Jim Whiting
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The Egyptian pharaoh Rameses II is often referred to as Rameses the Great. His reign lasted for 67 years, the second longest in Egypt's 3,000-year history. He had dozens of wives and more than 100 children, outliving many of them. He was a military leader who expanded the borders of his country, bringing decades of peace and prosperity for his people. He ordered huge statues of himself to be erected all over Egypt. Many historians believe that he...
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Julius Caesar is one of the most famous figures in ancient Rome. He was born into a turbulent era, when different factions were trying to control the government. He survived and began a steady rise in importance. He became a very successful military commander who added more than 200,000 square miles to the territories under Rome s control. But his triumphs created powerful enemies in Rome. They wanted to strip him of his power. He defeated those enemies...
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What is probably the most famous pairing in musical history began without fanfare in 1871 when writer William S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan teamed up to produce a Christmas entertainment called Thespis. The two men parted ways soon afterward and it took a theatrical promoter named Richard D Oyly Carter to reunite them four years later. Their first big hit came in 1878 with their operetta H.M.S. Pinafore. It reached the United States the...
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The Japanese attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, was one of the worst defeats in U.S. military history. It began a string of Japanese successes that seemed to threaten the security of the United States. Many U.S. citizens and government leaders were on the verge of panic. But the attack was probably the greatest mistake the Japanese made during World War II. At that time, many Americans didn t want to go to war. The...
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The United States and the Soviet Union were two of the nations that defeated Nazi Germany in World War II. Yet their systems of government were completely different. These differences soon developed into the Cold War. Both sides became bitter enemies. But there was no actual fighting. That situation nearly changed in 1961. The Soviets secretly installed missiles with nuclear warheads in Cuba. These missiles could reach many cities in the United States....
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George Gershwin couldn't seem to stay out of trouble when he was a boy. He was a tough kid who got in a lot of fights and frequently skipped school. When his family bought a piano, his life was transformed. He quickly mastered the instrument, and then dropped out of school when he was fifteen to become a musician. Within a year, he had sold his first song. When he was 20, he wrote his first big hit. Five years after that, Rhapsody in Blue catapulted...
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A biographical profile of nineteenth century Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh discussing his early struggles his bouts of depression his development as an artist and his posthumous fame. Includes a chronology as well as essays on artists and topics contemporary to Van Gogh.
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Giuseppe Verdi was born in obscurity in a tiny Italian village in 1813. When he died in 1901, hundreds of thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the man whom many people consider as the best opera composer of all time. His career spanned more than half a century and included such successes as Rigoletto, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Otello, Falstaff, and Aida, the most often-performed work at New York s Metropolitan Opera. Yet when he...
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Greek soldiers defeated numerically superior Persian armies in several battles near the beginning of the fifth century BCE. That set the stage for what is known as the Golden Age of Greece, several decades of almost unparalleled accomplishments in art, politics, and civil affairs. The leader during this inspired era was a citizen of Athens named Pericles. He led many important political changes in the city. He was also largely responsible for the...
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The Roman emperor Nero is one of the most notorious figures in history. He is most famous for fiddling while Rome burned, then blaming Christians for setting the fire and beginning a series of persecutions against them. He even ordered the murder of his own mother. Find out why the Romans declared him a public enemy, and what happened when he tried to run away.
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Until she was thirteen, Joan of Arc led a normal life. Then she began hearing voices. She believed these voices spoke for God. At first, they told her to be a good girl. A few years later, they told her that her destiny was to save France from its English invaders. Joan s inspirational leadership helped the French to defeat the English at the city of Orleans. Soon afterward, she persuaded the crown prince Charles to become King of France. A few months...
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Do you want a pet that won't wake you up with its barking, doesn't need daily walks, and can go for a week or more without being fed? If so, a snake might be for you.
But owning a snake is not easy. You need a container and other specialized equipment to make sure that your pet lives a long and comfortable life. Like any other pet, snakes can become ill. Most snakes eat only small animals such as mice. You may not be comfortable with feeding them....
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Ordained as a priest, Antonio Lucio Vivaldi became one of Europe s most popular composers during the early part of the eighteenth century. He wrote hundreds of concertos, dozens of operas, and many sacred works before his music fell out of fashion during the latter part of his life. He died in obscurity and his work suffered a similar fate for almost two centuries. His music was rescued from oblivion in the 1930s. His most famous work, The Four Seasons,...
16) Robert Fulton
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From the time he was young, Robert Fulton liked to work with his hands. For a while he thought he wanted to be an artist, but it was hard to make a living as a painter. Fulton turned to inventing things, including a very early version of the submarine. He is most famous for building the first practical steamboat. Others had tried and failed, but his North River Steam Boat was successful. It sailed regularly between New York City and Albany, the capital...
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When the Great War began in August 1914, many people thought it would be over by Christmas. Instead it lasted for more than four years and claimed millions of lives.The most dominant feature of the conflict was the seemingly endless miles of trenches that faced each other, often just a few hundred yards apart. The only way of attacking was through brutal frontal assaults. Often thousands of men died in a few hours. When they werent fighting, men lived...
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French composer Hector Berlioz believed in love at first sight. When he was 23, he attended a performance of Shakespeare s play Hamlet and fell head over heels in love with Harriet Smithson, an English actress who had a leading role. Harriet didn't show any interest in him. She ignored his letters. When he tried to meet her backstage, she ordered the guard to throw him out.
Berlioz was hurt and angry. He wanted revenge. He got it by murdering Harriet...
19) Annie Oakley
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Annie Oakley had a difficult childhood. Her father died when she was six, so she had to live with other people, including a family who threw her out of the house in the middle of a snowstorm. But Annie persevered. She found she had a natural gift for shooting, and she used her gift to defeat a traveling marksman named Frank Butler. Soon they were married and partners in shooting exhibitions. When Annie joined Buffalo Bill s Wild West Show, she became...
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