Ken(biography of Micheal Jackson)

Micheal Jackson is one of the famous singer in the world.He sang many songs and went around the world have concerts.
When was a kid he was also in a band from the Jackson 5. He was also the youngest member of the group.When he left the group he made many songs.He was also renamed as King of pop.Soon he changed his face colour.He died at the age of fifty.
Micheal Jackson should be remembered for
his singing and dancing.He sang many songs.

Lye Sze Ying (Biography of Princess Diana)

Princess Diana(1st July 1961- 31st August 1997) was not born from a royal family.She was also the youngest daughter in her family.

She was the first wife of Charles,Prince of Wales. They were married on 29th July 1981.On 21st June, Diana gave birth to her first son, William.On 15th September 1984,Diana gave birth to her second son, Harry. In the mid 1980's,her marriage fell apart. Their divorce were finalised on 28th August 1996. However, since their divorce, Buckingham Palace has maintained that she was a member of the Royal Family, since she was the mother of the second and third in line to the throne. Starting in the mid to late 1980's,Diana was well known for her support for charity projects and helping the victims of AID's. In April 1897, Diana was the first high profile celebrity to be photographed knowingly touching a person with the HIV virus. On 31st August 1997,Diana was involved in a car accident in Pont de I'Alma road tunnel in Paris with her friend and lover,Dodi Al-Fayed and their driver, Henri Paul.No one survived in this accident accept Fayed's bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones.

The death of Princess Diana was widely blamed on the reporters for hounding the Princess and were following the vehicle at a very high speed so in the end they had an accident.

Wong Wai Teng (Biography of Michael Jackson)

Michael Jackson was a singer, dancer, and an entertainer. He was the King of Pop, the most sucessful entertainer of all the time. He sang many pop songs such as Thriller, Billie Jean, Beat it and many more.

Michael Jackson is the youngest brother in his family, but the lead singer of the Jackson Five. He was born on the 29th of August 1958 and passed away at 25th June 2009. His family was very popular musicians.

Michael Jackson flew over the whole world to perform. He performed Pop, Disco, Rock, Hip Hop and alot more. Every year, he will at least perform one concert. He had performed almost 50 concerts.

Michael Jackson was the most popular person in the whole world. His fans will never forget him - King of Pop.

Jie Xi(biography of Abraham Lincoln)

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was born in February 12,1809. He was the 16th president of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis,the American Cival War,preserving the Union and ending slavery.

Before his election in 1860 as the first Republic president,lincoln had been a country lawyer,an lllinois state legislater,a member of the United States House Representatives,and twice an unsuccessful candidate for election to the U.S.Senate. As an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery in United States, Lincoln won the Republican Party nomination in 1860 and was elected president later that year. His tenure in office was occupied primarily with the defeat of the secessionist Confederate States of America in the American civil War. He introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery,issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Six days after the large-scale surrender of Confederate forces under General Robert E.Lee,Lincoln became the first American president to be assassinated.

At the close of the war,Lincoln held a moderate view of Reconstruction,seeking to speedily reunite the nation through a policy of generous reconciliation. Lincoln has consistently been ranked by scholars as one of the greatest of all U.S. Presidents.

My biography of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Europe.He was an Italian Spanish navigator who sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a route to Asia but acheived fame by discovering the Americas instead.
While on a voyage for Spain in searh of a direct sea route to Asia,Christopher Columbus unintentionally discovered the Americas.However,he was convinced that he had found the lands that Marco Polo had reached in his travels to China at the end of the thirdteenth century.Columbus thought that it was only a matter of time before he found a passage through the Carribean islands to the cities of Asia.His explorations had made a profound impact around the world
Columbus is well remembered today.Once again,he is famous for discovering America.

Chong En Qing (Biography on Lee Kuan Yew)

Mr Lee Kuan Yew was born in 16 September 1923. His birthplace is in Singapore. He is best known as the first prime minister of modern Singapore.

Mr Lee led Singapore to independence and served as its first prime minister. He was regularly re-elected from 1959 until he stepped down in 1990. He was educated in England, and under his guidance Singapore became a financial and industrial powerhouse despite a lack of abundant natural resources. Mr Lee ruled with ultimate authority, and his zeal for law and order was legendary. In 1990 he stepped down though he remained in the cabinet as senior minister and was succeeded as prime minister by Goh Chok Tong. He was prime minister of Singapore (1959 – 1990). He was born to a wealthy Chinese family, studied at the University of Cambridge and became a lawyer and a socialist. He worked as a legal adviser to labour unions and won election to Singapore's legislative council in 1955, while the country was still a British crown colony. He helped Singapore achieve self-government and, running as an anticolonialist and anticommunist, was elected prime minister in 1959. His numerous reforms included the emancipation of women. He briefly entered Singapore in the Federation of Malaysia (1963 – 1965); on its withdrawal, Singapore became a sovereign state. Mr Lee industrialized the country and made Singapore the most prosperous nation in Southeast Asia. He achieved both labour peace and a rising standard of living for workers, though his mildly authoritarian government at times infringed on civil liberties.

In his memoirs, Lee refers to his immigrant background as a fourth-generation Chinese Singaporean: his Hakka great-grandfather, Lee Bok Boon (born 1846), emigrated from the Dapu county of Guangdong province to the Straits Settlements in 1862. His mother Chua Jim Neo was a Hokkien Nyonya.
The eldest child of Lee Chin Koon and Chua Jim Neo, Lee Kuan Yew was born at 92 Kampong Java Road in Singapore, in a large and airy bungalow. As a child he was strongly influenced by British culture, due in part to his grandfather, Lee Hoon Leong, who had given his sons an English education. His grandfather gave him the name "Harry" in addition to his Chinese name (given by his father) Kuan Yew. He was mostly known as "Harry Lee" for his first 30 or so years, and still is to his friends in the West and to many close friends and family. He started using his Chinese name after entering politics. His name is sometimes cited as Harry Lee Kuan Yew, although this first name is seldom used in official settings.

Oo Guoxuan(biography of Stamford Raffles)

    Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (6 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman, best known for his founding of the city of Singapore .He is known as the "Father of Singapore".

   Raffles, Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley, 1781–1826, British East Indian administrator. He was one of the founders of Britain's empire in East Asia. Beginning his career (1795) as a clerk in the British East India Company, he was sent to Pinang, Malaya (Malaysia), in 1805 as assistant secretary. Through his knowledge of the Malay language and customs he played a large part in planning the capture of Java from the Dutch. He ruled Java as lieutenant governor (1811–15) and reduced the power of native princes. . While lieutenant governor of Bencooleen in Sumatra (1818–23), he introduced coffee and sugar cultivation and established schools. He secured the transfer (1819) of Singapore to the East India Company and initiated policies that contributed greatly to Singapore's vital role in the lucrative China trade. Raffles was outstanding for his liberal attitude toward peoples under colonial rule, his rigorous suppression of the slave trade, and his zeal in collecting historical and scientific information. He played the chief role in founding the Zoological Society of London and was its first president. He knighted in 1817.

Xin Hui(biography of Christopher Columbus)

Christopher Columbus was a famous explorer.He was born in 1451 in Genoa in Italy.His father was a wool merchant and a weaver.When he was at the age of 13,he went out to sea and found sea journeys exciting.He had travelled to many places.He tried for many years to persuade kings and queens to give him money for food and ships so he could find a new route to China.
Christopher Columbus persuaded King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to give him money.In return he promised to give them new lands, spices, money and new people to become Christian.he passed on in 1506.he is worth remembering to the Americans as it was him who discovered America which was once known as Hispaniola.

Adrian(biography of Lapu Lapu)

Lapu Lapu was the datu of Mactan,an island in the Visayasin the Philipines. He was regarded as the first Filipino hero. Lapu Lapu and the men of Mactan,armed with spears,faced Spanish soldiers led by Portugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan on April 27,1521.

Lapu Lapu was a great and mighty hero who protected his own country by defeating the Spanish soldiers and Magellan.

Melissa(Biography of Elizabeth Choy)

Elizabeth Choy-Yong Su-Moi was a hero in the Singaporean war,educator and councillar.with her husband,choy Khun Heng,she supplied medicine,money and messages to british civilians interned in Changi Prison during the Second World War.


Choy was born on 29 November 1910 to a Hakka family in kudat,British North Borneo.Her great-grandparents first came to Kudat from Hong Kong to assist German missionaries in their work.Choy's father worked as a civil servant after completing his studies in China with some English education in North Borneo,where he married the daughter of a priest.



When she grew up,she became a volunteer nurse with the Medical Auxiliary Service during the Japanese invasion of Malaya.After the fall of Singapore in 1942,the Choys set up a canteen at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital,after all the patients and doctors had been moved from the Miyako Hospital,where they soon started a regular ambulance run for British civilian internees.They also helped the POW by delivering things for them.



After the war,the Choys were invited to England to recuperate.Her husband returned to his job and so,did not accompany her.Elizabeth Choy made the journey,where she met the Queen and Princess Elizabeth.Lady Baden-Powell awarded her the Girl Guides' highest honour,the Broze Cross,and the Rajah of Sarawak presented her with the Order of Sarawak.



After all those years,she died at the age of 95 on 14 September 2006 pancreatic cancer.

Agnes (Biography of Mother Teresa)

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhu in Skopje, Macedonia on August, 26, 1910. At the age of eighteen, she left her home in Skopje and joined an Irish community of nuns with tasks in India. She was sent to India after a few months of training in Dublin and took her initial vows as a nun on May, 24, 1931.
Mother Teresa taught at St Mary's High School in Calcutta from 1931 to 1948, but the suffering and poverty she glimsped outside the convent walls made such a deep impression on her that she received permission to leave the convent school and devote herself to working among the poorest of the poor in the hovels and slums of Calcutta from her superiors. Although she had no funds, she depended on Divine Providence and started an open-air school for slum children.

She was soon joined by voluntary helpers, and financial support was also forthcoming so it made it possible for Mother Teresa to extend the scope of her work. On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received permission to start her own order, "The Missionaries of Charity", whose primary mission was to love and care for persons nobody was prepared to look after. In 1965, the Society became an International Religious Family by a decree of Pope Paul VI.

Today, the Society of Missionaries has spread all over the world, including the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries.They provide effective help to the poorest of the poor in countries such as Asia, Africa and Latin America and they undertake relief work in the wake of natural castastrophes like floods, epidemics, famine, and for refugees.

The Missionaries of Charity throughout the world are aided and assisted ny Co-Workers who became as International Association on March 29, 1969. By the 1990s there were over one million Co-Workers in more than forty countries. Along with the Co-Workers, the lay Missionaries of Charity try to follow Mother Teresa's spirit and charism in their families.

Mother Teresa's work has been regconised and acclaimed throughout the world and she has received a number of awards and distinctions, including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize for 1972 and the Nehru prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding for 1972. She also received the Balan prize for 1979 and the Templeton and Magsaysay awards.

Sadly, Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997.

My biography on Taylor Swift

Name: Taylor Alison Swift

Birthdate: 13th December 1989

Bith place: Reading, PA

Zodiac sign: Sagittarius

Profession: Actress, Country-music singer and Songwritter

Taylor Alison Swift's family:

Andrea Swift-Mother

Scott Swift-Father

Austin Swift-Brother

Marjorie Finlay-Grandmother

Taylor Alison Swift grew up in a Christmas-tree farm in Pennsylvia. Her grandmother, Marjorie Finlay was a professional opera singer. She won a poetry contest when she was 4 years old. At the age of 11, she sang the national anthemn at a Philadelphia 76ers NBA game. When she was 14, she became the youngest staff songwritter ever hired by Sony Tree in Nashville. She has also wrote and co-wrote all the songs in her slf-titled debut CD. Her favourite outfit is her sundress and cowboy boots.

Photos of Taylor Alison Swift:

Done by:

Rebecca

All about Lee Hisen Leong( Chen Jei Min)

Born: February 10, 1952

Married to:
Ho Ching, who is and was the former Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the government-owned Temasek Holdings


Early Life:His grandmother Chua Jim Neo was a Hokkien Nyonya, and his mother Kwa Geok Choo has ancestry from Min Nan Tong'an.[1][2][3] In Lee Kuan Yew's biography, the young Lee Hisen Leong had learned Jawi script since he was five, and has always been interested in the affairs of Singapore

School Life:Lee studied at Nanyang Primary School, received his secondary education at Catholic High School and subsequently studied at National Junior College, where he learned the clarinet under the tutelage of Adjunct Associate Professor Ho Hwee Long. He studied mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge University, where he graduated in 1974 with First Class Honours in Mathematics and a Diploma in Computer Science (with distinction). He subsequently obtained a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in 1980.Lee joined the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in 1971 and rose quickly through the ranks becoming the youngest Brigadier General in Singapore's history. In 1978, he attended the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. He retired from the military in 1984 to enter politics and was elected as a Member of Parliament that year. Lee's first wife, Malaysian-born doctor Wong Ming Yang, died on 28 October 1982 of a heart attack[4] three weeks after giving birth to Lee's first son Lee Yi Peng, a mildly autistic albino. In 1985, Lee married Ho Ching, a fast-rising civil servant. They have one daughter and three sons (the oldest son of Ho Ching, Li Hongyi was the winner of the Lee Kuan Yew Award for Math & Science in 2006, the same year he was commissioned as an officer in the Singapore Armed forces at the SAFTI Military Institute) , including one daughter and son from Lee's first wife.

Political Career:Lee entered politics at the age of 32 in 1984. He was appointed Minister of State in the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Defence in December 1984 by his father, Lee Kuan Yew, and was subsequently promoted to Acting Minister for Trade and Industry in 1986, and the Second Minister for Defence.
In February 1987, issues on ethnic relationships in Singapore surfaced when Malaysian leaders asked the Members of Parliament why there were so few Malays holding key positions in the SAF. Lee Hsien Loong, then Second Minister for Defence, stated that the SAF did not want its soldiers to be in a position where the loyalty of the soldiers might clash with racial and religious factors.

Deputy Prime Minister: When Goh Chok Tong became the Prime Minister of Singapore on November 28, 1990, Lee became the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore. He focused on economic and civil service matters and concurrently served as Minister for Trade and Industry until 1992.
Lee was appointed Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 1998, and Minister for Finance in 2001. During Lee's thirteen and a half years as Deputy Prime Minister, he exerted significant influence on Singapore's governance, especially in economic and social affairs
To ease the growing budget deficit due to falling tax revenues from cuts in corporate and personal income taxes and other factors such as the Iraq War and Sars outbreak, Lee proposed on August 29, 2003 to raise the GST from three percent to five percent, a change that took place in January 2004.
Lee also initiated several relaxations of the requirements for Singapore citizenship, especially for foreign husbands of Singaporean women and foreign-born children of Singaporeans. The changes were made after repeated pleas from MPs and the Remaking Singapore Committee.

Prime Minister:
2004On August 12, 2004, Lee Hsien Loong succeeded Goh Chok Tong as Prime Minister, relinquishing his Chairmanship of the Monetary Authority of Singapore to Goh Chok Tong. Lee was sworn in by former Chief Justice Yong Pung How at the Istana, office of the President of Singapore.
Lee made his maiden National Day Rally on August 12, 2004. In his speech, Lee initiated the policy of the "Five-day work week", a plan that would remove a half-working day on Saturday. The plan took effect on 1 January 2005.
Lee also proposed two-month paid maternity leaves for new-born's mothers and financial incentives to mothers who give birth to a fourth child. These policies were initiated in response to the declining birth rate that Singapore has experienced in recent years.
In November 2004, Lee sparked a national debate when he revealed a proposal to build two Integrated Resorts (IRs) which are holiday resorts with casinos. In April 2005, despite substantial oppositions expressed by the public, Lee announced the decision to approve the proposal. The two IRs are to be built in Marina Bay and Sentosa. To limit the negative social impact of casino gambling, Lee suggested that safeguards be implemented, such as prohibiting minors from entering the casinos and charging a SGD$100 entrance fee for Singaporeans and permanent residents or SGD$2000 for a year-long entrance fee.

2006
In February 2006, Lee announced in parliament a S$2.6 billion bonus called the Progress Package.[5] The plan was to distribute budget surpluses accumulated from the past few years to adult Singaporeans in the form of cash to everyone, top-ups to the state pension savings for elders, rental and utilities rebates for those living in public housing, educational funds for school children from low-income families, and cash bonuses for low-wage workers above 40 and for those men who have completed National Service. The cash bonuses was distributed in early May 2006. Critics, especially members of the opposition, have slammed the Progress Package as a "vote-buying exercise" for the Singapore parliamentary election held on 6 May 2006. In that election, Lee led the People's Action Party to win 82 of the 84 seats, including 37 walkovers. Lee and his 6-member team won the Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency with 96,591 (60.42%) votes out of the total 159,872 votes cast. Most of the opposition WP's team of 6 were their 20s and the constituency was contested for the first time in 15 years. Its decision to contest Ang Mo Kio came as a surprise, as the opposition was expected to stay away from GRCs helmed by heavyweight ministers; but the party said that giving Ang Mo Kio residents a chance to vote was a prime reason for contesting the GRC. Given the inexperience of the WP team and Lee Hsien Loong's position as the Prime Minister, they won a surprisingly strong 49,468 votes (30.94%). There were also an extremely high percentage of void votes, 13,813 (8.64%).

Huiyi(George Washington)

George Washington

George washington was the first president of the United States. Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the morals, manners, and body of knowledge. He is often referred to as "the father of his country".

The Continental Congress appointed Washington commander of the American revolutionary forces. The following year, he defeated the surprised enemies later that year. Revolutionary forces captured the two main British combat armies. After Negotiating with Congress, the colonial states, and French allies, he held together a tenuous army and a fragile nation amid the threats of disintegration and failure.

After the war, Washington returned to private life and retired to his plantation at Mount Vernon. Washington became President of the United States in 1789 and established many of the customs and usages of the new government's executive department. He wanted to create a nation capable of surviving in a world torn asunder by war between Britain and France. His unilateral Proclamation of Neutrality provided a basis for avoiding any involvement in foreign conflicts. He supported plans to build a strong central government by funding the national debt, implementing an effective tax system, and creating a national bank. Washington avoided the temptation of war and a decade of peace with Britain began.

Although never officially joining the Federalist Party, he supported its programs and was its inspirational leader. Washington's farewell address was a primer on republican virtue and a stern warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars.

Washington was awarded the very first Congressional Gold Medal with the Thanks of Congress.
Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon, for he died of a throat infection December 14, 1799. The funeral oration delivered by Henry Lee stated that of all Americans, he was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen".For months the nation mourned his death.

Valerie(Marie Curie)

Marie Curie was born as the daughter of a secondary-school teacher. She received general education in local schools and a bit of scientific training from her father. In 1891, she went to Paris to continue her studies at the Sorbonne where she obtained Licenciateships in Physics and the Mathematical Sciences.

There, she met Pierre Curie, Professor in the School of Physics in 1894. In the following year, they got married. She succeeded her husband as Head of the Physics Laboratory at the Sorbonne and gained her Doctor of Science degree in 1903. Following the tragic death of Pierre Curie in 1906, she took his place as the Professor of General Physics in the Faculty of Sciences. That was the first time a woman had held that position. She was also appointed Director of the Curie Laboratory in the Radium Institute of the University of Paris, founded in 1914.

Her early researches with her husband were often performed under difficult conditions. Laboratory arrangements were poor and the both of them had to undertake much teaching to earn a livelihood. The discovery of radioactivity by Henri Becquerel in 1896 inspired the Curies in their brilliant researches and analyses, which led to the isolation of polonium, named after the country of Marie's birth, and radium. Marie Curie developed methods for the separation of radium from radioactive residues in sufficient quantities to allow for its characterization and the careful study of its properties, especially therapeutic properties.

Throughout her life, she actively promoted the use of radium to alleviate suffering, and during World War I, assisted by her daughter, Irene Curie , she personally devoted herself to this remedial work. She did a lot to establish a radioactivity laboratory in her native city. In 1929, President Hoover of the United States presented her with a gift of $ 50,000- all of it donated by American friends of science- to purchase radium for use in the laboratory in Warsaw.



Marie Curie, though quiet, dignified and unassuming, was held in high esteem and admiration by scientists throughout the world. She was a member of Counseil Du Physique Solvay from 1911 until her death and since 1922 she had been a member of the Committee of Intellectual Co-operation of the League of Nations. Her work is recorded in numerous papers in scientific journals and she is the author of -Recherches Sur Les Substances Radioactives, published in 1904.



Marie Curie's work is reflected by the numerous awards bestowed on her. She received many honorary science, medicine and law degrees and honorary memberships of learned societies throughout the world. Together with her husband, she was awarded half of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903, for their study into the spontaneous radiation discovered by Becquerel, who was awarded the other half of the Prize. In 1911 she received a second Nobel prize, but this time in chemistry, in recognition of her work in radioactivity. Jointly with her husband, she received the Davy Medal of the Royal Society in 1903, and in 1921, President Harding of the United States, on behalf of the women of America, presented her with one gram of radium in recognition of her service to science.

Sadly, Marie Curie died in Savoy, France, after a short illness on July 4, 1934.

Jia Hui (Christopher Columbus)

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451. His father was Domenico Colombo who worked as a wool weaver His mother was Susanna Fontanarossa. He had three brothers, Bartolomeo, Giovanni Pelligrino and Giacomo.Although how much formal education Columbus received as a child is not known, the schools of Italian craft guilds (which Columbus, as the son of a wool weaver, would have attended) did offer a rudimentary level of reading and writing. As a boy, Christopher joined his father in the family business of wool processing and selling. He may have worked as a clerk in a Genoese bookshop as well. However, as did many other young men who grew up in a major seaport, Columbus soon began a life of seafaring. Beginning his seagoing career at age 14, Columbus served on various ships in various roles, including messenger, common sailor, and, perhaps, even as a 21-year-old privateer. Columbus son Ferdinand stated in History of the Life and Deeds of Christopher Columbus that in 1472 Columbus was given command of a ship on a privateering expedition to Tunis in northern Africa. In a lost letter, Columbus supposedly related to his son how Ren?I, duke of the French province of Anjou, had commissioned Columbus to make a surprise attack on a large Spanish ship sailing off the coast of North Africa. Most historians doubt, however, that Columbus ever received command of the expedition. Much more credible, though, is a subsequent expedition. In 1474 Columbus was hired as a sailor on a ship bound for the island of in the Aegean Sea, an arm of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. This was his first long voyage and must have proved profitable, because after spending a year on the island he was able to become economically independent from his family. This voyage also represents a great irony in the life of Columbus the trip to this small island in the Aegean brought him the closest he would ever get to Asia. On August 13, 1476, a Genoese commercial expedition of five ships bound for England gave Columbus his first opportunity to leave the Mediterranean Sea and sail into the Atlantic Ocean. But it was an inauspicious beginning for Columbus: According to tradition, the entire fleet was attacked by French privateers off Cape Saint Vincent on the southwestern tip of Portugal. Both sides lost ships; Columbus, one of the unfortunate ones whose ship was burned, had no escape other than to swim for the Portuguese coast. He made it to shore by clinging to wreckage. After regaining his strength in the port of Lagos, Columbus made his way to Lisbon and its large community of Genoese merchants and shipbuilders. He was 25 years old. Columbus settled in Lisbon. Lisbon had become a haven for explorers, adventurers, entrepreneurs, merchants, and any others who saw their fortunes tied to the trade winds and ocean currents. Columbus 's brother Bartholomew worked in Lisbon as a mapmaker, and for a time the brothers worked together as draftsmen and book collectors. Later that year, Columbus set sail on a convoy loaded with goods to be sold in northern Atlantic ports. Columbus met and married Felipa Perestrello e Moniz, the daughter of a respected, though relatively poor, noble family. Felipa 's father, Bartolomeo Perestrello, who was already deceased when Columbus met Felipa, had served as governor of Porto Santo in the Madeira Islands, a Portuguese possession off the northwest coast of Africa. Soon after their marriage, the newlyweds accompanied the rest of the family back to Porto Santo, where Felipa 's oldest brother took over the governorship. Columbus and Felipa moved to the larger island of Madeira , soon after their son Diego was born. It is believed that Felipa died soon after. Columbus sailed to the Portuguese fortress of Elmina, in what is now Ghana, on the western coast of Africa. Columbus was impressed with the riches Africa offered, especially gold. In addition, like all good navigators, he was eager to learn about winds and ocean currents from the local pilots and sailors. In the waters off the coast of Africa and the nearby Canary Islands, Columbus first observed the ocean phenomenon known as the Canaries Current . Knowledge of this fast-moving current running west of the Canary Islands could well have been the reason that Columbus later chose to start his crossing of the Atlantic in the latitude of the Canaries, far south of Spain or Portugal. The experiences of these years led directly to the genesis of Columbus 's plan to reach the east by going west, what he called his interprise of the Indies.To Europeans in Columbus 's day, all lands to the east of the Indus River in Asia were the Indies. Inspiration and assistance for his plan came from a number of sources. First, his marriage into the Portuguese nobility proved helpful because, although relatively poor, the family still had connections to the Portuguese court. Columbus apparently gained access to his father-in-law 's papers and found a wealth of information, including maps, charts revealing ocean currents, interviews with sailors, and stories about objects that had drifted to the coast of the Madeira Islands from the west. Also contributing to the formation of Columbus 's plan were his association with the Genoese community in Portugal and his expeditions to Africa. Both furthered his knowledge of Atlantic waters, and his trips to Africa brought him close to the Canary Islands, giving him knowledge of the Canaries Current. Also, while in ports in England, Ireland, Iceland, and other northern regions, Columbus may have heard stories of lands to the west of Iceland. Although the histories of the Vikings, who settled Iceland and Greenland , they never became part of the knowledge base of medieval Europeans, it is believed that stories of their encounters with unknown islands in the northern Atlantic were widespread. Columbus 's genius was his remarkable ability to gather information from around the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and combine his own experiences with ancient theories from books in a way that few navigators could. Columbus 's idea of sailing west to get to the east was not original with him, nor did he ever claim that it was. Columbus drew upon science and knowledge accumulated over thousands of years. In Greek and Roman times, for example, geographers theorized that there was only one body of water on the surface of the Earth and that it connected Europe and Asia. If so, one could theoretically sail from the west to get to the east. Only the distance was disputed. Columbus 's ideas of the size of the earth and the distance between Europe and Asia were based on the descriptions contained in several geographic works. These works included the 2nd-century manuscript Geography by Ptolemy; Imago Mundi (Image of the World) by Pierre dilly, published in the early 1480s; and The Travels of Marco Polo, written in 1298 after Marco Polo returned from China. Unfortunately, his ideas did not prove particularly accurate. Columbus founded his theory on two mistaken propositions that the Asian continent stretched much farther to the east than it actually does, and that Japan lay about 2,400 km (about 1,500 mi) east of the Asian mainland. Columbus also greatly underestimated the circumference of the earth. Columbus calculated that the Canary Islands lay only about 4,440 km (about 2,760 mi) from Japan; the actual distance is about 19,000 km (about 12,000 mi). Similar errors were made by other learned men of the time, including the Florentine geographer Paulo de Pozzo Toscanelli, with whom Columbus may have corresponded. Neither Columbus nor anyone else in Europe suspected that two vast continents lay in the way of a westward passage to Asia. Columbus decided to seek patronage for his plan first in Portugal. With few interruptions, the Portuguese crown had encouraged and supported exploration for over a century, and nearly all new discoveries in the Atlantic were Portuguese. Furthermore, it was well known that the reigning monarch, King John II, was personally committed to sailing around Africa and discovering a direct sea route to the Indian Ocean and Asia. The king 's strong support of geographical exploration made him a logical choice for Columbus to approach. In addition, Columbus had been in Portugal for seven years and had married a Portuguese noblewoman. According to tradition, in 1484 the king listened to Columbus 's proposal to sail to the east by going west and summarily passed it on to his Council of Geographical Affairs. But after a public hearing, the council denied the request on the grounds that it was too expensive, that Columbus was wrong about distances and measurements, and that such a plan contradicted Portugal 's commitment to finding an eastward route to Asia by traveling around Africa.

Grace Lee (Biography of Barack Obama)

Did you know that Barack Hussein Obama is the 44th president in the united states?

Barack Hussein Obama was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father was born of Luo ethnicity in Nyanza Province, Kenya. He grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British. Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in Wichita, Kansas. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. Obama's father went to Harvard to pursue Ph.D. studies and then returned to Kenya. His mother married Lolo Soetoro, another East–West Center student from Indonesia. In 1967, the family moved to Jakarta, where Obama's half-sister Maya Soetoro Ng was born.

Four years later when Obama was ten, he returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham, and later his mother died of ovarian cancer in 1995.

He was enrolled in the fifth grade (Primary 5) at the esteemed Punahou Academy, graduating with honors in 1979. He was only one of three black students at the school. This is where Obama first became conscious of racism and what it meant to be an African-American.

After high school, Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, graduating in 1983 with a degree in political science.

Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. Obama previously served as the junior United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned after his election to the presidency in November 2008.

Although there are some white people who doesn't like him, he never let us down. Do you know why the white people doesn't like him? Long ago, black people were used to be servants so the white people always look down at them, the think they are poor.

Obama may or may not have the ability to do his job well but the black people are proud of him. In this way, his place of the president will still be his until he die.

Isaac Newton-The person who discovers GRAVITY

Isaac Newton(1642-1727) was the first person who discovered Gravity.He was a mathematician and physicist.He never married and lived modestly for his whole life.

He was born in 1642, at Woolsthorpe,a place near Grantham in Lincolnshire,where he attended Cambridge University in 1661. He remained at the university,lecturing in most years,until 1696.

In 1664,he discovered the refraction of light by a glass prism and the measurable,mathematical patterns in the phenomenon of colour.

Around 1665 to 1666,he discovered gravitational force when he saw an apple dropped in his orchard,which, he conceived the same force governed the moon and the apple.He worked together with his friend Edmond Halley,who wrote the books Principia.Isaac Newton died in 1727 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

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JunWuen(biography of Stamford Raffles)

Stamford Raffles

Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (6 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman, best known for his founding of the city of Singapore.

While in Singapore, Raffles established schools and churches in the native languages. He allowed missionaries and local businesses to flourish. Certain colonial aspects remained: a European town was quickly built to segregate the population, separated by a river; carriage roads were built and cantonments constructed for the soldiers.

Raffles was pleased at the fact that Singapore had grown exponentially in such short years. The colony was a bustling hub of trade and activity. However, Farquhar's development work was deemed unsatisfactory and Raffles drew up what is now known as the Jackson Plan, and replanned the city according to recommendations of a committee headed by the colony's engineer, Phillip Jackson.

In 1823, Raffles drafted the first constitution for Singapore, which followed a fairly moralistic stance, outlawing gaming and slavery. A specific regulation in the constitution called for the multiethnic population of Singapore to remain as is, and there shall be no crimes based on being a race. He then went to work drafting laws, defining on exactly "what" constituted a crime. Finally, on 9 July 1823, feeling that his work on establishing Singapore was finished, he boarded a ship for home.

With the Singapore matter settled, Raffles turned to his other great hobby - botany. Raffles was a founder (in 1825) and first president (elected April 1826) of the Zoological Society of London and the London Zoo.

He died in London, England, a day before his forty-fifth birthday, on 5 July 1826, of apoplexy. Because of his anti-slavery stance, he was refused burial inside his local parish church (St. Mary's, Hendon) by the vicar, whose family had made its money in the slave trade. A brass tablet was finally placed in 1887 and the actual whereabouts of his body was not known until 1914 when it was found in a vault. When the church was extended in the 1920s his tomb was incorporated into the body of the building.

Jolene(Biography of Michael Jackson)

Everyone knows that the 'King of Pop' , Michael Jackson lived to be 50 years old. He was born on August 29, 1958(1958-08-29).Everybody that knows him calls him as 'Michael Jackson', but his full name is Michael Joseph Jackson.

He is born in The United States. His mum and dad are, Katherine Esther Scruse and Joseph Walter ''Joe'' Jackson. His father was a steel mill worker who performed with an R&B band called The Falcons. Michael Jackson had three sisters :Rebbie, La Toya and Janet. He also have six brothers :Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Brandon(Marlon's twin brother who died shortly after birth) and Randy.

Everybody that do not know him very well will only think that he is only a singer when he is also a songwriter, record producer, dancer, choreographer, actor, businessman, philanthropist, beat boxer. He married twice, first in 1994 and again in 1996, and brought up three children, one born to a surrogate mother.

Michael Jackson died while preparing for the 'This is it' concert tour in 2009. He reportedly had been administered drugs such as propofol and lorazepam. Michael Jackson death triggered an outpouring of grief from around the world. But because of his death, he became the first artist in United States with 4 of the top 20 best-selling albums in a single year.

wanxuan(biography of Sir Stamford Raffles)

The story of Sir Stamford Raffles

Raffles was a british stateman.He is well-known for founding the city of Singapore.He was born on 1781 off the coast of Jamaica.He died on 1826 aged 44.He beliefed in Anglican.

Raffles founded Singapore in 1819.While in Singapore,Raffles establishs schools and churches in native languages.He allowed missionaries and local businesses to florish.

Raffles declared the foundation of what was to become of modern Singapore on 6 February ,secruring the transferof control of the islands to the East India company.

Raffles was pleased at the fact that Singapore had grown exponentially in such short years.Raffles finally retured to england on 22 August 1824 over a year after he left Singapore.His longest tenure in Singapore in only eight months,but he was still consided as the founder of Singapore neverthelss.

Upon founding the the Zoological Society of London and the London Zoo,Raffles was in poor health.

After a few months,Raffles was already too ill.Soon after,he died in London a day before his forty - five birthday .He died on 5th July 1826.

The End

Shean Shing (Biography of George Washington)

George Washington

George Washington was the first President of United States. He was born in Westmoreland County on 22th February 1732. George was the eldest son of Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington.

George Washington had an early ambition of going out to the sea. However, it had been effectively discouraged by George's mother. Instead of going out to sea, George turned his ambition to surveying. He secured an appointment to survey Load Fairfax's lands in the Shenandoah Valley in 1748. He had helped to lay out the Virginia Town of Belhaven (now Alexandria) in 1749. Then, he was appointed tobe the surveyor for Culpeper County.

After the death of George's half brother,he inherited the Mount Vernon estate.By 1753 the growing of rivalry between the British and French had over controlling matters of Ohio Valley soon erupted into the French and Indian War from 1754-1763 that created opportunities for the young but ambitious George and he went to join the British army.

After the war, George retured to Mount Vernon. In May 1787,George went to the Virginia delegation to the Constitutional Conversion in Philadelphia and was unanimously elected the presiding officer. Althought Georgr made a few direct contributions, he generally supported the advocates of a strong central government. After the new Consitution was submitted to the states for ratification and became legally operative and was elected to the president of United States in 1789.

After the many contributions to United States, George finally left the office and retired in 1797. When George Washington left the post of president of United States, the country's financial system was well established.

George spent his last years in wonderful and happy retirement at Mount Vernon. In mid-December, he contacted throat infection and died on December 14, 1799.

For months, the Nation mourned for George Washington..............

Gloria~Biography of Audrey Hepburn~

~~~Audrey Kathleen Ruston aka Audrey Hepburn~~~



Date of Birth

4 May 1929

Date of Death

20 January 1993

Audrey was born on 4 May 1929 in Brussels,Belgium. She really was blue-blood from the beginning with her father, a wealthy English banker, and her mother, a Dutch baroness. When she was 10, her parents divorced and she moved together with her mother.While vacationing with her mother in Arnhem, Holland, Adolf Hitler's army took over the town. It was here that she fell on hard times during the Nazi occupation and she suffered from depression and malnutrition. After the liberation, Audrey went to a ballet school in London on a scholarship and later began a modeling career.

As a model, she was graceful and, it seemed, she had found her niche in life - until the film producers came calling. After being spotted modeling by a producer, she was signed to a bit part in the European film in 1948.Audrey gained immediate prominence in the US with her role in Roman Holiday in 1953. This film turned out to be a smashing success as she won an Oscar as Best Actress. This gained her enormous popularity and more plum roles. One of the reasons for her popularity was the fact that she was so elf-like and had class. Over the next few years, she acted in countless movies and her most radiant roles was in the fine production of My Fair Lady in 1964.

In 1988, she became a special ambassador of United Nations fund by helping children in Latin America and Africa, a position she retained until 1993. At that time, she was named to People's magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. Her last film was Always in 1989. Audrey died in 20 January 1993 in Tolochnaz,Switzeland from appendicular cancer.

During her life time, she has made over 31 high quality movies. Her elegance and style will always be remembered in film history as evidence by her being "The Top 100 Movie Stars Of All Time".

~MY REFLECTION~Her life has taught me to be strong when traumatic experiences from divorces,fights,wars etc. make me suffer,I need to built the confidence in me like what Audrey did to become one of the most successful people in the world.

Rufus(Biography of Stamford Raffles)

Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (26 July 1781-5 July 1826) founded Singapore, and is one of the best-known of the many Britons who created the largest empire the world has ever seen. Little is known of Raffle's parents. He started working as a clerk in London when he was 14 years old for the British East India Company, the quasi-government trading company that shaped much of England's overseas conquests.

In 1805, he was sent to what is now Penang in the country of Malaysia, and then called Prince of Wales Island, starting a long association with southeast Asia.

Raffles was also a founder and first president of the Zoological Society of London. He was knighted in 1817.

In Singapore,his name lives on in Raffles Junior College, Raffles Institution, Raffles Hotel, Stamford Road, Stamford House, Raffles City and Raffles Place, while he is also remembered in the name of the largest flower in the world, the Rafflesia.