LOCKE

J ohn Locke was an English philosopher and physician, who is known as
the father of Classic Liberalism. He was born on 29th August, 1632, in
Somerset, England. He studied medicine at Oxford University. He wrote
about education, political philosophy and epistemology, which helped found
modern Western philosophy.
Locke tried to determine the limits of human understanding based on the
arguments of earlier philosophers. The writers of the American Declaration
of Independence and Constitution have borrowed Locke’s ideas. His writings
influenced philosophers like Voltaire and Rousseau. He died on 28th October,
1704.

140. VOLTAIRE
F rancois-Marie Arouet was a French writer, historian and philosopher,
who advocated the separation of the state and the church. He was born
on 21st November, 1694, in Paris, France. Francois-Marie Arouet wrote
under the pseudonym “Voltaire”. He wanted to be a writer even at a young
age. His major work is divided into four categories: poetry, plays, historical
works and philosophical works. He criticised intolerance, religion and the
French institutions of his time. He was arrested and exiled many times.
Voltaire is believed to have written more than 2,000 books and pamphlets.
He died on 30th May, 1778.
 141. DAVID HUME

D avid Hume was a Scottish philosopher, humanist and historian, who

was famous for his philosophical empiricism and scepticism. He was
born on 7th May, 1711, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was 12 years old when he
attended the University of Edinburgh. He thought of philosophy as the
experimental science of human nature. Hume wrote about religion and was
critical of some of the policies of the Church. He was famous for his six-
volume book, History of England. A Natural History of Religion and An
Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals are some of his works that were
published after his death. He died on 25th August, 1776.
 142. THOMAS PAINE

T homas Paine was an English American author, political theorist and

revolutionary, who was the author of two pamphlets that greatly
influenced the American Revolution. He was born on 29th January, 1737, in
Thetford, England. He studied reading, writing and arithmetic, and started
working with his father at the age of 13. He wrote many articles, essays and
pamphlets. His most famous 50-page pamphlet, Common Sense, sold
5,00,000 copies in few months. It influenced the American Declaration of
Independence. He preached about war and its ill effects. He also spoke about
religion and explained how it was not flawless. He died on 8th June, 1809.

143. IMMANUEL KANT

I nd
mmanuel Kant was a German philosopher, whose work on the “theory of
knowledge” has influenced all subsequent philosophies. He was born on
22 April, 1724, in modern day Kaliningrad, Russia. He studied theology
and was attracted to physics and mathematics. He wanted to work on how the
human mind worked and what reality is. During his time, some philosophers
believed in empiricism, which means that knowledge comes from experience.
Others believed in rationalism, which means that human reason makes sense
of the world. He tried to bring the two groups together. He died on 12th
February, 1804.

144. JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU

J ean-Jacques Rousseau was a writer, political theorist and philosopher,

whose work inspired the leaders of the French Revolution. He was born
on 28th June, 1712, in Geneva. His first philosophical work, A Discourse on
the Arts and Sciences, discussed the way in which arts and science had
corrupted morality and virtue. He spoke about the stages of human
development and other influences upon one’s life. Rousseau preached about
various fields from politics and science to inequality and social behaviour; he
spoke about everything that affected the human being. He died on 2nd July,
1778.

145. J S MILL

J ohn Stuart Mill was a political economist and a philosopher, whose

theories inspired the people of the 19th century to a great extent. He was
born on 20th May, 1806, in London. He studied extensively. He suffered a
nervous breakdown at the age of 21 and turned to poetry for consolation,
especially that of William Wordsworth. He started working on his
philosophical views as well. He laid stress on the freedom of the individual
from the state and equal rights for men and women. He died on 8th May,
1873.

146. GEORG WILHELM

FRIEDRICH HEGEL
G eorg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher who
revolutionised European philosophy. He was born on 27th August,
1770, in Stuttgart, Germany. He studied philosophy and classics at Tubingen.
After graduation, he became a tutor and an editor, and explored theology.
Hegel is considered the last of the great philosophical-system builders of
modern times. His philosophies were quickly politicised and set in opposition
to champions of individualism such as Soren Kierkegaard and Karl Marx. He
dealt with matters of social behaviour and its

147. LEO TOLSTOY

L eo Tolstoy was a Russian author and philosopher, who is believed to be

one of the greatest novelists ever. He was born on 9th September, 1828,
in Tula Province, Russia. Tolstoy was educated at home and then went to the
University of Kazan to study law.
He wrote his first book, War and Peace, in the 1860s. His second novel,
Anna Karenina and The Death of Ivan Ilyich were some of his successful
books. Tolstoy struggled throughout his life to understand the purpose and
moral of life. His philosophies greatly influenced Mahatma Gandhi. He died
on 20th November, 1910, in Astapovo, Russia.

148. KARL MARX

K arl Marx was a German philosopher, historian, economist, sociologist
and a revolutionary socialist, whose theories and ideas are famous as
Marxism. He was born in Prussia on 5th May, 1818. Marx studied the effect
of social behaviour on one’s psychological state. He joined as a staff of the
newspaper The Rheinische Zeitung and soon became its editor in 1842.
When Marx was expelled from Paris, he went to Brussels and joined the
Communist League. He published the famous pamphlet, The Communist
Manifesto, in 1848. His book, Das Kapital, is also very famous. He died on
14th March, 1883.

149. SIGMUND FREUD

 Sigmund Freud published his book, The Interpretations of
Dreams, in 1899, which laid the foundation for the theories
and ideas that helped him develop his psychoanalytic theory.

S igmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist, who is known as the

founder of psychoanalysis. He was born on 6th May, 1856. Freud was
interested in literature and was well-versed in languages like Hebrew, Latin,
Spanish, German, Italian and Greek. His understanding of the human
personality was very different from earlier philosophers. Freud is regarded as
one of the most controversial and influential minds of all times.
Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis was based on resolving unconscious
conflict through techniques like free association, dreams and fantasies.
Freud’s theories on the ego, the Oedipus and the Electra complex are some of
his most influential theories. He influenced many other prominent
psychologists like Erik Erikson, Alfred Alder, Carl Jung and also his own
daughter, Anna Freud.
Although Freud’s theories have been differently perceived by others, they
have influenced and changed the field of psychology. He believed that all
mental illnesses do not have physiological causes and was of the belief that
cultural differences impact psychology and behaviour.

150. JIDDU KRISHNAMURTI

J iddu Krishnamurti was a prominent Indian spiritual leader. He was born
in 1895 in India. He was educated in theosophy by British social reformer
Annie Besant.
He then became a teacher and writer. After the 1920s, he spent much of his
time in the USA and Europe. In 1929, he separated from the Theosophical
Society. However, he continued to be a popular lecturer. He believed in the
importance of total spiritual freedom, which could only be attained through
extreme self-awareness. He established Krishnamurti Foundations in the
USA, Britain, India, Spain and Canada. He died in 1986.

151. AUROBINDO GHOSH

A urobindo Ghosh was a famous Indian seer, poet and nationalist. He
was born in the Indian city of Kolkata on 15th August, 1872. He started
studying in a convent school in Darjeeling and completed his schooling in
England. He continued studying languages in England at the University of
Cambridge. He returned to India in 1892 and began studying Yoga and
Indian languages, including Sanskrit. He was involved in India’s struggle for
freedom from the British rule and was even arrested in 1908. He fled to the
French territory of Pondicherry in South India to escape the British. There, he
founded an ashram (retreat) and developed a unique philosophy based on
yoga. The ashram attracted students from all over the world. He died on 5th
December, 1950.

152. MARSHALL MCLUHAN

M arshall McLuhan was an educator and communications theorist. He

was born on 21st July, 1911, in Alberta, Canada. He studied at the
University of Cambridge. McLuhan was a very popular professor and lecturer
at the University of Toronto. His aphorism “the medium is the message”
summarised the influence of television and computers in shaping human
thought. He believed that once the electronic medium is used extensively,
people would forget about books. He wrote about the invisible shackles of
society. He died on 31st December, 1980.

153. NOAM CHOMSKY

oam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher and activist, who is

N famous for his contributions in the field of language and mind. He was
born on 7th December, 1928, in Philadelphia, USA.
He earned a PhD in linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Chomsky
has been a professor for the Departments of Linguistics and Philosophy at
MIT since 1955. His research has had huge ramifications for modern
philosophers and psychologists, both raising and answering questions about
human nature and how we process information.
 Sports Stars
This section focusses on people who are remarkable sports persons. Their work has
brought glory to the game and inspired many people who have watched them play. Let’s
find out about their skills and techniques as well as their lives. Read on and get to know
these sport stars.

154. SACHIN TENDULKAR

S achin Ramesh Tendulkar is a former Indian cricketer, who is considered
to be one of the greatest batsmen of all times. He was born on 24th
April, 1973, in Mumbai, India. Mischievous as a child, he was sent for
cricket training as a punishment at the age of 11. Tendulkar started playing
for the national cricket team when he was 16 years old. He is the only player
to have scored a hundred centuries in international cricket. Tendulkar was a
part of the team that lifted the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011. He has been
awarded Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award.

155. DON BRADMAN

ir Donald George Bradman was an Australian cricketer, who is regarded as

the greatest player of the 20th century. He was born on 27th August, 1908, in
S New South Wales, Australia. He scored his first century while playing
for his school, when he was only 12 years old.
Bradman was the most popular cricketer during the 1930s and 1940s. He
scored his first triple century against England at the age of 22. Bradman
scored 6,996 runs for Australia at an average of 99.94 runs in every innings
that he played. This average is unbeaten even today. He died on 25th
February, 2001.

156. NADIA COMANECI

adia Comaneci is a Romanian gymnast, who is the first female gymnast to be
awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. She was born

N 12th November, 1961, in Onesti, Romania. Comaneci took part in

national junior championships in gymnastics when she was six years
old. Comaneci won nine gold medals in the Olympics. The song that
accompanied her floor exercises—called “Nadia’s Theme”—won a Grammy
Award in 1977. Now, Comaneci works towards promoting gymnastics. She
has published an autobiography Nadia and a book named Letters to a Young
Gymnast.

157. DIEGO MARADONA

D iego Armando Maradona is an Argentine footballer, who is considered

to be one of the best football players of all time. He was born on 30th
October, 1960, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Maradona started playing
football at a very early age. He started playing for the national team of
Argentina 10 days before he turned 16. He was also a part of the Argentinean
team that won the 1986 World Cup. He is best remembered for a goal scored
with his hand during the World Cup, which the referee thought he hit with his
head. It is now known as the “Hand of God” goal.

158. JOE DIMAGGIO

J oe DiMaggio was an American professional baseball player, who is

considered to be one of the best all-round players of baseball. He was
born on 25th November, 1914, in Martinez, California. DiMaggio started
playing baseball at a very young age. He quit school when he was 14 years
old and joined the minor league baseball team—San Francisco Seals. He
joined the major league New York Yankees in 1936. DiMaggio holds the
Major League Baseball record of a 56 game hitting streak. He retired in 1951
and was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame 1955. He passed away on 8th
March, 1999.

159. JACK NICKLAUS

J ack William Nicklaus is an American professional golfer, who is

considered to be one of the best golfers of all time. He was born on 21st
January, 1940, in Ohio, USA. Nicklaus won the US Amateur Championship
when he was studying at Ohio State University. He started as a professional
in 1962 and won 18 major championships in a career span of over two
decades. Nicklaus was one of the most dominant players on the PGA Tour.
He designed several golf courses as well. Nicklaus wrote many books,
including Golf My Way and Nicklaus By Design.

160. MUHAMMAD ALI

uhammad Ali was a former American professional boxer, who was the first
boxing champion to win the world heavyweight championship thrice. He was

M born on 17th January, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. He took

up boxing when he was 12 years old. Out of the 108 amateur games
he played, he won 100. He became an Olympic gold medalist in 1960. His
biography is called GOAT—A Tribute to Muhammad Ali. It weighs 34 kg and
is covered in silk and Louis Vuitton leather. The first 1,000 books were sold
at USD 7,500 each.

161. MARTINA NAVRATILOVA

M artina Navratilova is a former American tennis player and coach, who

is one of three women to win a career Grand Slam in singles,
women’s doubles and mixed doubles. She was born on 18th October, 1956, in
Prague, Czech Republic. Martina’s stepfather, Mirek Navrátil, was her first
coach.
She started playing professional tennis in 1975 and dominated the game for
over a decade. When Navratilova won her 158th title, she had won more
championship titles than any player in the history of tennis, male or female.
She authored some books and was an active participant of the gay rights
movement.

162. LARRY BIRD

L arry Bird is a former American basketball player, who is considered to

be one of the best basketball players of all time. He was born on 7th
December, 1956, in West Baden Springs, Indiana, USA. Bird attended the
Indiana State University. He joined Boston Celtics and helped them win three
NBA Championships, two NBA Final Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards
and the gold medal in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. He is the only person
in the history of NBA to be awarded MVP, Coach of the Year and Executive
of the Year.

163. MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

M ichael Schumacher is a former German race car driver, who is

considered to be one of the best Formula 1 drivers of all times. He
was born on 3rd January, 1969, in Hurth, West Germany. He was interested in
go-karting as a child. He participated in the F1 race for the first time in 1991
for the Jordan team. He joined the Ferrari team in 1996. He won five
consecutive F1 World Championships. He retired in 2006, only to come back
and retire again in 2012. He is also an ambassador at UNESCO and is famous
for his charity work.
 164. KAPIL DEV

K apil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj is a former Indian cricketer, who is the only
cricketer to have scored 5,000 runs and taken 400 wickets in
international test cricket. He was born on 6th January, 1959, in India. He
played domestic cricket for his state, Haryana, and joined the national team
when he was 28 years old. He is considered to be India’s best fast bowler. He
led the team to victory in the World Cup in 1983. He was a good all-rounder
who batted well too. He was awarded the Padma Shri and the Padma
Bhushan awards.
 165. PELE

P ele is a former Brazilian footballer, who is considered to be the best

football player of all time. He was born on 23rd October, 1940, in Tres
Coracoes, Brazil. Pele started playing soccer as a teenager for a local club. He
started playing for the national team when he was 16 years old. Pele was a
part of three World Cup Championship winning teams. He holds the
Guinness World Record for the most number of goals in the game of football.
He has been named the World Player of the Century by the International
Federation of Football history and Statistics. He is also known as “The Black
Pearl”.

166. SATCHEL PAIGE

L eroy Robert Paige, or “Satchel”, was a legendary American baseball
player, who is considered as one of the best pitchers in baseball history.
He was born on 7th July, 1906, in Alabama, USA. Paige started playing
baseball when he was 10 years old. He was well-known in the Negro Leagues
and was finally allowed to play Major League Basketball in 1948.
Satchel’s professional career lasted for 40 years. He is said to have played
2,500 games and won 2,000 of them. He was inducted in the Baseball Hall of
Fame in 1971, the only player to have been selected on the basis of his play
in the Negro Leagues. He died on 8th June, 1982.

167. MICHAEL JORDAN

M ichael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball

player, who is considered to be one of the greatest basketball players
of all time. He was born on 17th February, 1963, in New York, USA. He
played basketball, baseball and football as a child.
 He studied at the University of North Carolina and was named the College
Player of the Year. Jordan joined the Chicago Bulls in 1984. NBA has named
Jordan the Most Valuable Player eight times. Jordan is nicknamed “Air
Jordan” for his acrobatic moves and leaps while playing basketball.

168. SHANE WARNE

S hane Warne is an Australian cricketer, who is often regarded as the most
effective bowler in the history of the game.
He usually bowls spinners and googlies (balls bowled with fingerspin that
break unexpectedly in the opposite direction from that anticipated). His
technique revived the forgotten art of leg spin and brought a variety to the
game that had been dominated by fast bowling. In 2006, he became the first
bowler to take 700 test wickets.

169. TONY HAWK

A nthony Frank “Tony” Hawk is a former American professional

skateboarder, who is considered to be a pioneer in modern
skateboarding. He was born on 12th May, 1968, San Diego, California, USA.
He won more than 70 skateboarding contests in his career and is known as
one of the top skateboarders in the world. He is nicknamed “the Birdman”
and even started his own skateboarding company called Birdhouse. He has
launched a series of successful video games and technical equipment. He is
involved in philanthropic work through the Tony Hawk Foundation. He has
authored several books, including his autobiography – HAWK–Occupation:
Skateboarder.
 170. STEVE DAVIS

S teve Davis is a professional snooker player, who changed the face of the
game in the 1980s. He was born on 22nd August, 1957. He won the
World Championship a record number of six times and occupied the first
rank for seven consecutive seasons. He won the English Under-19 Billiards
Championship in 1976. He is known for the famous 1985 World
Championship final against Dennis Taylor, which attracted a record breaking
18.5 million British viewers. He won his last world title in 1989 but has
continued to play high-level snooker. Even at the age of 50, he is still ranked
among the top 16 players.

171. STEFFI GRAF

S teffi Graf is a former German tennis player, who is famous as the only
tennis player to win all Grand Slam singles championships and an
Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year, which was called the Golden
Slam. She was born on 14th June, 1969, in West Germany. Graff was coached
in tennis by her father from the age of three. She dominated world tennis for
over a decade in the late 1980s and 1990s. Graff ranked World No.1 for a
record 377 weeks, more than any other player, male or female. She married
fellow tennis star Andre Agassi in 2001. She retired in 2009.

172. ANDRE AGASSI

A ndre Agassi is a retired American tennis player, who was one of the
dominant players of the 1990s and early 2000s. He was born on 28th
April, 1970, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He started playing tennis as a toddler. He
won many junior titles before joining professional tennis at the age of 16. He
dominated the game for about 20 years. His competition with his arch rival,
Pete Sampras, was very popular. He won career Grand Slam titles by winning
all the major tennis tournaments. He retired from tennis in 1999.
 173. PETE SAMPRAS

P ete Sampras is an all-round tennis player, who has won 14 grand slam
titles. This was a record till it was broken by Roger Federer in 2009.
Pete was born on 12th August, 1971.
During his career, he won seven Wimbledon singles championships, five
US open titles and two Australian Open championships. He dominated
professional tennis during the 1990s and is considered to be one of the
greatest players of all time.
Pete started playing tennis after he moved to California in 1978. He joined
the professional ranks in 1988 and by 1990, he was one of the top players. He
retired in 2003 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame
in 2007.

174. MIKE TYSON

M ike Tyson is a former American professional boxer, who is famous as
the youngest heavyweight champion in the history of boxing. He was
born on 30th June, 1966, in New York. Tyson started professional boxing in
1985. His trainer, Cus D’Amato, taught him a new boxing style, eventually
known as the “peek-a-boo” boxing style, holding his hands close to the
cheek. He became the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF
heavyweight titles when he was 20. He was inducted into the Boxing Hall of
Fame in 2011.

175. SHAQUILLE O’NEAL

S haquille O’Neal is a former American basketball player, who is famous
as one of the heaviest players and for using his size and strength to
overpower his opponents. He was born on 6th March, 1972, in New Jersey,
USA. O’Neal studied at Louisiana State University and became one of the
best players of the country while playing for them. He went on to become one
of the most dominant players in NBA history, helping his teams to win NBA
Championships. He was a part of the US basketball team that won the gold
medal at the 1996 Olympics.

176. ZINEDINE ZIDANE

inedine Zidane is a former French footballer who led his country to win the

Z 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2000 UEFA European Championship. He

was born on 23rd June, 1972, in Marseille, France. He started playing
football at the age of five. He joined the Cannes Club in 1989 and shifted to
Bordeaux in 1992. He was named the Best Young Footballer of France in
1994. He transferred to Juventus Club and then to Real Madrid. He was
named the Player of the Year thrice while playing for these clubs. Zidane
retired from professional football after the 2006 World Cup.

177. JESSE OWENS

esse Owens was an American athlete, who is known as the most famous
athlete of the 1936 Summer Olympics. He was born in Alabama, USA, on

J 12th September, 1913. His elementary school gym teacher noticed him
run and was fascinated by his incredible speed. He first came to
prominence when he won the world record as a tie in a 100 yard dash and
jumped more than 24 feet in the long jump. Owens won four gold medals in
the 1936 Olympics that were held in Berlin, Germany. He died on 31st
March, 1980.

178. DAVID BECKHAM

avid Beckham is a former English football player, who is considered to be
one of the best football players in the world. He was born on 2nd May, 1975,
D in London, England. Beckham wanted to be a footballer since he was a
child. In 1993, he started playing football for Manchester United,
England’s most famous soccer team. By 1996, Beckham was one of the most
popular players as he helped Manchester United win the FA Cup and Premier
Division title in the same year.
Beckham’s pinpoint kicking accuracy has made him one of football’s
greatest stars. He became the fifth player in English history to play 100
matches. He retired from football in 2013.

179. TIGER WOODS

iger Woods is an American professional golfer, who is famous as the first

golfer to win the four major tournaments of golf, namely the US Open, the

T Masters, the British Open and the Professional Golfers’ Association of

America (PGA) Championship. He was born on 30th December, 1975,
in Cypress, California, USA. He started playing golf at the age of three. He
turned professional in 1996 and has won 71 PGA tournaments till now.
Woods has won about $110 million in prize money and is believed to be one
of the richest sportspersons in the world today.

180. RONALDO
R onaldo Luis Nazario de Lima is a former Brazilian footballer who is
one of the three players in football history to be named the World
Player of the Year thrice. He was born on 18th September, 1976, in Itaguai,
Brazil. Ronaldo started playing football when he was 12 years old. He won
the Golden Shoe Award in the 2002 World Cup as the highest goal scorer and
helped Brazil lift the World Cup. Ronaldo’s 15th goal in the 2006 World Cup
made him the highest goal scorer in World Cup history. He retired from
football in 2011.

181. THE WILLIAMS SISTERS

 Serena and Venus Williams have won all four Grand Slam
doubles titles as a pair. They are the fifth pair in the history
of tennis to achieve this feat.

T he Williams sisters are two American tennis players, Venus and Serena
Williams, both of whom have been ranked as World No. 1 by the
Women’s Tennis Association. Venus Williams was born on 17th June, 1980,
in California, USA, whereas Serena Williams was born on 26th September,
1981. They were both coached by their father and learnt to play tennis at a
very young age. Serena and Venus Williams turned professional when they
were 15 years old.
Serena and Venus Williams won gold medals at the Sydney Olympics in
2000 and the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In 1997, Venus Williams became the
first unseeded tennis player to reach the finals of the US Open. Serena
defeated Venus in the finals of the French Open, US Open and Wimbledon to
win all three tournaments in 2002. Venus Williams has won seven Grand
Slam titles and Serena Williams has won 17 Grand Slam titles.

182. ROGER FEDERER

R oger Federer is a Swiss tennis player, who is famous as the only player
in the history of tennis to win 17 career men’s single Grand Slam
championships. He was born on 8th August, 1981, in Basel, Switzerland.
Federer played badminton and basketball as a child to improve his hand-eye
coordination. Federer began playing tennis when he was eight years old. He
started playing professional tennis at age 17. Federer is the only player in
history to have won the Wimbledon and the US Open consecutively for three
years.
183. LEBRON JAMES
eBron James is an American professional basketball player, who is the

L youngest player in NBA history to score 10,000 career points and win
the Rookie of the Year award. He was born on December 30, 1984, in
Ohio, USA. James played football in elementary school as well. He was a
part of three US basketball teams for the Olympics that won one bronze and
two gold medals. James has amassed a lot of name and fame with his
endorsements and contracts. As of January 2013, he was the youngest player
to score 20,000 career points.

184. LIONEL MESSI

Despite his dual citizenship and professional success in
 Spain, Messi’s ties with his homeland remained strong and
he was a key member of various Argentine national teams
from 2005.

L uis Lionel Andres Messi is an Argentinean football player, who is rated

as one of the best football players of all time. He was born on 24th June,
1987, in Rosario, Argentina. Messi plays as a forward for FC Barcelona and
is the captain of Argentina’s national football team.
Messi’s talent drew attention from prestigious clubs and his family shifted
to Barcelona when he was just 13. He started playing for FC Barcelona’s
under-14 team. Messi was the youngest official player to play in the Spanish
La Liga at age 17. By the time he was 21, Messi was regarded as one of the
best players. He has been named as FIFA Ballon d’Or or the world player of
the year four times. Messi became the youngest player to score 200 goals for
La Liga.
He scored his 233rd goal for Barcelona in 2012, becoming the club’s all-
time highest scorer at the tender age of 24! He was also named as the world
player of the year for the fourth time in 2012, making him the only person to
have won this title four times.

185. USAIN BOLT

 Bolt published a memoir, My Story: 9:58: The World’s
Fastest Man, in 2010. It was expanded and reissued as The
Fastest Man Alive: The True Story of Usain Bolt in 2012.

U sain Bolt is a Jamaican sprinter, who is the first athlete to win six
Olympic gold medals in sprinting. He was born on 21st August, 1986,
in Trelawny, Jamaica.
Bolt was interested in cricket and football when he was young. In fact, he
was an outstanding fast bowler. But he was guided towards track and field by
his coaches. Bolt won a gold medal for track and field racing when he was 15
years old. This made him the youngest person to ever win a world
championship in any event.
By the time he was 17, he broke the junior world record for the 200 m run.
He was also the first teenager to run it in less than 20 seconds.
In the 2008 Olympics, Bolt became the second athlete after Carl Lewis to
win the 100 m, 200 m and the 4 x 100 m relay, and set world records in all
three races. Bolt is believed to be the fastest man alive.

186. MICHAEL PHELPS

M ichael Fred Phelps II is a former American swimmer, who holds the
record for the highest number of Olympic Gold Medals (18). He was
born on 30th June, 1985, in Maryland, USA.
Phelps started swimming at the age of seven. At 15, he took part in the
2000 Summer Olympics. He went on to win medals at the Olympic Summer
Games in Athens, Beijing and London, accumulating a total of 22 medals—
18 gold, two silver and two bronze—setting the record for the most medals
won by any Olympic athlete. Phelps announced his retirement in 2012.

187. RAFAEL NADAL

Rrd
afael Nadal is a Spanish professional tennis player, who has been
ranked among the world’s top five players since 2003. He was born on
3 June, 1986, in Manacor, Spain. He started playing tennis when he was
four years old. He is the second male player after Andre Agassi to achieve the
Career Golden Slam. When he won the French Open in 2013, he became the
only player to win a single Grand Slam tournament eight times. He is
believed to be the greatest player on a clay court that the world has ever seen.
 Lights, Camera, Action!
This section focusses on people who have made significant contributions to the field of
cinema. Let’s find out about their talents and contributions, as well as about their lives. Let
us see how the trends started by them have influenced people all over the world. Read on
and get to know more about these celebrities.

188. ALFRED HITCHCOCK

A lfred Joseph Hitchcock was a film producer and director, who is
famous for his suspense films. He was born on 13th August, 1899, in
Leytonstone, London. Hitchcock entered the world of film as a draftsman for
a film studio and quickly worked his way up to a director in 1925.
Hitchcock is famous for his movies, Rebecca and Foreign Correspondent,
among others. He received knighthood in 1880 and is often said to be the
greatest British filmmaker of all time. He died on 29th April, 1980.

189. CHARLIE CHAPLIN

 Charlie Chaplin was the first actor to have had a comic strip
made on him and also the first actor to have appeared on the
cover of the Time magazine.

S ir Charles Spencer Chaplin was a British producer, writer, director and

comedian, who is considered to be the greatest comic artist in the
history of world cinema. He was born on 16th April, 1889, in London,
England. Chaplin’s childhood was filled with hardships and he was sent to
many workhouses as his mother was sent to a medical asylum.
Chaplin became a professional entertainer when he joined Eight Lancashire
Lads, a clog dancing troupe. He also worked as a stage actor for some time.
Chaplin joined the Fred Karno Company in 1908 and became famous for his
work in A Night in an English Music Hall. While on tour in America, he got
an opportunity to work for Keystone comedy films. Although the first film
was not a great success, it was the second film—Kid Auto Races at Venice,
where Charlie Chaplin improvised on his character and his immortal screen
character “The Little Tramp” was born. Charlie Chaplin made great films like
The Kid, The Gold Rush, and The Great Dictator among others. He died on
25th December, 1977.

190. D. W. GRIFFITH
D .W. Griffith was a leading American director. He was born on 22nd
January, 1875. His most famous films are The Birth of a Nation and
Intolerance. He introduced many new techniques of storytelling and editing
in his films, which soon became a norm in the film fraternity. His 1915
feature-length film, The Birth of a Nation, based on the civil war, was a
blockbuster. But it was later criticised as being very racist. Film students
study this film even today for its contribution to editing and storytelling
techniques. His later work included Intolerance, Broken Blossoms and
Orphans of the Storm. Griffith died on 23rd July, 1948.

191. WARNER BROTHERS

A lbert Warner, Sam Warner, Jack Warner and Harry Warner are the
founders of Warner Brothers Entertainment, Inc. Warner Brothers was
started in 1923 and, since then, has become one of the biggest film studios in
the world. They are a global leader in feature films; they release almost 20
films each year in over 120 countries. Warner brothers also has a television
division, which has produced many successful shows.

192. LUMIERE BROTHERS

T he Lumiere Brothers created the first motion picture camera and
projector. They are the earliest filmmakers in history. Auguste Lumiere
was born on 19th October, 1862, and Louis Lumiere on 5th October, 1864.
They created the film Workers leaving the Lumiere Factory, which is
considered to be the first movie. They also filmed the arrival of a train on a
platform. It is said that people watching this film for the first time ran out of
the theatre screaming as they thought that the train would burst out of the
screen! The brothers opened cinemas in London, Brussles, Belgium and New
York to show their films. Louis died on 6th June, 1948, and Auguste passed
away on 10th April, 1954.

193. SHAHRUKH KHAN

S hahrukh Khan is one of the most sought-after Bollywood actors. He was
born on 2nd November, 1965, in Delhi, India. He abandoned his studies
to pursue acting. He began his career with theatre and television. In 1992, he
starred in a movie, Deewana, which was the turning point of his career.
Khan began his career with anti-hero roles in movies like Baazigar and
Darr, but moved on to play positive roles. He is famous for his work in
Bollywood hits like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and
Chak De India, among others.
His acting won him many accolades, like the Padma Shri in 2005 and 15
Filmfare Awards.

194. VICTOR FLEMING

V ictor Fleming was a film producer, cinematographer and director, who

is famous for his work on the movies Gone with the Wind and The
Wizard of Oz. He was born on 23rd February, 1889. Fleming entered the film
business as a stuntman in 1910 and eventually got a job as a cameraman. He
soon began directing and he was responsible for many of the films that would
eventually be considered classics, such as Treasure Island (1934) and Red
Dust (1932). He won an Academy Award for Best Director for the movie
Gone with the Wind.

195. HUMPHREY BOGART

umphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He was born on 25th
December, 1899. He is considered a cultural icon and the America
H Film Institute named him the greatest male movie star in the history of
American cinema. He appeared in 75 films and became one of the
finest motion picture “tough guys”. His trademark on-screen personality was
that of a hard-boiled cynic who eventually shows his noble side. He is
famous for movies like Casablanca, Dark Passage and The African Queen
for which he won his only Academy Award. He died on 14th January, 1957.

196. GEORGES MELIES

M arie-Georges-Jean Melies was a French magician. He is known as the

father of special effects. He was born on 8th December, 1861. He
accidentally discovered that he could use stop-motion photography to
produce special effects and visual tricks. This could be called the beginning
of special effects in film. Though he was not very well-known during his
time, he paved the way for many other groundbreaking directors, like D. W.
Griffith. He is sometimes called a “Cinemagician” because of his ability to
manipulate reality through the lens of the camera. He made more than 500
short films in his lifetime. Two of his best-known films are A Trip to the
Moon and The Impossible Voyage. Unrecognised, he died a pauper on 21st
January, 1938, in Paris.

197. LUIS BUNUEL

L uis Bunuel was a Spanish filmmaker and director. He was born on 22nd
February, 1900. Bunuel is famous for his surreal films and work in the
Mexican Commercial Cinema. His early films, like Un Chien Andalou had a
surreal, bizarre and dream-like quality to them. He developed very close
relationships with painter Salvador Dalí and poet Federico García Lorca, and
together, they formed the core of the avant-garde movement in Spain. He
died on 29th July, 1983.

198. WALT DISNEY

Walt Disney himself was the first voice of Mickey Mouse!

alter Elias Disney was an American filmmaker, producer, businessman and

pioneer of animated cartoon films. Not only did he start Walt Disney

W Productions, he also planned and built Disneyland, the huge

amusement park in Los Angeles, California. Disney was born on 5th
December, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Disney was an innovator of animation. He shot to fame with his creation of
the cheerful and mischievous Mickey Mouse. He went on to create more
famous characters like Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and many more.
The clever use of music and sound in his cartoons is what made Disney
successful all over the world during the 1930s. The Disney Company is now
one of the world’s largest entertainment companies.
During his lifetime, Disney won 22 Academy Awards and received four
honorary Academy Awards. He won seven Emmy Awards. He died on 15th
December, 1966.

199. KATHARINE HEPBURN

K atharine Hepburn was an American film and stage actress. She was
born on 12th May, 1907. She was known as a lively performer with a
touch of eccentricity.
She was one of the first actresses to portray strong leading ladies instead of
dainty, delicate ones, which was the norm at the time. She start ed acting after
graduating from Bryn Mawr College in 1928. She won four Oscars
throughout her career, which is the highest for any actor. Some of her hits
include, A Bill of Divorcement, Morning Glory and Bringing up Baby. She
died on 29th June, 2003.

200. WILFRED JACKSON

W ilfred Jackson was an animator, composer and director, who is best
known for his work on Mickey Mouse and the Silly Symphonies
series of cartoons. He was born on 24th January, 1906, in Chicago, Illinois.
Jackson worked as an animator at Walt Disney Studios. He devised a method
to synchronise animation with music during the age of silent movies. He is
famous for his work on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and
Dumbo. He died on 7th August, 1988.

201. AKIRA KUROSAWA

A kira Kurosawa was a Japanese film producer, director, editor and

screenwriter. He was the first Japanese director to gain international
fame. He was born on 23rd March, 1910, in Tokyo, Japan. Kurosawa went to
art school after his higher education and aspired to be a painter. He worked as
an assistant director in the PCL Studio in Japan and decided to pursue films
as a career.
 In 1943, Kurosawa directed, Sanshiro Sugata, which was very successful.
However, Roshomon was probably his most famous film, even winning the
Oscar for the best foreign-language film. Kurosawa directed 30 films in his
57-year film career. He died on 6th September, 1998.

202. WILLIAM HANNA

W illiam Hanna was an animator, director, producer, cartoon artist and
voice actor. He was born on 14th July, 1910. William Hanna and
Joseph Barbera started Hanna-Barbera productions.
They are best known for creating Tom and Jerry. He also created other
successful programmes such as The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby Doo
and Yogi Bear, to name a few. Hanna-Barbera won seven Academy Awards
and eight Emmy Awards. Since then, their cartoons have been translated into
more than 28 languages and have been aired all over the world. He died on
22nd March, 2001.

203. JOSEPH BARBERA

J oseph Roland Barbera is an animator, director, producer and cartoon

artist. He was born on 24th March, 1911, in New York City. Joseph
Barbera, along with William Hanna, founded Hanna-Barbera Productions.
They became one of the most successful television animation studios,
producing programmes such as The Flintstones and Tom and Jerry. Their
cartoon characters are now considered cultural icons and have appeared in
several films, books and toys. Together, Joseph Barbera and William Hanna
have won seven Academy Awards and eight Emmy Awards. He died on 18th
December, 2006.

204. ROBERT WISE

R obert Wise was a film director, producer and editor. He was born on
10th September, 1914. Wise has made films in almost every genre and
is one of the most influential American movie directors. He is famous for
films such as A West Side Story, The Sound of Music and The Sand Pebbles,
among many others. Wise has won four Academy Awards, several lifetime
achievement awards and also received the award for Outstanding
Contribution to Cinematic Imagery by the Society of Motion Picture and
Television Art Directors. He died on 14th September, 2005.

205. GREGORY PECK

G regory Peck is an American actor, who is known for his portrayal of

honest, straightforward characters. He attended a military school in
San Diego State College before enrolling at the University of California at
Berkeley to study medicine. It was here that he grew interested in acting and
shifted to New York after graduation.
He studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse and supported himself by
working as an usher at a music hall. He made his first Broadway debut in
1942 in The Morning Star, which was a flop though the critics liked his
performance. Some of his famous films include The Valley of Decision,
Spellbound and Duel in the Sun. He died on 12th June, 2003.

206. INGMAR BERGMAN

rnst Ingmar Bergman is a Swedish writer and director. He was born on 14th
July, 1918, in Sweden. He began his career as a screen writer, but later

E became famous for his film The Seventh Seal. He has won three
Academy Awards for best foreign film. He soon became famous for his
films that became the typical “art house” films of the 1960s and 1970s. His
films include Wild Strawberries and Winter Light. He died on 30th July,
2007.

207. FEDERICO FELLINI

F ederico Fellini was an Italian script writer and director, who was the
first to blend fantasy images in his movies.
 He was born on 20th January, 1920, in Rimini, Italy. He drew cartoons and
worked for a humour magazine Marc Aurelio. Fellini joined director Roberto
Rossellini and a team of writers to create Rome, Open City, a film that
influenced the Italian Neorealist Movement. Fellini is famous for his movies,
Variety Lights, La Dolce Vita and 8½, among others. He won eight Academy
Awards in his career. He died on 31st October, 1993.

208. SATYAJIT RAY

S atyajit Ray was an Indian script writer, movie maker, publisher,
illustrator, graphic designer and film critic. He was born on 2nd May,
1921, in Kolkata, India. He began his career as a commercial artist and
founded Kolkata’s first film society in 1947. His first film, Pather Panchali,
was an immediate success and won a Grand Prix at the Cannes Festival. His
films were famous for their reflection of social reality. He received 32 Indian
National Film awards in his lifetime. He died on 23rd April, 1992.
 209. JEAN-LUC GODARD

J ean-Luc Godard is a film director, screen writer and film critic, who is
famous for the French film movement in the 1960s called “New Wave”.
He was born on 3rd December, 1930. He studied at the University of Paris
and worked at a job on a dam. It was the combination of these two things
which inspired his first short film Operation Concrete, in 1958. Godard is
often considered to be one of the most radical filmmakers of all time. In
2010, he was awarded an Honorary Academy Award. Godard continues to
make controversial films to this day.
210. AUDREY HEPBURN
udrey Hepburn was a British actress, who was known for her beauty and
philanthropic nature. She was born on 4th May, 1929, in Brussels,
A Belgium. Hepburn studied in Holland and took ballet lessons as a
child. Later, she went to Amsterdam and London to study ballet
further. Hepburn started working in films when she was around 20 years old.
It was her role as a ballet dancer in The Secret People that made her famous.
Hepburn won the Academy Award for her role in the movie, Roman Holiday.
She also worked as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children’s
Fund or UNICEF. She died on 20th January, 1993.

211. FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT

F rancois Truffaut was a French producer, director and film-critic, who
was one of the founders of the New Wave movement. He was born on
6th February, 1932, in Paris, France. He was an avid reader but not a good
student. He started working at the age of 14 and started a film club after a
year. He won the prize for the best direction for his film 400 Blows at the
Cannes Film Festival. It also served as a major film for the New Wave
movement. He died on 21st October, 1984.

212. ROMAN POLANSKI

R oman Raymond Polanski is a Polish film actor, writer, producer and
director, who has made films in Poland, UK, USA and France. He was
born on 18th August, 1933. Polanski was educated in Poland and started
acting on stage at the age of 14. He acted in some films and studied film
direction from the State School of Cinema in Lodz, Poland. Polanski made
many films like The Fat and the Lean, Repulsion and The Pianist among
others. Polanski has acted in and directed many theatrical productions.
 213. WOODY ALLEN

W oody Allen is a film director, screenwriter, actor, comedian,

musician, author and playwright, who is best known for his style of
romantic comedy with a touch of parody and slapstick. He was born on 1st
December, 1935, in New York, USA. Allen attended New York University in
1953, but failed the course in motion picture production. He dropped out and
skipped several professions, including writing for television, stand-up
comedy, music and play writing, before he finally started directing his films.
He made his first film, What’s up, Tiger Lily? in 1966. Some of his famous
films are Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters and Midnight in
Paris.

214. GEORGE LUCAS

G eorge Lucas is an American film director, producer and screenwriter,
who created the famous space saga, Star Wars. He was born on 14th
May, 1944, in California. Lucas was interested in racing as a career, but a
near fatal accident changed his mind.
 He was interested in film making since high school. He studied
cinematography at the University of Southern California. He started his
production house—Lucasfilm Ltd. Although his first films did not do well,
his film, American Graffiti was a great success.

215. STEVEN SPIELBERG

 It’s said that Spielberg had his first encounter with
Hollywood when he sneaked out of Universal Studio tour and
into the studio lot, where he met a helpful editor who showed
him the basics of film-making.

S teven Allan Spielberg is a filmmaker, director and producer. He was

born on 18th December, 1946, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is considered to
be one of the most influential and popular filmmakers in cinema. He has been
in the film industry for over four decades. He became one of the youngest
television directors for Universal in the late 1960s. A highly praised
television film, Duel, brought him the opportunity to direct for cinema and he
is now one of the most commercially successful directors of all time.
His movies range from science-fiction to historical dramas. He is famous
for movies such as E. T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Schindler’s List. Three of
Spielberg’s films achieved box office records, becoming the highest grossing
films made. He also won two Academy Awards for Schindler’s List and
Saving Private Ryan.

216. JAMES CAMERON

 Cameron is a very good artist and actually drew a lot of the
art pieces that featured so prominently in his film Titanic.

J ames Cameron is a critically acclaimed film director responsible for some

of the biggest box-office hits of this generation. He was born on 16th
August, 1954, in Ontario, Canada. He eventually produced and directed some
great films, including The Terminator, Aliens, Titanic and Avatar.
He studied art and later studied physics at the California State University in
Fullerton. He tried his hand at several small jobs, including machinist and
truck driver before he saw Star Wars and was inspired to make movies.
His large-scale, extravagant productions have earned him several Academy
Awards. His most famous film is probably the 1997 hit, Titanic, which was
the first film to earn more than $1 billion. It also got 14 Academy Award
nominations, of which it won 11. Cameron won three Oscars for the project.

217. MATT GROENING

M th
atthew Abram “Matt” Groening is a cartoonist, animator,
screenwriter, comedian, voice actor and producer. He was born on
15 February, 1954. Groening attended Evergreen State College and was the
editor of the college newspaper. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in
Hell and the television series The Simpsons. The Simpsons has been running
for over 24 successful seasons and has won 10 Primetime Emmy awards.
Groening has also won the British Comedy Award in 2004 and the National
Cartoonist Society Ruben Award for his comic strip.
218. MICHAEL MOORE
ichael Moore is a filmmaker, author, social critic and political activist. He

M was born on 23rd April, 1954. He is best known for his

documentaries, which are often controversial and address major
political and social issues in the USA. He is famous for documentary,
Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest grossing documentary of all time. His
film, Bowling for Columbine, won the Academy Award for featured
documentary. Moore has also written and starred in television shows such as
TV Nation and The Awful Truth.

219. JOHN LASSETER

J ohn Alan Lasseter is an animator, producer, director, screenwriter and the

chief creative head at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was
born on 12th January, 1957. He is a pioneer of modern animation, especially
the computer-generated animation that was popular in the mid and late 1990s.
Lasseter has directed films such as Toy Story, A Bug’s Life and Cars. He won
two Academy Awards for an animated short film titled Tin Toy and a Special
Achievement in Animation Award for Toy Story.

220. TIM BURTON

T imothy Walter “Tim” Burton is a producer, director, writer, poet and
stop-motion artist, who is famous for his horror and fantasy films. He
was born on 25th August, 1958, in Burbank, California. He majored in
Animation at the California Institute of Arts. Burton is well-known for his
blockbuster films like Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Alice in
Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, among many others. He
has also written and published a poetry book titled The Melancholy Death of
Oyster Boy and Other Stories. Tim Burton has won one Emmy Award and
one Golden Globe Award.

221. JOE RANFT

J oe Ranft was a screenwriter, animator and voice actor, who is famous for
his work with Pixar and Disney. He was born on 13th March, 1960. He
graduated from Monte Vista High School and went on to study character
animation at the California Institute of the Arts. As one of the key creative
members of Pixar Ranft, he helped create Disney classics like The Lion King
and Beauty and the Beast. He is also known for his work on A Bug’s Life,
Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Cars.

222. JOHNNY DEPP

J ohn Christopher “Johnny” Depp is an American actor, producer and
musician, who is famous for his character Captain Jack Sparrow, in the
movie series, The Pirates of the Caribbean. He was born on 9th June, 1963, in
Owensboro, Kentucky, USA. He dropped out of school when he was 16 years
old to pursue a career in music. He made his film debut in A Nightmare on
Elm Street but it was the TV series, 21 Jump Street, that made him famous.
He is famous for his roles in Edward Scissorhands, The Rum Diary, The
Ninth Gate and Alice in Wonderland among others.

223. QUENTIN TARANTINO

Q uentin Jerome Tarantino is a screenwriter, actor and director, whose
films are famous for violence and sharp dialogue. He was born on 27th
March, 1963, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tarantino started training to act, but
in 1990, he began his career as an independent film director. He is well-
known for his movies Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs and Django
Unchained among others. Tarantino’s films have received many awards
including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and two British
Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA).
 224. ANDREW STANTON

A ndrew Stanton is a screenwriter, producer, voice actor and director,

who is well-known for writing the movie A Bug’s Life. He was born on
3rd December, 1965. After studying character animation at the California
Institute of the Arts, he went on to join Pixar Animation Studios. Stanton co-
wrote every film of the Toy Story series. He also worked on films such as
Finding Nemo, WALL-E and John Carter, which was his first action movie.
He has received two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature.
 Literary Lords
This section focusses on people whose names have been etched in the list of all time literary
greats. Let’s find out about their language skills and contribution as well as their lives.
Read on and get to know these literary lords.

225. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

 During his lifetime, Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 154
sonnets! This means he produced around one and a half
plays a year since he first started writing in 1589.

W illiam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely

regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the
world’s best dramatist. Very little is known about Shakespeare’s childhood,
except that he was born in England on 23rd April, 1564. Over the course of 20
years, Shakespeare wrote plays that captured the complete range of human
emotions and conflict.
Shakespeare wrote plays for the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. He worked as
an actor as well. His plays became very popular in London and soon, the
Lord Chamberlain’s Men were one of the most popular acting companies in
the city.
These plays have been performed in countless hamlets, villages, cities and
metropolises for more than 400 years. Some of his early plays include The
Taming of the Shrew, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer
Night’s Dream.

226. THOMAS WYATT

T homas Wyatt was a 16th century English ambassador and lyrical poet.
He was born in 1503 at Allington Castle, near Maidstone, Kent. He
introduced the sonnet to English literature. Till then, it was common only in
Italian literature. Most of his work consists of translations of literature from
other languages. He also has a substantial number of sonnets to his name,
though they were just imitations of sonnets written by the Italian poet,
Petrarch. He died on 11th October, 1542.
 227. JOHN LYLY

J ohn Lyly was an author, who greatly influenced the style of prose writing
in the English language. He was born around 1554. He is also known for
moving away from the traditional poetic form of dialogues in comic plays to
a more conversational style. He was known for his humorous plays and, after
1580, wrote only comic plays. In addition to the plays, Lyly also composed
Entertainment, a show that combined elements of drama for Queen Elizabeth.
He died in November, 1606.

228. DANTE ALIGHIERI

 The Divine Comedy also draws from Dante’s personal
experience of exile from his native city, Florence.

D ante Alighieri, commonly known as Dante, was an Italian poet, prose

writer, political thinker and moral philosopher. He was born in June,
1265. He is best known for his epic poem, The Divine Comedy. This is a
great work of medieval literature and examines philosophical questions of
man’s eternal destiny.
The poem is written in several sections which represent the three tiers of
the Christian afterlife—purgatory, heaven and hell. The poem is often called
the greatest literary work composed in Italian.
He made the conscious choice to write this poem in Italian and not Latin,
as most scholarly works at that time were written. By doing this, he not only
encouraged the common culture of his country, but also paved the way for
Italian to become the literary language in Western Europe for many years to
come. Dante died in September, 1321.

229. FRANCIS BACON

F rancis Bacon was an English philosopher and statesman, and a pioneer
of modern thought. He was born on 22nd January, 1561, in London. He
was the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, keeper of the great seal for Elizabeth I.
He studied at Cambridge University and Gray’s Inn and became a member of
parliament in 1584. However, he was not very popular during his time. He
wrote several books and essays that argued for reformations of the law as
well as religious, moral and civil meditations. He died on 9th April, 1626.

230. JOHN MILTON

ohn Milton is often regarded as one of Britain’s finest writers, second only to

J Shakespeare. He was born in London in 1608. He received an excellent

education, first with private tutoring, then a private school and finally
Cambridge. Milton was a studious boy, who excelled in languages and
classical studies. He is best known for his epic poem, Paradise Lost, widely
regarded as the greatest poem in English. In his prose, he was strongly in
favour of the abolition of the Church of England. His writings inspired not
only the Civil War but also the French and American Revolution. He died on
8th November, 1674.

231. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

 Though Wordsworth’s father was away from home for long
periods of time, he encouraged Wordsworth to read. He even
told him to memorise poetry written by Milton, Shakespeare
and Spenser.

W illiam Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge co-authored several

“lyrical ballads” that helped launch a movement in literature known
as the “Romantic Movement”. He was born on 7th April, 1770.
He lost both his parents when he was just a child. He was sent off to a
boarding school at Hawkshead, a picturesque village in the countryside. He
grew up amidst the nature and greenery of the English lakes, which is
reflected in his poetry.
He befriended a poet named Samuel Coleridge in 1797 and both of them
co-published several poems. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is one of their
famous poems. Many of their poems broke the traditional form of long
verses. Instead, they wrote short, dramatic lyrical poems. He was criticised
for his low subjects and simplicity.
Some of his well-known poems are The Tables Turned, I Wandered Lonely
as a Cloud, also known as The Daffodils and Lines Written in Early Spring.
He died on 23rd April, 1850.

232. JANE AUSTEN

 Jane Austen was educated by her father, older brothers and
through her own reading. Her family supported her writing
career, which was very progressive for the time.

J ane Austen was a renowned English novelist, famous for her witty
satires. She was born on 16th December, 1775. She started writing poems,
stories and comics in order to amuse her family members. She collected all
these into three bound notebooks, which are now called Austen’s Juvenalia.
The novel focusses on courtship and marriage. It is still known for its
portrayal of the English society at the time. They depict her insights into the
lives of women during the late 18th century and the early 19th century.
She first started writing around 1787. Between then and 1793, she wrote
many plays, essays and short novels.
Her writing concentrates on the problems of women in those days and is
what we would now call feminist in nature.
Some of her famous work includes Pride and Prejudice, Sense and
Sensibility and Emma. She died on 18th July, 1817.

233. JOHN KEATS

J ohn Keats was a well-known English romantic poet. He was born in
London, England, on 31st October, 1795. Though he did not receive
much formal education, he was a voracious reader and developed a literary
interest early in life. He had a difficult childhood and was forced to be an
apprentice to a surgeon, but he left that job and devoted his life to poetry. He
wasn’t appreciated during his life, but his reputation grew after his death.
Today, he is one of the most respected poets. He died on 23rd February, 1821.

234. EDGAR ALLAN POE

E dgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic,
who is regarded as the inventor of the modern detective story. Poe was
born on 19th January, 1809. Today, he is known for his mysterious tales of
terror and haunting lyric poetry. He was the first American who tried to make
a living solely through his writing. He was one of the earliest people to write
mostly short stories. He was known for his own style of literary criticism. He
is also considered to be a major contributor to early works in the science
fiction genre. He died on 7th October, 1849.

235. CHARLES DICKENS

 After dropping out of school, Dickens worked in a boot
polish factory. He suffered a great deal and was very lonely
there. Most of his books borrow from this experience.

C harles Dickens was a British writer and social critic. He was born on
7th February, 1812. With 15 novels, five novellas and hundreds of short
stories and articles, he is regarded as one of the most influential writers of the
Victorian era.
He was forced to drop out of school and work in a factory when his father
was thrown into prison. In 1836, he published The Pickwick Papers in
weekly installments. It was a huge success and he shot to fame.
He published all his books in installments, since it allowed him to modify
the plot and characters based on his audience’s reaction. All his novels are
known for their humourous and satirical style. They were often based on a
keen observation of character and society.
Some of his well-known works include Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol,
David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations. On 9th
June, 1870, Dickens died of a stroke in Kent, England, leaving his final
novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, unfinished.

236. GEORGE ELIOT

M ary Anne Evans, who wrote under the pseudonym “George Eliot”,
was born on 22nd November, 1819, in Warwickshire, England. She
enjoyed books and learning from a young age. She was introspective and
quiet, so she was slightly different from the other young women of the time.
George Eliot is considered by many to be one of the most important writers
of the 19th century. She published all her translations, prose and poetry under
her pseudonym, except for one. She died on 22nd December, 1880.
237. EMILY DICKINSON
mily Dickinson was a famous poetess, who was unrecognised during her

E lifetime. She was born on 10th December, 1830. She enjoyed the poetry
of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning as well as John Keats.
Dickinson was a very talented poetess and was known to write poems to her
friends in letters. In fact, the first volume of her work was published in 1890,
four years after her death. After she died, her family discovered 40
handbound volumes of nearly 1,800 poems. She died on 15th May, 1886.

238. LEWIS CARROLL

 Lewis Carroll suffered from a stammer. But he found that he
could speak fluently and naturally to children, which is why
he enjoyed their company.

L ewis Carroll was an English logician, mathematician, photographer and

novelist. He was born as Charles Dodgson on 27th January, 1832, in
Cheshire, England.
He grew up in an isolated country village, but kept himself entertained. He
had a difficult time in school and even got bullied because of his shy nature.
He fell ill as a child and was deaf in one ear for the rest of his life. After
schooling, he decided to continue studying. He got a scholarship at Christ
Church, Oxford. He was exceptionally good at mathematics and graduated
first in his class. He was offered a job and took up teaching at the college.
He would often entertain the dean’s children by telling them stories that he
would make up. One day, he told them about a little girl named Alice and her
adventures underground. It was so good that they asked him to write it down
for them. A writer, Henry Kingsley, happened to pick it up and read it. He
convinced Carroll to publish it, which he did. It became so popular that he
even wrote a sequel, Through the Looking Glass. He died on 14th January,
1898.

239. GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

G eorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright, who helped start the
London School of Economics. He was born on 26th July, 1856. He
tried his hand at all sorts of writing, including journalism, short story writing
and novels. However, he was best known for his plays, which addressed
social issues with a streak of comedy. He wrote more than 60 plays
throughout his life and is known for his quick wit and sense of humour. His
play, The Apple Cart, won him a Nobel Prize for Literature. But he is best
known for his play, Pygmalion, which was adapted into the famous musical,
My Fair Lady. He died on 2nd November, 1950.
 240. ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

S ir Arthur Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician, who is

known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes. He was born on 22nd May,
1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He studied to be a doctor. He settled in
Portsmouth where he practised medicine and wrote stories. He first wrote
about Sherlock Holmes in A Study of Scarlet, published in Beeton’s
Christmas Annual in 1887. It was a huge success and Doyle wrote more
stories about the sleuth. Doyle had a varied career as a writer, journalist and
public figure. He died on 7th July, 1930.

241. Robert Louis Stevenson

R obert Louis Stevenson was a famous Scottish essayist, poet, fiction

writer and travel author. He was born on 13th November, 1850. Though
he was pressurised to pursue a career in lighthouse engineering, he showed an
interest in writing early in life. His first published piece of writing was a
historical essay called The Pentland Rising in 1866. He is most famous for
writing Treasure Island, Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde. He died on 3rd December, 1894.

242. OSCAR WILDE

O scar Wilde was a gifted poet and playwright, who was very popular in
19th century England. He was born on 16th October, 1854. He was very
progressive in his thinking and was known to preach the importance of style
in life and art. He also attacked the narrow minded Victorian thought. Wilde
is best known for his witty plays like Salome, An Ideal Husband and The
Importance of Being Earnest. In spite of being a skilled writer, he only wrote
one complete novel during his lifetime, The Picture of Dorian Gray,
published in 1891. He died on 30th November, 1900.

243. MARK TWAIN

 Twain was born shortly after a visit by Halley’s Comet
sighting. He predicted that he would “go out with it”, too.
He died the day following its next appearance.

“Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”

S amuel Langhorne Clemens or Mark Twain was an American author,

humourist, journalist, lecturer and novelist. He was born on 30th
November, 1835. He gained international fame for his travel narratives,
especially The Innocents Abroad, Roughing It and Life on the Mississippi,
and for his adventure stories of boyhood, especially The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
He began working as a typesetter and wrote articles for his brother’s
newspaper. He turned to journalism and published his first short story in
1865. It was an immediate success and he earned international fame.
Twain’s early works were humourous light verses. But he started writing
about more serious and harsh subjects later in his career. One of his most
famous works in this category is Huckleberry Finn. The book combined
humour and social criticism. He died on 21st April, 1910.

244. RABINDRANATH TAGORE

R abindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, storywriter, essayist,
playwright and artist from India. He was born on 7th May, 1861. He
was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. He introduced a new
form of story writing. He was also famous for using everyday terms in
Bengali literature. He studied in England and is known for showcasing Indian
art in the West and vice versa. Some of his most famous works are Sonar
Tari and Chitrangada. He has also penned India’s national anthem. He died
on 7th August, 1941.

245. WILLIAM RANDOLPH

HEARST
W illiam Randolph Hearst was a newspaper publisher, who built the
largest newspaper chain in America. He was born in San Francisco,
California, on 29th April, 1863. He took over his father’s struggling
newspaper, San Francisco Examiner, and introduced a sensational style of
reporting. Within the next two years, the newspaper was showing a profit.
Competition with Pulitzer and the New York World gave rise to what later
came to be known as “yellow journalism” with bold catchy headlines and
exaggerated stories. He died on 14th August, 1951.

246. W. B. YEATS

W illiam Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright. He was born on
13th June, 1865, in Dublin, Ireland. He was one of the most well-
known figures of 20th century literature. He made major contributions to both
the Irish and the British literary establishments. He later served as an Irish
senator for two terms. He was largely responsible for the Irish Literary
Revival. He is one of the few writers who delivered their best work after
winning a Nobel Prize. Some of these include The Tower and The Winding
Stair and Other Poems. He died on 28th January, 1939.

247. VIRGINIA WOOLF

irginia Woolf was an author known for experimenting with narrative
structure. She was born as Adeline Virginia Stephen on 25th January, 1882, in
V London. She was brought up by very progressive parents. She began
writing as a young girl and published her first novel, The Voyage Out,
in 1915. She also wrote essays on artistic theory, literary history, women’s
writing and the politics of power. Her most popular novels are The Voyage
Out, Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, The Years and Between the Acts. She
died on 28th March, 1941.

248. EZRA POUND

zra Pound was an American poet and critic, who is known for his keen

E interest and advancement of the “modern” movement in American

literature. He was born on 30th October, 1885, in Idaho, USA. In
college, he studied language and literature. He went to Europe in 1908, where
he published many books of poetry. During World War II, he broadcasted
several pro-fascist programmes which led to his imprisonment. He died on 1st
November, 1972.

249. T. S. ELIOT
T homas Stearns Eliot was a poet, dramatist and literary critic. He was
born on 26th September, 1888, in the USA. His literary work was
appreciated by audiences worldwide. Some of his best known works include
the poems The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Murder in the Cathedral and
The Hollow Men. His most famous essay is Tradition and the Individual
Talent. He has also made a name for himself in the field of literary criticism.
In fact, some call him the greatest literary critic of the 20th century. He died
on 4th January, 1965.

250. AGATHA CHRISTIE

A gatha Christie is one of the bestselling authors to date. She was born as
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller on 15th September, 1890. In 1914, she
married Colonel Archibald Christie, a Royal Flying Corps pilot and took up
nursing during World War I. She published her first book, The Mysterious
Affair at Styles, in 1920. The story focussed on the murder of a rich heiress.
Writing well into her later years, Christie wrote more than 70 detective
novels as well as short fiction, selling over two billion copies. She died on
12th January, 1976.
251. J. R. R. TOLKIEN
. R. R. Tolkien is credited with the revival of fantasy fiction for adults. He
was born on 3rd January, 1892. He was a lecturer on English and literature,
J specialising in Old and Middle English. He did not write with the
intention of getting published. He began writing his first published work,
The Hobbit, as a story for his daughter. When it was published in 1937, it was
an instant hit. His publisher asked for a sequel, which he delivered 17 years
later. The sequel, called The Lord of the Rings, soon became one of the
highest selling books of the 20th century. He died on 2nd September, 1973.

252. F. SCOTT FITZGERALD

F rancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was a short story writer, who is considered
to be among the greatest 20th century American writers. He was born on
24th September, 1896. His first novel, The Side of Paradise, was a great
success that made him famous. Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, became
important social figures. They moved to Paris, where he wrote his most
famous novel, The Great Gatsby, in 1925. His later work was unsuccessful
and he moved to Hollywood and became a scriptwriter. He died of a heart
attack on 21st December, 1940, leaving his last book incomplete.
 253. ERNEST HEMMINGWAY

E rnest Hemmingway was an American author and journalist. He was

born on 21st July, 1899. He developed an interest in writing at a young
age. He published many short stories before writing his first book, The Sun
Also Rises. The book was well received by critics. His second major piece, A
Farewell to Arms, became one of the most popular books in the World War I
era. Hemmingway focussed on short stories following the war. During this
time, he also wrote his only full-length play, The Fifth Column. He died on
2nd July, 1961.

254. ENID BLYTON

 Enid Blyton was 14 years old when she won a children’s
poetry competition. This encouraged her to submit articles,
stories and poems to magazines.

E nid Blyton is one of the world’s most famous children’s writers. She
was born on 11th August, 1897. She is also one of the most prolific
writers of all time, writing more than 700 books!
She is popular for her children’s books, in which children have several
adventures with little or no help from adults. Her books are still extremely
popular across the world. They have been translated into about 90 languages.
As a teenager, her main interest had been writing poems, stories and other
items. She had sent many of them to magazines, but none of them got
published. She worked as a teacher, and began to have her articles about
children and education printed in a magazine called Teachers’ World. Her
first book of poetry, Child Whispers, came out in 1922.
Her famous adventure series include The Famous Five, The Secret Seven,
The Five Find-Outers and Dog, St. Claires and Malory Towers. For younger
children, she wrote Noddy, The Wishing Chair and The Magic Faraway Tree
amongst others. She died on 28th November, 1968.

255. GEORGE ORWELL

G eorge Orwell was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. He
was born as Eric Arthur Blair on 25th June, 1903. He was the son of a
British colonial civil servant. He studied at Eton, England, after which he
joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, which was then under the British
rule. He resigned in 1927 and became a writer. He moved to Paris in 1928
and eventually wrote the two most famous novels of the 20th century
—Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-four. He died on 21st January, 1950.

256. TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

T ennessee Williams was an American playwright. He was born on 26th

March, 1911, in Mississippi, USA. He was interested in writing plays
while studying at the University of Missouri. He wrote plays through the
Great Depression, while he was employed in a shoe factory. He first gained
recognition in 1939, when his play, American Blues, won a Group Theatre
award. He continued writing plays and finally, in 1947, his play, A Streetcar
Named Desire, won a Pulitzer Prize. He also wrote two novels, essays,
poetry, film scripts, short stories and an autobiography. He died on 25th
February, 1983.

257. WALT WHITMAN

W alt Whitman was one of the most influential poets of the 20th
century. He was born on 31st May, 1819. He was completely self-
educated. His interest in reading was evident from a very young age. He read
the works of Homer, Shakespeare and Dante as a child. He began teaching in
a school at the age of 16 and founded a newspaper at the age of 19. His first
novel and several short stories were published in 1842. However, he is best
known for his collection of poems called Leaves of Grass, which are
celebrations of the natural world. Whitman’s most famous poem was inspired
by Abraham Lincoln and named Oh Captain! My Captain! He died on 26th
March, 1892.

258. ROALD DAHL

R oald Dahl is one of the most popular children’s authors worldwide. He
was born in Llanduff, South Wales, in 1916. After completing his
schooling from Repton, a renowned British public school, he worked in Shell
Oil in Africa. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force (RAF) when World War II
broke out. He first wrote books that were targeted at adult audiences. He later
published children’s books, which made him famous. His famous works
include Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant
Peach and Fantastic Mr. Fox. He died on 23rd November, 1990.

259. HERGÉ

eorgés Remi, whose pen name is Hergé, was born on 22nd May, 1907, in
Etterbeek near Brussels, Belgium. He is credited with creating the comic strip

G hero Tintin, a teenage journalist. After 50 years, Tintin’s adventures

completed 23 albums and sold about 70 million copies in 30 different
languages. He published his first comic strip—Totor, de la Patrouille des
Hannetons, “Totor of the June Bug Patrol”, when he was just 19. He created
Tintin for the children’s supplement, Le Petit Ventième of the daily
newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle in 1929. It was in 1958 that The Black Island
became the first Tintin album to be translated in English. He died on 3rd
March, 1983, in Brussels.

260. SALMAN RUSHDIE

S alman Rushdie is a famous Anglo-Indian writer known for his
allegorical novels. He was born on 19th June, 1947, in Mumbai, India.
He is known for dealing with historical and philosophical issues through
surreal characters and brooding humour in his novels. Rushdie stirred up a lot
of controversy with his treatment of sensitive religious and political subjects.
He is known for writing novels like Midnight’s Children, Shame and Satanic
Verses. The latter was declared as blasphemous and a fatwa was issued
against Rushdie for the same, causing him to go into hiding for nearly a
decade. His work on Midnight Children won him the Booker Prize in 1981.
He was knighted in 2007.

261. TONI MORISSON

oni Morisson was the first African-American woman to receive the Nobel

T Prize in Literature. She was born as Chloe Anthony Wofford on 18th

February, 1931, in Ohio, USA. She graduated with a degree in English
from Harvard University and went on to get a Masters degree from Cornell
University. She came from a family that was extremely proud of their
African-American roots and had immense respect for its culture, which is
reflected in her books. Some of her well-known publications are The Bluest
Eye, Sula and Song of Solomon.

262. DAN BROWN

D an Brown is an American author, who gained popularity overnight
with his novel, The Da Vinci Code. He was born on 22nd June, 1964, in
New Hampshire, USA. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy and graduated
from Amherst College. Digital Fortress was his first novel. He introduced the
popular professor of symbology, Robert Langdon, in his next novel, Angels
and Demons. Langdon reappeared in The Da Vinci Code, which was an
extremely popular book that sold more than 80 million copies worldwide.
The series was made into popular movies as well.

263. J. K. ROWLING
 J. K. Rowling published her first novel for adults, The Casual
Vacancy, in 2012. She also wrote a crime novel called The
Cuckoo’s Calling in 2013, which she says is the first of a
series.

J oanne Kathleen Rowling is a famous author, who shot to fame for

creating the famous Harry Potter series. She was born on 31st July, 1965.
She went to Exeter University, after which she worked as a secretary and
teacher, but then went through some tough times. Eventually, she was
unemployed for a short period of time, during which she lived in poverty.
She wrote the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s
Stone, in 1997. The idea for the book came to her while on a train ride. She
said that she really liked the idea of creating a place where a child could have
power, like Hogwarts.
Even though about 50 publishers turned her down, she never gave up.
Bloomsbury Publishing bought Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in
1997 and it was an instant success. She eventually wrote seven books in the
Harry Potter series, which were so successful that they were adapted into
films.
 Amazing Artists
This section focusses on people who have laid the stepping stone in the field of art. Their
work has contributed to shaping the art world in a major way. Let’s find out about their
masterpieces and contributions as well as their lives. Read on and get to know these
amazing artists.

264. LEONARDO DA VINCI

eonardo da Vinci was an artist, scientist and inventor during the Italian
Renaissance. He was born on 15th April, 1452, in Vinci, Italy. He is
L hailed as one of the most talented and intelligent people of all time.
Not much is known about his childhood, except for the fact that his father
was a rich man. He worked as an apprentice with a famous artist named
Verrocchio when he was 14 years old. He learned all about art, drawing,
painting and more.
Da Vinci kept journals where he would draw and write about his scientific
observations of the world. His journals were filled with diagrams of hand
gliders, helicopters, war machines, musical instruments, various pumps and
anything else that caught his fancy.
Da Vinci is regarded as one of the greatest artists in history. He has created
several masterpieces throughout his lifetime, the most well-known of which
are The Last Supper and The Mona Lisa. He died on 2nd May, 1519.

265. MASACCIO
T ommaso Cassai, known as Masaccio, was an Italian painter, who is
sometimes called “the father of the Renaissance”. He was born on 21st
December, 1401.
In 1422, at the age of 21, Masaccio joined a group of painters known as the
“Painter’s Guild”. He was given the nickname “Maso”, meaning “clumsy”.
This was probably because of his absent-minded ways, his attire and his
indifference towards worldly affairs. His paintings in the Brancacci Chapel of
the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence remained influential
throughout the Renaissance. He died in 1428 at the tender age of 27.
266. BOTTICELLI
andro Botticelli is one of the greatest painters of the Renaissance. He was

S born as Alessandro Filipepi in 1445 in Florence, Italy. He started out as

an apprentice to a goldsmith. However, he soon got bored and decided
to pursue painting instead. He then apprenticed with a painting master Fra
Filippo Lippi. Botticelli learned a lot under Lippi. Botticelli is known for
painting people, gods, goddesses and angels with dreamy looks on their
faces. He is also known for his depiction of mythological scenes. He died in
1510.

267. DONATELLO
 Donatello’s statue, The David was originally placed in the
Cathedral and then moved to the City Hall, where it
remained stood for a long time.

D onatello is one of the greatest sculptors of the Italian renaissance. He

was born in Florence, Italy, around 1386. He was a master in both
marble bronze sculptures. He was the son of a wool carver.
How he started his career isn’t known. Some time between 1404 and 1407,
he became a member at the workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti. One of his earliest
known works is a famous sculpture called The David. He became well-
known early in his career.
By the time he was 20, he was getting paid for his work. While his work is
very famous, not a lot is known about his personal life, apart from the fact
that he was a man with very simple tastes. He is known for his lifelike,
emotional sculptures. As a Renaissance sculptor, he is second to only
Michelangelo. His knowledge of ancient sculpture was not matched by any
other artist of his day. He died on 13th December, 1446.

268. MICHELANGELO
 Michelangelo didn’t want to paint the ceiling of the Sistine
chapel when the Pope first offered it to him. He was more
interested in sculpting. However, today, it is considered to be
one of his greatest works.

M ichelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti, more commonly known by his

first name, is perhaps the best-known Renaissance artist. He was born
on 6th March, 1475, in Italy. He wanted to be an artist ever since he was a
child. He was discouraged by his father from pursuing it because it was
considered to be beneath the family status. His father had him enrolled in a
school to prepare him for a career in business. However, Michelangelo was
least interested in studying. Instead, he enjoyed copying paintings from
churches and loved the company of other painters.
While studying, he met a student of painter Domenico Ghirlandaio, one of
the most well-known painters in Florence, and took up an apprenticeship with
him. But he left the apprenticeship after a year and studied under Lorenzo dei
Medici, a retired sculptor.
Recognised as the most talented sculptor of central Italy, he was
commissioned to carve the Biblical hero “David” for the Florence Cathedral.
He began his masterpiece, the 12,000 square foot ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel, seven years later. Michelangelo died on 18th February, 1564.

269. GIORGIO VASARI

B orn on 30th July, 1511, in Tuscany, Italy, Giorgio Vasari was an
architect and art historian. His book called Lives of the Most Excellent
Painters, Sculptors and Architects is considered the foundation of art-
historical writing. Vasari was the first art historian. He is called the “father of
art history”. He was also a renowned architect. He built and renovated many
important churches and structures, including the Vasari Corridor in Florence.
In 1547, Vasari built himself a beautiful house. After his death on 27th June,
1574, it has been converted into a museum dedicated to him.
270. GIAN LORENZO BERNINI
ian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist, who was the greatest sculptor and
architect of the 17th century. He was born on 7th December, 1598. He
G is possibly the only artist to come close to Michelangelo’s ingenuity.
He is credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture. Throughout
his life, he served eight different popes. He contributed to several of Rome’s
landmarks, including St. Peter’s Basilica and the Fountain of the Four Rivers.
He died on 28th November, 1680.

271. RAPHAEL
 Raphael died on Good Friday. Some historians believe that
he was also born on Good Friday, which fell on 6th April of
the year 1483. But some are of the opinion that he was born
on 28th March, 1483.

affaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael, was an Italian painter

R and architect from the Renaissance era. He was born in the year 1483
in Marche, Italy. Along with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, he
forms what is considered the trinity of Renaissance masters.
Raphael was exposed to art right from his infancy, as his father was a
celebrated artist. He studied under an artist called Pietro Perugino, whose
influence was very evident in his early work.
He learnt from artists in Florence, while at the same time developing his
own style. The biggest influence was of Leonardo da Vinci, who Raphael
emulated in terms of complexity and poses.
Later, Raphael was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint some of the
rooms in Vatican. This was around the same time that Michelangelo was
painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He died on 6th April, 1520, at the
young age of 37. As per his final wishes, he was buried at the Pantheon in
Rome.

272. ANSEL ADAMS

A nsel Adams was a famous American photographer and
environmentalist. He was born on 20th February, 1902. He is one of
America’s most loved photographers. He was known to work exhausting
hours, sometimes more than 18 hours a day. He learned from and exhibited
with other famous photographers of the time. Most of his important works
were photographs of America’s wilderness. His iconic black-and-white
images helped to establish photography among the fine arts. He died in
Monterey, California, on 22nd April, 1984.
273. SALVADOR DALI
alvador Dali was a Spanish surrealist painter and printmaker. He was born on
11th May, 1904, in Figueres, Spain. He was adept at several styles. However,
S two events greatly influenced his style. He read Freud’s work on dreams
and the subconscious. He also met a group of Paris surrealists. The
surreal movement in art and literature believed in the power of man’s
subconscious over reality. He often presented everyday objects in a dream-
like absurd manner. Today, he is one of the best known surrealists of all time.
He died on 23rd January, 1989.

274. ALBRECHT ALTDORFER

 Albrecht Altdorfer’s backdrops were beautiful, but not
necessarily historically accurate. His painting, A
Cruxifiction, which depicted the crucifixion of Jesus Christ,
was set on the banks of a river!
lbrecht Altdorfer was a Renaissance artist, painter and engraver. Born in 1480

A in Germany, he worked in the town of Regensburg. He is credited with

being the leading artist of the Danube School of painting. They used
methods like etching to create works of art.
Altdorfer was the first painter to paint pure landscapes without any
particular subjects. He also used anthropomorphism, which is the style of
giving life-like characteristics to lifeless objects and plants.
However, his most famous works are Biblical scenes set against vivid,
imaginative and colourful backgrounds. Intricate buildings portrayed in his
paintings also showed off his architectural skill.
He created what came to be known by many as one of the most horrific
paintings ever, The Battle of Issus. It shows the army of Alexander the Great
storming into battle.
Altdorfer died on 12th February, 1538, in Regensburg, the place he was
associated with all his life.

275. REMBRANDT
R embrandt van Rijn was a Dutch painter and printmaker. He was born
on 15th July, 1606. He is well-known for telling stories through his
paintings. He started out by painting portraits. Throughout his career, he
continued to paint, etch and draw portraits. He was especially gifted at
portraying people in their various moods and dramatic poses. He also enjoyed
playing with light and shadow in his paintings. All his paintings reflected
reality—he did not believe in beautifying his paintings, which earned him a
lot of criticism. He died on 4th October, 1669.

276. JOHANNES VERMEER

J ohannes Vermeer was a Dutch artist, who created some iconic images in
art. Although only 36 of his paintings still survive, they occupy
prestigious positions in the world’s finest museums. He began his career in
the 1650s by painting biblical and mythological scenes. But he is best-known
for his later work, which depicts scenes of daily life in interior settings.
Vermeer also painted cityscapes and allegorical scenes. Some of his best
known works are Girl With a Pearl Earring, The Milkmaid and The
Astronomer. He died on 16th December, 1675.

277. GUSTAVE EIFFEL

 The Eiffel Tower is 320 m (1050 feet) in height and was the
tallest artificial structure in the world for 41 years, before
being surpassed by the Chrysler Building in New York.

G ustave Eiffel is a civil engineer known for the construction of the

Eiffel Tower. He was born on 15th December, 1832. He graduated
from the College of Art and Manufacturing in 1855. After this, he began to
specialise in constructing with metal and his early work focussed chiefly on
bridges. The chief engineer on the Statue of Liberty died in 1879 and Eiffel
was hired to replace him. He then began to work on the Garabit viaduct, the
highest bridge in the world. After that, he started working on what would
come to be known as the Eiffel Tower. The tower took two years to build,
finally getting complete in 1889. The tower brought him the nickname
“magician of iron”. It also inspired him to take an interest in the problems of
aerodynamics and he used the tower for many experiments. He also built the
first aerodynamic laboratory at Auteuil, outside Paris. He worked here
throughout World War I till he gave it to the State in 1921. Eiffel died on 27th
December, 1923.

278. ANDY WARHOL

A ndy Warhol is an American artist and filmmaker. He was born on 6th
August, 1928. He was an initiator of the Pop Art movement, which
propagated the mass production of art and swept the USA in the 1960s. He
studied fine art in college, after which he moved to New York City and began
creating advertisements and illustrations for magazines. Warhol began
creating the paintings he is best known for today in the 1960s. He loved pop
culture and decided to paint what he loved. He painted large pictures of Coca-
Cola bottles, Campbell’s soup cans and dollar bills. He also painted pictures
of celebrities. He died on 22nd February, 1987.

279. ROBERT FRANK

S wiss photographer and filmmaker Robert Frank was born on 9th

November, 1924. He grew up under the World War II threat of Nazism.
This gave him an understanding of oppression and suffering, which made
him turn to photography as a creative outlet. In 1947, he migrated to USA
and moved to New York, where he pursued a career in photography. He is
widely known for his 1958 photography book, The Americans, which
provides an outsider’s view of American society.

280. FREDERIC AUGUSTE

BARTHOLDI
F rederic Auguste Bartholdi was a French sculptor, his most well-known
work being the Statue of Liberty in the USA. Bartholdi was born on 2nd
April, 1834, in Alsace, France. At the age of 20, he travelled to Egypt and
studied Egyptian art. He was very impressed by the colossal monuments and
they helped to shape up his artistic vision. He began working on the Statue of
Liberty after 1875.
 It is widely believed that he modelled Lady Liberty’s face after his mother.
He died of tuberculosis on 4th October, 1904, in Paris.

281. PAUL CEZANNE

P aul Cezanne was a French artist and painter, whose work led the change
that art went through from the 19th to the 20th century. He was born on
19th January, 1839. Cezanne can be said to form the bridge between the
dominant style of art in the 19th century (impressionism) and the movement
that swept through the 20th century (cubism). Both Henri Matisse and Pablo
Picasso, great cubist painters, were highly influenced by Cezanne. He died on
22nd October, 1906.

282. CLAUDE MONET

 Impressionism was a form of art characterised by small, thin,
yet visible strokes. Impressionists believed in capturing the
essence of the subject instead of the detail.

C laude Monet was a French painter, who founded the Impressionist

Movement. He was born on 14th November, 1840, in Paris. He enjoyed
drawing ever since he was a child. He started by drawing very impressive
caricatures of people.
He scribbled caricatures of his teachers in his schoolbooks and by 15, he
had gained a reputation as a caricature artist. His work was displayed at a
local frame maker’s shop. People soon began recognising their friends and
acquaintances in the drawings. It was not long before he started charging
people to draw their caricatures and this gave him a steady income.
Monet became known as an “Impressionist”—a title derived from his
painting, Impression, Sunrise. The brush strokes were lively and spontaneous,
capturing the feeling of the moment.
Monet was one of the first artists to paint outdoors. Though paintings of
landscapes were common, they were almost always painted from recollection
in a studio and never a direct impression. Monet died on 5th December, 1926.

283. AUGUSTE RODIN

 Rodin’s last work, The Gates of Hell, remained unfinished
because of his death, but he remained popular for his most
well-known sculptures—The Thinker and The Kiss.

A uguste Rodin was a well-known French sculptor, considered by some

to be the greatest portraitist in history. He worked on both bronze and
marble to create his sculptures. He was born on 12th November, 1840, into a
poor family. He enrolled in an art school at the age of 13. He tried to get
admission in the École des Beaux-Arts, but failed the competitive exam
thrice. He decided to earn a living by doing decorative stonework.
By the time he was 35, he had not yet found a personally expressive style
because of the pressures of decorative work. In 1875, he travelled to Italy,
where he visited Genoa, Florence, Rome, Naples and Venice, and was
inspired by great artists like Michelangelo and Donatello.
Under their influence, he moulded his first famous bronze sculpture, The
Vanquished. It was so realistic that people accused him of taking the mould
of an actual person!
He established his identity as an exemplary sculptor only at the age of 40.
He died on 17th November, 1917.

284. PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR

F rench impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born on 25th
February, 1841, in Limoges, France. His artistic talent was evident even
when he was a little boy, when he worked as an apprentice to a porcelain
painter. In 1862, Renoir began studying art in Paris. There, he met some
fellow-painters along with whom he would launch the Impressionism Art
movement.
Renoir died on 3rd December, 1919, in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France. The warm
sensuality that his paintings exuded made him one of the most celebrated
modern artists.
 285. ANTONI GAUDI

A ntoni Gaudi was a revolutionary Spanish architect. He was born on

25th June, 1852. He developed a keen interest in architecture at a
young age. He went to school in Barcelona, the city that inspired many of his
great works. Gaudi was part of the Catalan Modernista movement. The
building that Antoni Gaudi is best known for, though, is La Sagrada Familia
in Barcelona. He began making this huge church in 1882 and he worked on it
until he died on 10th June, 1926. Sadly, it has been left unfinished.

286. VINCENT VAN GOGH

 Van Gogh was known to be mentally disturbed. In 1888, he
cut off a part of his ear with a razor blade when Gauguin, a
painter who was living with him, announced that he wanted
to leave.

V incent Van Gogh was a Dutch painter, who is one of the greatest post-
impressionist painters. He was born on 30th March, 1853, in
Netherlands.
His work was a major influence on 20th century art. He struggled with
psychological illnesses and was poor throughout his life. He was also
virtually unrecognised throughout his life.
At 16, he apprenticed with a branch of art dealers. Dealing with art on a
daily basis aroused an artistic sensibility in him and he soon began to admire
Dutch masters like Rembrandt. He later tried his hand at many professions,
including teaching and he even tried joining the Church. However, he was
thrown out of the church and took to painting after that.
His paintings became popular only after his death. They were characterised
by bright colours, deliberate brush strokes and forced forms. His painting,
The Starry Night, has become one of the most celebrated art masterpieces of
all time.
Van Gogh pioneered the art movement that came to be known as
“Expressionism”. He died in France on 29th July, 1890, from a self-inflicted
gunshot wound.

287. GUSTAV KLIMT

G ustav Klimt was an Austrian painter and founder of the school called
Vienna Sezession. He was born in Austria on 14th July, 1862. He
studied at the Vienna School of Decorative Arts, after which he opened an
independent studio. Klimt painted many images of women during his years
with the Vienna. He also painted many landscapes. In the 1890s, he began
taking yearly vacations to the Austrian lake, Attersee, with a female
acquaintance and her family. It was this area that inspired his landscapes. He
died on 6th February, 1918.
288. EDVARD MUNCH
dvard Munch was a Norwegian painter, who greatly influenced German
expressionism. He was born on 12th December, 1863, in Löten, Norway. He
E began to pursue a career in engineering, but abandoned it and decided
to devote his life to painting. He established a style of painting that was
free flowing. His painting reflected his internal emotions and was like
nothing anyone had ever seen before. His painting, The Scream is possibly
the most recognisable works in the history of art. His later works were not as
intense as his earlier works, but his legacy was already established. He died
on 23rd January, 1944.

289. ALEXANDER BOGOMAZOV

A lexander or Oleksandr Bogomazov was a Ukrainian painter. He was
born on 7th April, 1880. He was a part of Russian Avant-garde
movement. He wrote a treatise in 1914 called The Art of Painting and the
Elements in which he analysed the relationship between the object, artist,
picture and spectator. It is the basis of modern art. He attended the Institute of
Agriculture in Kherson for six years. After that, he went to the Kiev Art
School for another three years. Though he mastered many art styles, he was
most famous for his cubo-futurism and spectralism. He died on 3rd June,
1930.

290. FRANZ MARC

F ranz Marc was a German painter. He was born on 8th February, 1880, in
Munich. He was the second son of painter Wilhelm Marc. He was part
of a huge movement in the arts called German expressionism. This
movement believed that art must be a reflection of the artist’s feelings and
emotions instead of imitating nature or illustrating a literary theme. For the
first time in history, art was being created out of an inner necessity on the
part of the artist to create it. Franz Marc is known for his mystic paintings of
animals. He died on 4th March, 1916.

291. PABLO PICASSO

 Pablo Picasso’s full name has 22 words! He was baptised as
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno
María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad
Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso. He was named after
several saints and relatives.

P ablo Picasso was one of the greatest artists of the 20th century and also
one of the pioneers of the cubism art form. He was born on 25th
October, 1881, in Malaga, Spain. His father was an art teacher and this
helped cultivate Picasso’s interest. His father began tutoring him in art from
the age of seven. Picasso kept practising until he was an even better artist
than his father.
At the age of 16, Picasso started attending Madrid’s Royal Academy of
San Fernand. When he went to Paris in 1900, Picasso’s art attracted the
attention of several art collectors, including the famous Gertrude Stein. 1907
marked the year that Picasso created Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, which laid
the foundation for the cubism art movement. Cubism involves breaking up
the painting’s subject and re-assembling it on the canvas in an abstract
composition.
Some of his famous paintings include The Old Guitarist, Asleep and Seated
Woman and Guernica, a mural about the Spanish Civil War. Pablo Picasso
died on 8th April, 1973, in Mougins, France.

292. TITIAN
 Titian was Venice’s only plague victim to get a church
burial. Owing to their large numbers, the other victims were
unceremoniously buried in mass graves.

T itian is the English name of Tiziano Vecellio, a 16th century oil painter
who was born between 1488 and 1490 in Venice, Italy. He rose to fame
at an early age for being a supreme painter. Highly respected, his peers called
him the “Sun amidst small stars”.
In his early years, he studied under the popular painters, Gentile and
Giovanni Bellini. He learnt a lot from his contemporaries, too. Titian grew to
be the best painter in Venice and had great influence over western art.
Titian’s work used clean colours and portrayed an idealistic beauty, both in
nature and in people. He was one of the first painters to use quick
underpaintings rather than elaborate underdrawings for his art. He
contributed significantly to all the major areas of Renaissance art.
He was appointed as the official painter to the Republic in 1516. Towards
the end of his life, Titian abandoned the rules and painted more emotionally.
His life came to an end on 27th August, 1576, when he passed away from
the plague.

293. HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON

H enri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer, who helped establish
photojournalism as a form of art. He was born on 22nd August, 1908.
He had a lustrous career, covering famous events from the 1930s to the
1970s. He covered many of the world’s biggest events, from the Spanish
Civil War to the French uprisings in 1968. His work has earned him the title,
“Father of Photojournalism”. He started taking photographs in the 1930s and
was already holding his first exhibitions and publications by 1933. He died
on 3rd August, 2004.
 294. JACKSON POLLOCK

aul Jackson Pollock was an American painter known for his involvement in
the Abstract Expressionist Movement. He was born on 28th January, 1912.
P He gained fame during his lifetime itself. He was first exposed to liquid
paint at a workshop in New York City held by Mexican muralist, David
Alfaro Siqueiros in 1936. Later, paint pouring was one of several techniques
he used on canvases in the early 1940s. Some of his famous work includes
Male and Female and Composition with Pouring I. He died on 11th August,
1956.

295. ÉDOUARD MANET

 Manet liked to paint regular people doing everyday
activities. He painted beggars, singers and people from the
streets of Paris.

B orn into a middle-class family in Paris on 23rd January, 1832, Édouard

Manet was always artistically inclined. His parents wished for him to
pursue a more traditional career, but he defied them and went to art school
instead.
One of Manet’s hobbies was to sneak away from home and go to the
Louvre museum. He would sit there for hours and try to copy the displayed
masterpieces. For three years, Manet travelled across Europe and learnt about
many brilliant painters.
After six years of study, Manet opened his own art studio. His painting,
The Absinthe Drinker, is considered a prime example of the realism art form
even today.
However, Manet’s art is significant because it encapsulates the shift in the
art scene from realism to impressionism. Manet’s other famous works include
The Luncheon on the Grass and Olympia. He died on 30th April, 1883, in
Paris, by which time he was already considered a path-breaking artist.

296. RAVI VARMA

R aja Ravi Varma, born on 29th April, 1848, in Kerala, India, is an Indian
painter who is famously known for his work of amalgamating Hindu
mythology with European realist historicist painting style. He was one of the
first Indian artists to use oil paints and master the art of lithographic
reproduction of his work. He was also the first Indian to acclimatise Indian
subjects, styles and themes using western techniques. In 1873, he won the
Governor’s Gold Medal for the painting Nair Lady Adorning Her Hair. He
died on 2nd October, 1906.

297. FRANK GEHRY

F rank Gehry is a Canadian-American architect. He was born on 28th
February, 1929. He studied at the University of Southern California and
Harvard University. He is renowned for his bold, post-modern architecture
and unusual creations. His most famous works include the Walt Disney
Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. He has
also won many awards, some of which are the Pritzker Architecture Prize
(1989), the National Medal of the Arts (1998) and the American Institute of
Architects Gold Medal (1999).
 Mesmerising Musicians
This section focusses on people who have made significant contributions in the field of
music. Let’s find out about their talents and contributions as well as about their lives. Let’s
see how their music has influenced people all over the world. Read on and get to know more
about these mesmerising musicians.

298. MICHAEL JACKSON

M th
ichael Joseph Jackson was an American singer, songwriter, dancer
and philanthropist, who is called the “King of Pop”. He was born on
29 August, 1958, in Gary, Indiana. He began his career with four of his
brothers, forming the famous band, the “Jackson 5”.
In 1968, when Jackson was only 10, Motown records signed the Jackson 5.
They toured internationally, releasing six more albums between 1976 and
1984. After their success, Jackson decided to become a solo act. His debut
album was Got to be there, which was released on 24th January, 1972.
Jackson has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. He
has eight Guinness World Records throughout his successful musical career.
He passed away on 25th June, 2009.

299. THE BEATLES

 The Beatles remain one of the bestselling musical groups of
all time. They contributed not only to music, but also to film,
literature, art and fashion.

I n the 1960s, a band from Liverpool, England, burst into the pop music
scene and changed it forever. “The Beatles” comprised of George
Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Paul McCartney
and John Lennon formed the nucleus of the group.
All the members of the band were united by a mutual love and respect for
American rock and roll. They did several small-time gigs in Liverpool and
Hamburg before they were spotted by Brian Epstein, a local record store
owner. He was convinced of their commercial potential and he became their
manager. He finally got them a contract with Parlophone, a subsidiary of the
giant EMI label. The Beatles soon shot to fame in the UK as well as
internationally.
The Beatles were also the leaders of the “counterculture” that swept the
world in the 1960s. Their songs were known for their anti-war, anti-capitalist
stance. They were openly against the Vietnam War and John Lennon was
nearly deported because of it.

300. LOUIS ARMSTRONG

L ouis Armstrong, also known as “Satchmo” and “Pops”, is one of the
pillars of jazz music. He was born on 4th August, 1901, in New Orleans,
USA. In a career spanning nearly 50 years, Armstrong gained popularity as
an iconic jazz musician. His skill with the trumpet and his trademark gruff
voice made him the star attraction at concerts.
He was one of the first African-American musicians to overcome racial
discrimination in 1920s America. He paved the way for many other
musicians. He died in New York on 6th July, 1971.
301. FRANK SINATRA
rank Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA, on 12th December,
F 1915. His deep, soulful voice brought him great success singing big
band songs in the 1940s and 1950s.
After delivering hit song after hit song, he went on to act in a number of
films and even won an Oscar for the film From Here to Eternity. He also
received 11 Grammy Awards during his lifetime. He died at the age of 82 on
14th May, 1998.

302. MILES DAVIS

iles Dewey Davis was not only a famous American jazz musician, but also
one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He was born
M in Illinois, USA, on 26th May, 1926. He was only 16 when he started
his career. He has led several major developments in music, including
bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz and jazz fusion. His record debut
came in 1946.

303. JOHNNY CASH

J ohnny Cash was born on 26th February, 1932, in Arkansas, USA. He
showed a passion for music from an early age, having picked up the
guitar when he was 12. As a young man, Cash joined the US Air Force and
was sent to Germany, where he formed a band called “The Landsberg
Barbarians” with some Air Force friends. His 1957 song, I Walk The Line,
shot to No.1 and catapulted Cash to fame. He went on to write many hit
songs with his wife, June Carter. Cash died on 12th September, 2003 at
Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

304. JAMES BROWN

James Brown had a very versatile voice. He could croon
 soulfully and “scream” in perfect key, all in the same song!

J ames Brown was fondly known as the “Godfather of Soul”. He was born
on 3rd May, 1933. He was so poor that he was sent away from school for
“insufficient clothes”. He also went to prison at a young age.
In 1955, he was invited to join an R&B vocal group. With his leadership
skills and great talent, Brown quickly became the leader of the group. They
changed their name to the “Famous Flames” and started performing secular
music at nightclubs.
In 1956, the Famous Flames recorded a demo tape of the song Please,
Please, Please, which impressed a talent scout for King Records. Soon, the
song had reached No. 1 on the charts.
That was just the beginning for Brown. He went on to record many popular
songs during his career that spanned six decades.
His legacy came to an end on 25th December, 2006, when he breathed his
last in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

305. ELVIS PRESLEY

K nown as the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley was born on 8th
January, 1935, in Mississippi, USA. He came from very humble
beginnings and grew to become the biggest music icon of his time. He
appeared in 33 successful films, several television appearances and found
great acclaim through his record-breaking live concerts. He is one of the
highest-selling musicians of all time and has won gold, platinum and multi-
platinum awards. Also under his belt are three Grammy Awards and the
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, which he won at the age of 36. He
died on 16th August, 1977.

306. PAVAROTTI

uciano Pavarotti was an opera singer, who helped to make opera more
popular in mainstream music. He was born on 12th October, 1935, in Italy.
L When he was 19 years old, Pavarotti started training to become a
professional opera singer. Seeing his talent, the tutor offered to teach
him for free! In 1966, he became the first ever opera singer to be able to hit
all nine “high Cs”. This made him a global phenomenon. He died on 6th
September, 2007.

307. BOB DYLAN

ob Dylan is an American musician, singer-songwriter, artist and writer. He
was born as Robert Allen Zimmerman on 24th May, 1941. He adopted
B the name “Bob Dylan” while he performed folk and country songs as a
college student. His thought-provoking lyrics filled with social,
political and literary undertones led people to refer to him as the Shakespeare
of his generation. His most famous work dates back to the 1960s, but he has
remained an influential figure in pop music. He released his latest album in
2012 and continues to tour all around the world.

308. JOHN LENNON

J ohn Lennon was the lead singer, guitarist and song writer of the iconic
musical group, “The Beatles”. He was born on 9th October, 1940, in
Liverpool, England. He met Paul McCartney in 1957 and invited McCartney
to join his music group. They eventually formed the most successful
songwriting partnership in musical history. Lennon left The Beatles in 1969
and later released albums with his wife, Yoko Ono. He was heavily involved
with social activism, which reflected in his music. A mentally unstable fan
assassinated Lennon on 8th December, 1980, in New York, USA.
 309. JIMI HENDRIX

G uitarist, singer and songwriter Jimi Hendrix was born Johnny Allen
Hendrix on 27th November, 1942. Even though his career lasted only
four years, he completely redefined rock music in that time. Inspired by Elvis
Presley, Hendrix mastered the electric guitar and moved to London, where he
formed a band called “The Jimi Hendrix Experience”. The band soon had
three hit singles—Hey Joe, The Wind Cries Mary and Purple Haze. Their two
albums were also successes. Hendrix was legendary because he blurred the
lines between musical genres. He died on 18th September, 1970, at the height
of his fame.
 310. JIM MORRISON

im Morrison was an iconic rock musician and the lead singer of the band,
“The Doors”. He was born on 8th December, 1943, at Florida, USA. The
J Doors shot into fame overnight when their single, Light My Fire, topped
the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. Morrison was very intellectual and
liked to read. The songs he wrote with band mate Robby Krieger had
meaningful, poetic lyrics. In 1971, Morrison left the band and moved to Paris
to write poetry. On 3rd July of the same year, he was found dead. He was just
27.

311. BOB MARLEY

B ob Marley has gone down in history for bringing Jamaican reggae
music to international ears. He was born in Nine Mile, Saint Ann,
Jamaica, on 6th February, 1945. It all started in 1963, when Marley and his
friends formed a band called “The Wailers”. Through the course of his career,
Marley went on to sell more than 20 million records. He was the first
superstar to emerge from a so-called backward country. Marley inspired
people not just with his music, but also with his Rastafarian beliefs. He died
in Miami, Florida, on 11th May, 1981.

312. FREDDIE MERCURY

reddie Mercury was the lead singer and songwriter for the world-famous rock

F band “Queen”. His real name was Farookh Bulsara and he was born on
5th September, 1946, in Zanzibar, Tanzania. He was originally from
India. He studied in a boarding school there, which is where he learnt the
piano. He then attended London’s Ealing College of Art. As a singer, he had
a very impressive vocal range. His unmistakable vocals gave Queen classic
hits like Bohemian Rhapsody and Under Pressure. He passed away on 24th
November, 1991.

313. DAVID BOWIE

I n the 1970s, when he was at his peak, David Bowie was known as the
master of reinvention because of his ever-changing music and appearance.
He was born David Robert Jones in Brixton, South London, England, on 8th
January, 1947. He joined six different musical groups, but none of them did
well. It was only after embracing his love for theatricals and his eccentric
personality that he soared to superstardom. In 1996, he was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He last released an album in 2013 after a 10-
year hiatus.
 314. ELTON JOHN

ir Elton John is one of the most celebrated British musicians of all time. Born
as Reginald Kenneth Dwight, he was a child prodigy with a natural talent for

S the piano. He was born on 25th March, 1947. After hearing a melody, he
could play it by the ear! Among other awards and accolades, he has won
six Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a
Tony Award. In 1998, the Queen of England knighted John for his
contribution to music and charity.

315. YANNI

Y th
anni is the stage name of Yiannis Chryssomallis, a Greek-born
American pianist, keyboardist, composer and music producer. Born on
14 November, 1954, he is credited with popularising New Age instrumental
music. Yanni’s albums have repeatedly topped the Billboard charts in the
“Top New Age Album” category and he has sold more than 20 million
records. He is also known for his live concert performances and has
performed at iconic sites like the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Taj Mahal in
India and the Kremlin in Russia.

316. JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

ohann Sebastian Bach was a famous German music composer. He was born
on 21st March, 1685, into a family of musicians. He is best known for his
J compositions on the organ. Some even call him the best organ player of
all time. He was orphaned at the age of nine, after which he went to live
with his brother, an organ player. Bach followed in his brother’s footsteps
and started playing for the Church in his town.
In 1723, he was appointed as the music director of the Thomasschule.
Here, he was in great demand because of his immense knowledge and talent.
He even began publishing his own work. Though he wrote more than 300
musical pieces, he always enjoyed studying music and playing instruments
more than writing. He died on 28th July, 1750.

317. MADONNA
 In 2003, Madonna wrote a children’s book called The
English Roses. Not only did it top the New York Times Best
Seller list, but it also became the fastest-selling children’s
picture book of all time!

adonna is often referred to as the “Queen of Pop”. Born on 16th August,

M 1958, in Michigan, USA, she moved to New York City to become a

dancer. But fate had different plans for her. She got signed on by Sire
Records and released her first music album at the age of 24.
She continued to rule the pop music scene throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
Many of her hits topped the charts at No. 1. Some of these are Papa Don’t
Preach, Like a Prayer, Frozen and 4 Minutes.
Madonna is known to constantly re-invent herself and pleasantly surprise
her audience. She has dabbled in dancing, acting, dancing and writing.
Madonna even started her own entertainment company called “Maverick
Entertainment”.
She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. In that
same year, she was ranked second on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top
Artists. In 2013, Forbes magazine named her the fifth most powerful
celebrity and also the highest-earning one.

318. MOZART
W th
olfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy and one of the most
famous musicians of all time. He was born in Salzburg, Austria on
27 January, 1756. His father, Leopold Mozart, was a choir master. At the
young age of four, he began keyboard lessons and started performing
flawlessly. By age five, he was composing short pieces by himself. At the age
of eight, this child prodigy published his first two sonatas. His skills as a
composer continued to develop and by the age of 13, he had composed his
first opera. Mozart passed away on 5th December, 1791, leaving behind a
collection of more than 600 compositions.

319. BEETHOVEN
L udwig van Beethoven was one of the world’s greatest music composers.
He was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1770. He wrote many symphonies,
tones and pieces for music, using instruments such as the piano, organ and
violin. He learned all these instruments by the young age of eight and wrote
his first composition when he was only 11. He had a hearing problem which
kept getting worse as he aged. Amazingly, he composed his most significant
work when he was completely deaf! He died on 26th March, 1827, at Vienna,
Austria.

320. THE ROLLING STONES

T he Rolling Stones is an English rock band that is credited with making
blues a major part of rock and roll. It was formed in 1962 and originally
consisted of Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica), Ian Stewart (piano), Mick
Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica), Keith Richards (guitar), Bill Wyman (bass)
and Charlie Watts (drums). Though a lot of the members have been replaced,
the band is still active and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012. The
Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989
and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. “Rolling Stone” magazine ranked
them fourth on the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” list.

321. PINK FLOYD

P ink Floyd was an English rock band that was formed in 1967. Syd
Barrett, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright were the
founding members. Step Gilmour joined the band in 1968 and in the
following year, Barrett quit the band because of health reasons. They earned
laurels for their unique sound, thought-provoking lyrics, quirky cover art on
their albums and their flamboyant live shows. Pink Floyd has sold over 200
million albums worldwide. They officially disbanded in 2006, bringing a
four-decade legacy to an end.

322. KURT COBAIN

K th
urt Cobain was an American musician and artist, best known as the
lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the rock band “Nirvana”. Born
on 20 February, 1967, Cobain formed Nirvana in 1987. After signing with
major label DGC Records, the band found breakthrough success with Smells
Like Teen Spirit from its 1991 album “Nevermind”.
Nirvana is said to be the pioneer of the grunge rock music genre and has
sold over 75 million records worldwide. Cobain passed away on 5th April,
1994, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, when he was just 27 years old.

323. THE EAGLES

T he Eagles are an American band that pioneered the country rock genre
of music, blending two of America’s most-loved music genres. Formed
in 1971, The Eagles consists of Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon,
Randy Meisner and later, Timothy Schmit. Seven of their songs and six
albums made it to No.1. Their album “Hotel California” is ranked 37th on
Rolling Stone’s “Greatest Albums of All Time” list.
324. ABBA
 In 2008, the musical Mamma Mia! was adapted into a film
starring Meryl Streep. It went on to become the most
successful film in the UK for that year.

A BBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972. The

name was coined with the first letters of the members’ names—
Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
They became the first musicians from mainland Europe to break into the
British, American and Australian pop charts. “ABBA” put Sweden on the
global music map and helped pave the way for other European musicians.
They topped the worldwide music charts throughout the 1970s. In 1974,
they represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest and won Sweden its
first ever victory in the contest. On the contest’s 50th anniversary in 2005,
ABBA was felicitated again. Their song Waterloo was chosen as the best
song in the history of the Eurovision contest. ABBA’s worldwide sales were
about 300–400 million. This makes them one of the highest-selling bands of
all time, second only to The Beatles.

325. EMINEM
E minem is the stage name of Marshall Bruce Mathers III, one of the most
famous modern rap artists. He was born on 17th October, 1972.
Eminem started rapping at the age of 14 with his high school friends. His
style slowly developed to include an alter-ego called “Slim Shady”.
Eminem’s uniqueness caught the eye of rap icon, Dr. Dre. He released his
first album, The Slim Shady LP, in 1999. Apart from his solo act, he is also
part of the groups “D12” and “Bad Meets Evil”.

326. A. R. RAHMAN
A llah Rakha Rahman, more commonly known as A. R. Rahman, is an
Indian singer and music composer. His brilliant work has earned him
the title “Mozart of Madras”. Rahman began studying the piano when he was
just four years old. By the time he was 11 years old, he dropped out of school
and started playing the piano professionally.
Rahman is notable for his work on films like Roja, Lagaan and his
international breakthrough, Slumdog Millionaire.
Rahman won the Academy Award for best song for Jai Ho from Slumdog
Millionaire. He has also won Grammys, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for
his work on Slumdog Millionaire.
 Fantastic Food Lords
This section focusses on people who have laid out the ingredients for modern cooking. Their
work has majorly contributed to shaping the culinary world. Let’s find out about their
inventions and discoveries as well as about their lives. Read on and get to know these
fantastic foodies.

327. JAMIE OLIVER

J amie Oliver is a British chef, restaurateur, cookbook writer and media
personality. He was born on 27th May, 1975. Though he is proficient in
many cuisines, his specialty is Italian food. His focus is on improving
unhealthy diets and poor cooking habits in the USA and UK.
His parents ran a pub called “The Cricketer” in Essex, where he first tried
his hand at cooking. He was working at “The River Cafe” as a sous chef in
1997, when he was noticed by BBC while they were making a documentary
on the cafe.
Today, Jamie Oliver boasts of having prepared lunch for the Prime
Minister at the time, Tony Blair, and having starred in several shows.

328. BARTOLOMEO SCAPPI

artolomeo Scappi was a famous Renaissance chef. He was born around 1500.
Recent research shows that he was born in Dumenza in Lombardi. He is

B known for the lavish banquets that he cooked for the Popes. He cooked
for a total of six popes throughout his career. In fact, while
Michelangelo was painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Scappi was
cooking in the kitchen! He even cooked for the likes of Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V and Pope Paul III.
In 1570, he published a book Opera dell’arte del cucinare, which listed
1,000 renaissance recipes, cooking techniques and tools. It also contains the
first known image of a fork. The Opera dell’arte del cucinare was translated
into English in 2008 by the food historian, Terence Scully. Scappi died on
13th April, 1577.

329. JOHN MONTAGU

J ohn Montagu is credited with inventing the sandwich. He was born on
13th November, 1718, in Chiswick, England. He inherited the title Earl of
Sandwich and joined Parliament. A popular story says that the Earl was such
an ardent gambler that he had no time to eat meals while he was playing. He
would often ask his servants to get him slices of meat between two slices of
bread. This allowed him to eat a meal without stopping the card game! Since
he was the “Earl of Sandwich”, people soon started asking for the same as
“Sandwich”. And voila! The sandwich was born. He died on 30th April, 1792.

330. HENRI NESTLÉ

H th
enri Nestlé was a Swiss confectioner who founded Nestlé, the world’s
largest food and beverage company. He was born as Heinrich Nestlé
on 10 August, 1814, in Frankfurt, Germany. He is also credited with
inventing condensed milk. In 1843, he bought a company that produced
rapeseeds. He soon expanded to produce oil lamps, liqueurs, rum, absinthe
and vinegar. By 1867, he was producing baby formula, a powdered milk
product, which was a substitute for breast milk. People soon recognised the
value of this and the product became very popular. He died on 7th July, 1890.

331. GEORGE CRUM

eorge Crum is the man who is thought to have invented the potato crisp. He
was born in 1822. Crum owned a small lakeside café. The story goes
G that a customer once sent his French fries back to the kitchen, saying
that they were too thick. Crum, who was known to be sarcastic and
irritable, cut the potato as thin as he could, fried it in grease and sent them
back to the customer. To his surprise, the guest actually enjoyed the crispy
fried potato and asked for some more. Soon, other guests began asking for
them as well and before he knew it, the potato crisp had been invented. He
died on 22nd July, 1914.

332. MILT ON HERSHEY

M th
ilton Snavely Hershey was an American confectioner, philanthropist
and founder of The Hershey Chocolate Company. He was born on
13 September, 1857. He became an apprentice to a candy-maker in
Lancaster. After completing the apprenticeship, he returned to Pennsylvania
and formed his own caramel company, which soon became very popular. In
fact, the town in which the factory stood came to be known as Hershey! He
died on 13th October, 1945.

333. JOHN STITH PEMBERTON

J ohn Stith Pemberton is best known as the inventor of Coca Cola. He was
born on 8th January, 1831. He was a Colonel in the Confederate army and
was wounded during the war. After this, he got addicted to morphine. As a
pharmacist, he tried to find a cure to counteract his addiction. He
experimented with coca and the popular “coca cola” was born. But soon after
its invention, he went bankrupt and sold the rights to Asa Candler. He died on
16th August, 1888.

334. JAMES BEARD

 At the age of three, James Beard suffered from malaria. This
gave him some time to enjoy his mother’s cooking.

B eard was an American chef and food writer. He was born on 5th May,
1903, in Oregan, USA. He inherited his love for food from his mother.
He was responsible for establishing a gourmet American food identity. He
had a quirky personality and introduced French cooking to the American
middle and upper classes in the 1950s.
He wrote an incredible amount of literature throughout his life, including
20 books. He also has a foundation of his own, which hosts the “Beard
Awards” annually in many culinary genres.
He first tried his hand at theatre, which did not go very well. So, he opened
a catering company in the late 1930s.
He published books containing all his recipes, called Hors D’Oeuvre and
Canapés.
He was also one of the first people to host television cooking shows. He
inspired the likes of Julia Child and many other chefs. He died on 21st
January, 1985.

335. RUTH WAKEFIELD

R uth Wakefield is the woman responsible for chocolate chip cookies!
She was born on 17th June, 1903. She graduated from the Framingham
State Normal School Department of Household Arts in 1924. After this, she
became a dietician and food lecturer. The invention of chocolate chip cookies
was actually an accident. She owned an inn. One day, while baking cookies,
she ran out of baker’s chocolate. So, she substituted it with pieces of Nestle’s
chocolate. The guests loved the cookies and chocolate chip cookies were
born! She died on 10th January, 1977.

336. JULIA CHILD

J ulia Carolyn Child was an American chef, author and television
personality. She was born on 15th August, 1912. She moved to France in
1948, where she developed a keen liking for French cuisine. She wanted to
adapt sophisticated French cuisine to suit the average American. With this
purpose, she published her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French
Cooking, which was famous for introducing French cooking to the American
public. She also anchored several television shows, the most notable of which
was “The French Chef”. She died on 13th August, 2004.

337. IRVINE ROBBINS AND

BURTON BASKIN
 The company has introduced more than 1,000 flavours since
1945.

I rvine “Irv” Robbins and Burton “Burt” Baskin were brothers-in-law, who
founded the famous ice-cream franchise, Baskin Robbins. Irvine was born
on 6th December, 1917, in Manitoba, Canada. Burt was born on 17th
December, 1913 in Streator, Illinois, USA.
The two men wished to create an innovative ice cream store that could also
serve as a neighbourhood gathering place for families. Both Irvine “Irv”
Robbins and Burton “Burt” Baskin loved old fashioned ice-cream and wanted
to provide their customers with a large variety of flavours.
Taking Irv’s father’s advice, both of them started out separately. In 1945,
Irv opened Snowbird Ice Cream in Glendale, California. His store featured 21
flavours and emphasised high-quality ice cream sold in a fun, personalised
atmosphere.
A year later, Burt opened Burton’s Ice Cream Shop in Pasadena,
California. By 1948, they had six stores between them. Their concept
eventually grew into Baskin-Robbins.

338. WOLFGANG PUCK

 Puck operates with a signature form-to-table philosophy –
all his food ingredients are produced locally!

olfgang Puck is an Austrian celebrity chef, restaurateur, businessman and he

W occasionally even acts! He was born as Wolfgang Johannes

Topfschnig on 8th July, 1949. His father abandoned his mother
before Wolfgang was born. His mother later remarried a man named Joseph
Puck, who adopted and raised Wolfgang.
Wolfgang learned how to cook from his mother, who sometimes worked as
a pastry chef. He trained as an apprentice under Raymond Thuilier in Paris.
He then moved to the USA in 1973. He became a chef and part owner at the
restaurant “Ma Maison”.
He published his first cookbook Modern French Cooking for the American
Kitchen in 1981. It was a great success and he opened the well-known
restaurant Spago in Beverly Hills. It has been in the list of top 40 restaurants
in the USA since 2004.
He also owns the group “Wolfgang Puck Companies”, which includes the
Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc. and
Wolfgang Puck Catering.

339. THOMAS KELLER

T homas Keller is an American chef, restaurateur and cookbook writer.
He was born on 14th October, 1955. He is known for his culinary skill
as well as the ability to establish a restaurant that is relaxing and exciting at
the same time. Keller found his calling when he began working at a
restaurant owned by his mother. He moved to France in 1983. He worked at
many renowned Michelin-starred restaurants including Guy Savoy and
Taillevent. He opened his first restaurant, Rakel, in New York City in 1986.
 340. ALAIN DUCASSE

A lain Ducasse is easily one of the moguls of the restaurant industry. He

was born on 13th September, 1956. He’s been in the business for
several decades and has several restaurants to his name – even a group of
restaurants that deal with everything from actual restaurant operations to
consultancy to cooking schools and beyond. When people say that the sky is
the limit, it is meant figuratively. Ducasse, however, seems to have taken it
literally. In partnership with the European Space Agency, Ducasse is actually
sending food into space!

341. ANTHONY BOURDAIN

A nthony Michael Bourdain is an American chef, author and television

personality. He was born on 25th June, 1956. His interest in food was
sparked when, as a young boy, he ate an oyster in France. He graduated from
the Culinary Institute of America. He started as a dishwasher and gradually
climbed the ladder of success to become executive chef. He is famous for a
book he wrote in 2000, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary
Underbelly. But he is best known as the host of the 2005 Travel Channel’s
food and culture shows, “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” and “The
Layover”. He joined CNN to host “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” in
2013.

342. NIGELLA LAWSON

igella Lawson is an English journalist, broadcaster, television personality,

N gourmet and food writer. She was born on 6th January, 1960, in
London, UK. Her family owned the J. Lyons and Co. food and
catering business. She eventually decided to take up a career in publishing.
She wrote books like How to Eat, which is immensely popular. She is also
known for her work on television shows like “Nigella Bites” and “The
Taste”.

343. GORDON RAMSAY

 Ramsay’s restaurants have been awarded a total of 15
Michelin stars.

G ordon Ramsay is an American chef and TV personality, who is well-

known for his temper and raging outbursts in the kitchen. However, he
is still one of the best chefs in the world and has several successful
restaurants to prove it. He was born on 8th November, 1966, in Scotland.
Ramsay actually wanted to pursue a career in professional soccer.
Unfortunately, he suffered from a knee injury, which put an end to his dream.
He then enrolled in a hotel management school. After graduating, he
apprenticed with Marco Pierre White at Harvey’s in London. In 1993,
Ramsay took the reins of the newly opened Aubergine. Within three years, he
had earned two Michelin stars.
In 1998, he opened Gordon Ramsay’s. The London restaurant was quickly
recognised as one of the best in the world and was awarded three stars by
Michelin. Today, he is best known for his role in competitive cooking shows
like MasterChef America.

344. MARCO PIERRE WHITE

 White retired from the kitchen in 1999 to devote more time to
his personal life.

M arco Pierre White is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur and

television personality. He was born on 11th December, 1961. He was
born into a family of chefs, so it was no surprise that he chose a career in the
professional kitchen.
He left school and went to Hotel St. George to train. In 1987, he opened
Harvey’s in London, which earned him his first Michelin star. He was
awarded three Michelin stars by the time he was 33. He was the youngest
person to accomplish this.
He soon gained a name for himself and was attracting young talent like
Gordon Ramsay and Curtis Stone. He is known for his contribution to
modern international cuisine. He is also known as the first celebrity chef.
His lack of fear for the rules and bold, unprecedented method of running
his kitchens have caused some people to call him the “Godfather of Modern
Cooking”.

345. MARIO BATALI

M ario Batali is an American chef, writer, restaurateur and media
personality. He was born on 19th September, 1960, in Washington,
USA. Batali started studying at Le Cordon Bleu, but he soon dropped out and
began an apprenticeship in London. After completing that, he opened a
restaurant, Babbo, in New York. The restaurant received “The Best New
Restaurant” Award from the James Beard Foundation. He is also an expert on
the history and culture of Italian cuisine. He has continued to open multiple
restaurants and write many books.
346. MATT PRESTON
att Preston is a British-Australian food journalist, restaurant critic, writer and

M television personality. He was born on 2nd July, 1961. He is best

known as a judge on Network Ten’s MasterChef Australia and for his
weekly food column in the Taste supplement available in the “Herald Sun”,
“The Courier-Mail” and “The Daily Telegraph” (Australia) newspapers.
Preston is also a writer for MasterChef as well as the former columnist for the
food section of “The Age” newspaper’s food section, for “Epicure” and
“Vogue Entertaining + Travel”. Preston was the Creative Director of the
Melbourne Food and Wine Festival until 2009.

347. MADHUR JAFFREY

 In 1966, an article about Jaffrey and her cooking appeared
in the New York Times, because of which she received a book
contract that produced An Invitation to Indian Cooking, her
first book.

M adhur Jaffrey was born on 13th August, 1933 in Delhi. She is an

Indian actress, active in radio, theatre, television and film; she is also
a food writer, authoring several cookbooks. Additionally, she is an
entrepreneur who, with her acclaimed performances in films such as
Shakespeare Wallah, Six Degrees of Separation and Heat and Dust,
introduced the western world to many Indian cuisines. She studied at
Miranda House, University of Delhi; after college, she worked for All India
Radio. Later, she attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA),
from which she graduated with honours in 1957.
Jaffrey is the noted author of cookbooks of Indian, Asian and global
vegetarian cuisines. Many of these books have gone on to become bestsellers
and many have won the James Beard Foundation awards. She has hosted
several cookery series on television, including Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian
Cookery in 1982, Madhur Jaffrey’s Far Eastern Cookery in 1989 and
Madhur Jaffrey’s Flavours of India in 1995. Interestingly, she did not cook at
all as she was growing up in Delhi. She had never been in the kitchen and
nearly failed cooking at school.

348. CURTIS STONE

C urtis Stone is an Australian celebrity chef. He was born on 4th
November, 1975, in Melbourne, Australia. At first, he cooked at The
Savoy Hotel’s 5-star restaurant in Melbourne. He then decided to leave his
job and travel through Europe with his best friend. Eventually, he reached
London— unemployed and broke. Wanting to gain experience, he
volunteered to work for free for the famous chef, Marco Pierre White.
Eventually, he was hired and made a name for himself. He went on to
become a chef, best-selling author and co-host of “Bravo’s Top Chef
Masters” and “Around the World in 80 Plates”.
 349. JOHN CADBURY

J ohn Cadbury is the founder of the chocolate business that was eventually
named after him. He was born on 12th August, 1802, in England. He had
nine brothers and sisters. The Cadbury manufacturing business was born in
1831, when John Cadbury decided to start producing chocolate on a
commercial scale and bought a four-storey warehouse in the nearby Crooked
Lane.
This company went on to become one of the world’s largest chocolate
producers. Cadbury invented the chocolate bar as we know it today. He died
on 11th May, 1889.
 Fabulous Fashionistas
This section focusses on people who have laid out the materials for modern clothing. Their
work has majorly contributed to the fashion industry. Let us find out about their inventions
and developments as well as about their lives. Read on and get to know these fashionable
stalwarts.

350. CHRISTIAN DIOR

C hristian Dior was a French designer and the founder of the eponymous
fashion house. Born on 21st January, 1905, in a small town in France,
he started out by selling fashion sketches outside his house. In 1941, he began
working at a Parisian fashion house.
By 1946, the war had just ended and the atmosphere was hopeful. Dior
established his own fashion house. His very first collection showcased what
critics dubbed as the “New Look”. His use of rich, opulent fabrics to create
form-flattering clothes was well-appreciated. This collection went down in
history and catapulted his fashion house to fame. His work was often flaunted
by celebrities and royals, a trend that continues even today.
He died suddenly on 24th October, 1957 while on vacation in Tuscany,
Italy.

351. GIORGIO ARMANI

 Armani had planned to become a doctor. He was always
fascinated by the human body and even went to medical
school at the University of Milan. However, he stopped
studying and joined the army.

B
men.
orn on 11th July, 1934, in Italy, Giorgio Armani is an iconic fashion
designer, primarily known for the “power suits” that he designed for

By working as a salesperson at a Milan department store, Armani gained

experience about the fashion industry and its working. He then became a
designer for menswear at the Nino Cerruti company. He quickly soared to
popularity and, by 1975, he had launched his own fashion label.
Armani went on to introduce many new lines like the Armani Jeans and
Armani Junior. But the most revolutionary line was the Emporio Armani line,
which made his stylish designs accessible at lower prices.
In order to publicise his Emporio Armani line, he resorted to
unconventional advertising methods like designing clothes for TV shows and
films. He was also the first designer to promote a healthy body image among
his models by refusing to employ people with a lower than healthy BMI. In
2007, he teamed up with Samsung to design the Giorgio Armani phone.

352. CHARLES LEWIS TIFFANY

C harles Tiffany, the founder of American jewellery chain “Tiffany &
Co.”, was born on 15th February, 1812, in Connecticut, USA. In 1837,
along with his school friend John Young, he began a shop named “Tiffany &
Young”. At the time, they sold stationery and gift items. Slowly, they
ventured into glassware, cutlery, clocks and jewellery.
A third partner entered in 1841 and the shop’s offering evolved. They sold
only the finest, top-quality products. They also began making their own
jewellery. Tiffany bought his partners’ shares in the shop in 1853 and
renamed it to “Tiffany & Co.”
By 1868, Tiffany had four stores in locations including London and Paris.
This has now increased to over 200. He is also credited with inventing the
retail catalogue, which allows customers to view and select designs from a
brochure. He died on 18th February, 1902.
353. PIERRE CARDIN
ierre Cardin was an Italian born French designer. He was born on 7th July,
1922. He was one of the pioneers in the area of high fashion for men.
P Pierre’s father was a wealthy merchant who wanted his son to study
architecture. But Pierre was interested in dressmaking. He opened a
shop of his own in 1950 and slowly gained a reputation as a men’s suit
maker. He was the first designer to present ready-to-wear collections. He was
also the first to licence his name on a variety of products, like sunglasses.

354. HUBERT DE GIVENCHY

 In 1957, along with famed Spanish designer Cristóbal
Balenciaga, he introduced the “sack silhouette.”

B orn on 21st February, 1927, Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de

Givenchy is a French aristocrat, designer and founder of “The House of
Givenchy.”
Givenchy studied art at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and later studied
law. After attending the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris, he was inspired to work
in fashion design. He worked for various leading designers. In 1952, he
opened his own house and maintained very low overhead costs in order to
lower the prices of his designs. Givenchy’s first collection, featuring
flawlessly detailed separates, high-style coats and elegant ball gowns, gained
immediate international recognition. His first collection was named after
actress Bettina Graziani and included the famous “Bettina Blouse”.
He was the designer for celebrities like Jacqueline Kennedy and Audrey
Hepburn, who wore his designs for many of her films, including the cult hit
Breakfast At Tiffany’s.

355. LOUIS VUITTON

W e all know Louis Vuitton as a luxury leather and lifestyle brand and
not a person. But there certainly was a founder—he was born almost
200 years ago on 4th August, 1821. In 1852, Vuitton was hired as a box-
maker and packer for Emperor Napoleon’s wife. This royal employment gave
him access to a very elite clientele. He would use the finest material available
to create products for them. Vuitton passed away on 27th February, 1892. But
his legacy continues to this day, as the brand continues to sell high-quality
luxury products.

356. COCO CHANEL

F rench fashion designer Coco Chanel is one of the biggest fashion icons
of all time. She was born as Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel on 19th August,
1883, in Saumur, France. After the death of her mother, Chanel was sent to
an orphanage, where she learnt how to sew. She got the nickname “Coco”
during her short-lived career as a cabaret singer. Chanel picked up hat-
making and opened her own hat shop in 1910. By the 1920s, she had already
launched her signature perfume “Chanel No. 5” and “Little Black Dress”. She
died on 10th January, 1971, in Paris.

357. YVES SAINT LAURENT

 Saint Laurent often visited the Majorelle Garden in
Morocco, as he found it to be very inspiring. After his death,
his ashes were scattered in the garden.

Y ves Saint Laurent was a French fashion designer who was born on 1st
August, 1936, in Oran, Algeria. At the age of 16, Saint Laurent entered
his designs into a contest and won first place. This inspired him to take up a
career in fashion.
He moved to Paris at the age of 18 and attended fashion school, where he
soon shot to popularity. Later, Saint Laurent joined the Dior house of fashion.
A few years later, Christian Dior passed away. Thus, the title of head
designer fell upon the shoulders of the young Saint Laurent, who was a mere
21 years old at the time.
In that year, Dior launched their spring collection that was designed by
Saint Laurent. This collection catapulted him to fame and brought great
riches and recognition to the Dior house of fashion, which previously was not
doing very well. However, Saint Laurent dealt a blow when he was
conscripted into the French Army. He suffered a mental breakdown and had
to be sent home, only after 20 days of military service.
But this setback did not faze him. By the 1960s, Saint Laurent had started
his own company. He was the first designer to come out with a ready-to-wear
line, which made his clothes more accessible to the masses. He died in Paris
on 1st June, 2008.

358. RALPH LAUREN

 The success of the Polo brand allowed Lauren to purchase
an admirable collection of rare, classic cars. He has over 70
of them!

I conic American designer Ralph Lauren was born as Ralph Lifshitz in

New York City on 14th October, 1939. Even though he came from a
middle-class Jewish family living in the Bronx, young Lauren would save up
his pocket money and buy himself expensive suits.
Instead of taking the academic route, Lauren decided to learn the ropes of
the fashion business on the job. Soon, he began designing neckties and
selling them to his friends. Not surprisingly, it was neckties that gave him his
first break. He established his brand “Polo”, which has now expanded to
include clothing, perfumes and even furniture.
Lauren also has a humanitarian side. In 2003, the Ralph Lauren Centre for
Cancer Care and Prevention was launched in Harlem, New York. He also
started the Pink Pony Fund. A percentage of the profits of Pink Pony
products are directed towards this fund, which helps in the awareness,
treatment and research of breast cancer.
Yet another fund started by Lauren is the American Heroes Fund. This
fund awards scholarships to the children of the victims of the World Trade
Centre terrorist attack in 2001.

359. MARIO PRADA

 Mario did not want his company to be run by the women in
his family. But his son had no interest in the family business,
so it was taken over by his daughter and, later, his
granddaughter. Mario’s granddaughter, Miuccia, took over
the family business from her mother in 1978, when the
company was going through a financial struggle.

M ario Prada was the founder and original designer of the Italian fashion
label Prada, a label that creates high-fashion goods for men and
women. He started the label with his Martino Prada as a leather goods shop in
1913.
Mario felt that women should not have a role in the business world. He
prevented female members of his family from entering his company.
However, Mario’s son did not want to work for the label, so Mario’s
daughter, Luisia Prada, took over from Mario and ran the business for almost
20 years.
Prada started its business by making bags and suitcases. These were a huge
success, which led to the designing and launch of the first ready-to-wear
Prada collection. Its clean lines, classic colours and luxury fabrics made it a
huge success.
Prada was known for being ahead of its time during the 1990s. It had an
ultramodern industrial sleekness which placed it apart from the other fashion
brands of the time. Mario Prada died in 1958.

360. GIANNI VERSACE

 Versace was tragically shot to death at the age of 50 by a
serial killer. It was a big blow to the fashion world and many
people believe that he was at the peak of his career when the
tragedy occurred.

G ianni Versace was a top Italian fashion designer, who enjoyed great
success during the 1980s and 1990s. He was born on 2nd December,
1946, in Reggio di Calabria, Italy. As his mother was a seamstress, Gianni
and his siblings, Santo and Donatella were always exposed to clothes and
fashion.
1978 marked the year that Versace opened his first boutique in Milan. His
bold designs often received harsh criticism, but Versace was unfazed. He
held flamboyant fashion shows that were attended by the who’s who of the
fashion world. The models were so highly paid and respected that they were
called “supermodels”. This is why Versace is said to have revolutionised the
fashion industry.
He continued to add to his fashion empire, expanding into home
furnishings and perfumes. He died on 15th July, 1997.
At the time of his death, Versace’s company was worth more than 800
million US dollars.

361. VERA WANG

C hinese-born American fashion designer, Vera Wang, is well-renowned
for her beautiful wedding dresses. She was born on 27th June, 1949, in
New York City. Despite having no formal training in fashion design, she
became the senior fashion editor for Vogue magazine in 1970. She then
worked with Ralph Lauren for two years before carving a niche of her own.
Wang has designed wedding gowns for celebrities like Victoria Beckham,
Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey. She has also made figure skating costumes
for professional skaters.

362. DONNA KARAN

D onna Karan is an American designer, who is known for the simple,
comfortable design of her clothes. She was born on 2nd October, 1948.
Her father was a tailor and her mother was a model. She attended Parsons
School of Design, but dropped out in 1968 and started working for
sportswear designer, Anne Klein. In 1984, she launched her own line, the
Donna Karan Co., which eventually became DKNY. In 2004, she received a
Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of
America.

363. DOLCE AND GABBANA

D olce and Gabbana is an Italian luxury fashion house that was started by
Dominico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. Dolce was born on 13th
August, 1958 and Gabbana was born on 14th November, 1962. The two met
in Milan in 1980 and worked for the same fashion house. In 1982, they
established a designer consulting studio; in time, it grew to become “Dolce &
Gabbana”. They presented their first women’s collection in 1985 in Milan,
where a year later, their store opened its doors.

364. CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

C hristian Louboutin is a renowned French footwear designer. He was
born on 7th January, 1964, in Paris, France. Blessed with a vivid
imagination, Louboutin first started sketching footwear in his early teens. At
the age of 18, he got a job with shoe designer Charles Jourdan and continued
to work with big names. In 1991, Louboutin launched his own company. By
1993, he had designed his legendary shoes with red soles, which went on to
become his trademark. Today, the Louboutin brand also includes handbags
and men’s shoes.

365. ALEXANDER MCQUEEN

A lexander McQueen was a British designer known for his
groundbreaking clothes and precise tailoring. He was born on 17th
March, 1969. He was one of six sons of a cab driver. He left school at the age
of 16 and was employed at London’s Anderson and Sheppard, where he
tailored suits for Mikhail Gorbachev and Prince Charles. He enrolled at the
fashion college, Central Saint Martins, in 1990. There, he staged a show for
his master’s thesis, which caught the eye of Isabella Blow, a London stylist.
She bought his entire collection!
In 1992, McQueen debuted with a pair of trousers that redefined the
traditional cut of the garment. They were pants cut so low that they revealed
the cleavage of the backside. This brought him instant media recognition. He
later took over as the head designer of Givenchy, a phenomenal achievement
for someone only 28 years old!
In 2001, he departed the House of Givenchy and began to diversify his
brand to include fragrances (2003), a menswear collection (2004), for which
the British Fashion Council named him British Menswear Designer of the
Year and McQ (2006), a more affordable ready-to-wear line. He was found
dead on 11th February, 2010.
 Glossary
1. A. R. Rahman
2. ABBA
3. Abraham Lincoln
4. Adolf Hitler
5. Agatha Christie
6. Akira Kurosawa
7. Alain Ducasse
8. Albert Einstein
9. Albrecht Altdorfer
10. Alexander Bogomazov
11. Alexander Fleming
12. Alexander Graham Bell
13. Alexander McQueen
14. Alexander the Great
15. Alfred Hitchcock
16. Alfred Nobel
17. Andre Agassi
18. Andrew Stanton
19. Andy Warhol
20. Ansel Adams
21. Anthony Bourdain
22. Antoni Gaudi
23. Aristotle
24. Arthur Conan Doyle
25. Aryabhata
26. Ashoka
27. Asma Jahangir
28. Audrey Hepburn
29. Auguste Rodin
30. Aung San Suu Kyi
31. Aurobindo Ghosh
32. Barack Obama
33. Bartolomeo Scappi
34. Beethoven
35. Benazir Bhutto
36. Benito Mussolini
37. Benjamin Franklin
38. Bill Gates
39. Bob Dylan
40. Bob Marley
41. Botticelli
42. Charles Babbage
43. Charles Darwin
44. Charles de Gaulle
45. Charles Dickens
46. Charles Goodyear
47. Charles Lewis Tiffany
48. Charlie Chaplin
49. Che Guevara
50. Chen Guangcheng
51. Christian Dior
52. Christian Louboutin
53. Clara Barton
54. Claude Monet
55. Coco Chanel
56. Confucius
57. Constantine
58. Curtis Stone
59. Cyrus the Great
60. D. W. Griffith
61. Dan Brown
62. Dante Alighieri
63. David Beckham
64. David Bowie
65. David Hume
66. Desmond Tutu
67. Dhirubhai Ambani
68. Diego Maradona
69. Dolce and Gabbana
70. Don Bradman
71. Donald Trump
72. Donatello
73. Donna Karan
74. Edgar Allan Poe
75. Édouard Manet
76. Edvard Munch
77. Eleanor Roosevelt
78. Ellen Sirleaf
79. Elton John
80. Elvis Presley
81. Emily Dickinson
82. Eminem
83. Enid Blyton
84. Eratosthenes of Cyrene
85. Ernest Hemmingway
86. Ezra Pound
87. F. Scott Fitzgerald
88. Federico Fellini
89. Fidel Castro
90. Florence Nightingale
91. Francis Bacon
92. Francois Truffaut
93. Frank Gehry
94. Frank Sinatra
95. Franklin Roosevelt
96. Frantz Fanon
97. Franz Marc
98. Freddie Mercury
99. Frederic Auguste Bartholdi
100. Galileo Galilei

101. Genghis Khan

102. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
103. George Bernard Shaw
104. George Crum
105. George Eliot
106. George Lucas
107. George Orwell
108. George Washington
109. Georges Melies
110. Gian Lorenzo Bernini
111. Gianni Versace
112. Giorgio Armani
113. Giorgio Vasari
114. Gordon Ramsay
115. Gregory Peck
116. Guglielmo Marconi
117. Gustav Klimt
118. Gustave Eiffel
119. Harriet Tubman
120. Helen Keller
121. Henri Cartier-Bresson
122. Henri Nestlé
123. Henry Ford
124. Henry VIII
125. Herge
126. Hubert de Givenchy
127. Humphrey Bogart
128. Immanuel Kant
129. Indira Gandhi
130. Indra Nooyi
131. Ingmar Bergman
132. Irvine Robbins and Burton Baskin
133. Isaac Newton
134. J F Kennedy
135. J S Mill
136. J. K. Rowling
137. J. R. R. Tolkien
138. Jack Nicklaus
139. Jackson Pollock
140. James Beard
141. James Brown
142. James Cameron
143. James Watt
144. Jamie Oliver
145. Jane Austen
146. Jawaharlal Nehru
147. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
148. Jean-Luc Godard
149. Jeff Bezos
150. Jesse Owens
151. Jiddu Krishnamurti
152. Jim Morrison
153. Jimi Hendrix
154. Jimmy Carter
155. Joan of Arc
156. Joe DiMaggio
157. Joe Ranft
158. Johann Sebastian Bach
159. Johannes Gutenberg
160. Johannes Vermeer
161. John Cadbury
162. John Keats
163. John Lasseter
164. John Lennon
165. John Locke
166. John Lyly
167. John Milton
168. John Montagu
169. John Peters Humphrey
170. John Stith Pemberton
171. Johnny Cash
172. Johnny Depp
173. Joseph Barbera
174. Joseph McCarthy
175. Joseph Stalin
176. Joyce C Hall
177. JRD Tata
178. Julia Child
179. Julius Caesar
180. Kapil Dev
181. Karl Benz
182. Karl Marx
183. Katharine Hepburn
184. Kim Jong-il
185. King Khufu
186. King Louis XVI
187. Kofi Annan
188. Kurt Cobain
189. Larry Bird
190. Larry Ellison
191. Larry Page and Sergey Brin
192. LeBron James
193. Lee De Forest
194. Leo Hendrik Baekeland
195. Leo Tolstoy
196. Leonardo Da Vinci
197. Lewis Carroll
198. Lionel Messi
199. Lorenzo de’ Medici
200. Louis Armstrong
201. Louis Braille
202. Louis Vuitton
203. Luis Bunuel
204. Lumiere Brothers
205. Madhur Jaffrey
206. Madonna
207. Mahatma Gandhi
208. Malcolm X
209. Marco Pierre White
210. Marco Polo
211. Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun
212. Margaret Thatcher
213. Mario Batali
214. Mario Prada
215. Mark Twain
216. Mark Zuckerberg
217. Marshall McLuhan
218. Martin Cooper
219. Martin Luther King Jr.
220. Martina Navratilova
221. Mary Scullion
222. Masaccio
223. Matt Groening
224. Matt Preston
225. Melinda Gates
226. Michael Dell
227. Michael Jackson
228. Michael Jordan
229. Michael Moore
230. Michael Phelps
231. Michael Schumacher
232. Michelangelo
233. Mike Tyson
234. Mikhail Gorbachev
235. Miles Davis
236. Milton Hershey
237. Mother Teresa
238. Mozart
239. Muhammad Ali Jinnah
240. Muhammad Ali
241. Muhammad Yunus
242. Nadia Comaneci
243. Napoleon Bonaparte
244. Narayana Murthy
245. Nero
246. Niccolo Machiavelli
247. Nicolaus Copernicus
248. Nigella Lawson
249. Nikola Tesla
250. Noam Chomsky
251. Oprah Winfrey
252. Oscar Wilde
253. Oskar Schindler
254. Otto von Bismarck
255. Pablo Picasso
256. Paul Cezanne
257. Pavarotti
258. Pele
259. Percy Lebaron Spencer
260. Pete Sampras
261. Peter the Great
262. Philip Knight
263. Philo Farnsworth
264. Pierre Cardin
265. Pierre Omidyar
266. Pierre-Auguste Renoir
267. Pink Floyd
268. Plato
269. Pope John Paul II
270. Princess Diana
271. Pythagoras
272. Qasim Amin
273. Qin Shi Huang

274. Queen Elizabeth I

275. Queen Victoria
276. Quentin Tarantino
277. Rabindranath Tagore
278. Rachel Carson
279. Rafael Nadal
280. Ralph Lauren
281. Raphael
282. Ravi Varma
283. Rembrandt
284. Rene Descartes
285. Richard and Maurice McDonald
286. Richard Branson
287. Roald Dahl
288. Robert Frank
289. Robert Louis Stevenson
290. Robert Noyce
291. Robert Wise
292. Roger Federer
293. Roman Polanski
294. Ronald Reagan
295. Ronaldo
296. Rudolf Diesel
297. Rupert Murdoch
298. Ruth Wakefield
299. Sachin Tendulkar
300. Saladin
301. Salman Rushdie
302. Salvador Dali
303. Sam Walton
304. Samuel Colt
305. Satchel Paige
306. Satyajit Ray
307. Shahrukh Khan
308. Shane Warne
309. Shaquille O’Neal
310. Sid Meier
311. Sigmund Freud
312. Simón Bolívar
313. Socrates
314. Steffi Graf
315. Stephen Hawking
316. Steve Davis
317. Steve Jobs
318. Steve Wozniak
319. Steven Spielberg
320. Suleiman the Magnificent
321. T. S. Eliot
322. Tennessee Williams
323. The Beatles
324. The Eagles
325. The Rolling Stones
326. The Williams Sisters
327. The Wright Brothers
328. Theodore Roosevelt
329. Thomas Edison
330. Thomas Jefferson
331. Thomas Keller
332. Thomas Newcomen
333. Thomas Paine
334. Thomas Wyatt
335. Tiger Woods
336. Tim Berners-Lee
337. Tim Burton
338. Titian
339. Toni Morisson
340. Tony Hawk
341. Usain Bolt
342. Vasco da Gama

343. Vera Wang

344. Victor Fleming
345. Vincent Van Gogh
346. Virginia Woolf
347. Vladimir Lenin
348. Voltaire
349. W. B. Yeats
350. Walt Disney
351. Walt Whitman
352. Warner Brothers
353. Warren Buffett
354. Wilfred Jackson
355. William Hanna
356. William Randolph Hearst
357. William Shakespeare
358. William the Conqueror
359. William Wordsworth
360. Winston Churchill
361. Wolfgang Puck
362. Woody Allen
363. Yanni
364. Yves Saint Laurent
365. Zinedine Zidane