Albert Einstein was a German-born physicist, although most people probably know him as the most

intelligent person who ever lived. His name has become part of many languages when we want to
say someone is a genius, as in the phrase, Shes a real Einstein. He must have been pretty brainy to
discover the Theory of Relativity and the equation E=mc2.
In 1999, Time magazine named Einstein as the Person of the Century. No one could have guessed
this would happen when he was at school. He was extremely interested in science but hated the
system of learning by heart. He said it destroyed learning and creativity. He had already done many
experiments, but failed the entrance exams to a technical college.
He didnt let this setback stop him. When he was 16, he performed his famous experiment of
imagining traveling alongside a beam of light. He eventually graduated from university, in 1900, with
a degree in physics. Twelve years later he was a university professor and in 1921, he won the Nobel
Prize for Physics. He went on to publish over 300 scientific papers.
Einstein is the only scientist to become a cult figure, a household name, and part of everyday culture.
He once joked that when people stopped him in the street, he always replied: "Pardon me, sorry!
Always I am mistaken for Professor Einstein. Today, he is seen as the typical mad, absent-minded
professor, who just happened to change our world.
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Sources: http://www.wikipedia.org/ and assorted biographies.

William Henry Gates III was born on October 28, 1955. He is one of the world's richest people and
perhaps the most successful businessman ever. He co-founded the software giant Microsoft and
turned it into the worlds largest software company. He is the best-known entrepreneur of the PC
revolution. He has also written two best-selling books and started his own charity with his wife.
Gates was fascinated with electronics from a young age. In 1975 he read about a small technology
company. He contacted them to see if they were interested in a computer programme he had
written. This led to the creation of Microsoft. Gates later struck a deal with IBM that put Microsoft's
Windows on IBM computers. This deal made Microsoft a major player in the IT industry.
Gates was in charge at Microsoft from 1975 until 2006. He was an active software developer at the
beginning. He had a vision that computers could change everyones life. He helped make this vision
come true and developed many products that are now part of modern life. His management style
has been studied and copied around the world.
Gates stepped down as Microsoft CEO in June 2008. He now spends his time with his wife, Melinda,
focusing on their charitable foundation. They provide funds for global problems that are ignored by
governments and other organizations. Time magazine voted Gates as one of the biggest influences
of the 20th Century. Scientists named the Bill Gates flower fly after him.
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Sources: http://www.wikipedia.org/ and assorted biographies.

Jackie Chan is a true action movie great. He has appeared in dozens of movies and is a screen legend.
He had a simple beginning as a Chinese refugee in Hong Kong. His early years were, perhaps, a sign
of things to come. His parents nicknamed him Pao-Pao, which means cannonball, because he had
so much energy.
Chan enrolled in the China Drama Academy to study opera while still in his teens. He spent ten years
there and worked part-time as a stuntman in the kung fu movie industry. He soon earned the
reputation as Hong Kongs most fearless stuntman. He moved into acting, but his first two films were
both flops. He quit the movie business and moved to Australia.
Several years later, director Ng Than Chan asked Jackie to appear in the movies Snake in Eagle's
Shadow and Drunken Master. Both were smash hits at the box office and Jackie Chan was now a
star in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, a former director tried to tie Chan to an old contract. He sent the
Hong Kong mafia to Chans movie sets to frighten him. Chan moved to Hollywood.
He was not successful in Hollywood, so he returned to Hong Kong. He learnt a lot about moviemaking while in America and used this knowledge to make many successful movies for the Chinese
market. He also became a pop star. He returned to Hollywood and made the movie Rush Hour in
1998. It made him a worldwide star.
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Sources: http://www.wikipedia.org/ and assorted biographies.
Ban Ki-moon became the eighth UN General Secretary in 2006. Before then, he was a diplomat in
South Korea, where he served as Foreign Minister. His diplomatic service started after graduating
from college. His first post was at his nations embassy in India. He quickly earned a reputation for
his clever diplomatic skills.
Ban was born in a small farming village and grew up in the town of Chungju. His destiny was to
become a diplomat. He was a star pupil at school and was chosen to send a message to the United
Nations. In 1962, he won an essay competition. His prize was a trip to America, where he met
President John F. Kennedy. He told him his ambition was to be a diplomat.
Ban studied International Relations and got a Masters degree from Harvard University. He speaks
English, French, German and Japanese. He has a very disciplined work ethic and splits his schedule
into five-minute blocks. The Korean press calls him the slippery eel because of his ability to evade
tricky questions.
In his time as UN boss, he has dealt with many difficult issues. He has very strong views on global
warming and has tried repeatedly to persuade President Bush to cut the USAs carbon emissions. He
has taken an active role in Irans and North Koreas nuclear intentions. Ban has also tried to
negotiate a deal to solve the Darfur crisis. He seems well equipped to deal with future global
problems.
Sources: http://www.wikipedia.org/ and assorted biographies.

Mustafa Kemal Atatrk is the founder of the Republic of Turkey. His surname, Ataturk, means
"Father of the Turks". He was born in 1881 in Salonika, then part of the Ottoman Empire. He had a
long and active military career before entering politics. He was a visionary and revolutionary leader
who swiftly modernized Turkey after becoming its first president. His legacy is seen throughout
Turkish life today.
When Atatrk was 12, he joined a military school. He later graduated from a military academy in
Istanbul in 1905. He quickly established his military reputation by fighting against the Italians in Libya
in 1911, and in the Balkan Wars between 1912-1913. He became a hero by defending the
Dardanelles against the Allies in 1915. Atatrk was promoted to general at the age of 35 because of
his military skills.
Atatrk played a key role in the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1922). He started a nationalist
revolution and successfully fought off European armies that had carved up and occupied Turkey
after WWI. In 1921, he established a temporary government in Ankara. Two years later, in 1923,
Turkey became a secular republic with Atatrk as its president. He remained in office until 1938.
As president, Mustafa Kemal's reforms secularized schools and encouraged education for girls. He
also asked women to work to build Turkey's economy. He replaced Islamic courts with secular civil
law and replaced Arabic script with a Latin-based Turkish alphabet. He also promoted a more
western style of dressing. Atatrk died on November 10, 1938, aged 57 years old. He remains a
revered figure in Turkey.
Sources: http://www.wikipedia.org/ and assorted biographies.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the Prime Minister and Vice President of the United
Arab Emirates, and the ruler of Dubai. He has helped transform the emirate of Dubai from a desert
town into a major business hub and tourist destination. He has developed an active pursuit of
quality, which ranges from business and sports to making Dubai a world-class city.
Sheikh Mohammed was born in 1949. From the age of four, he was privately tutored in Arabic and
Islamic Studies. He was an excellent student and was said to have a photographic memory. His
father, Sheikh Rashed, started grooming Sheik Mohammed for political leadership from the age of
nine. Throughout his youth, Sheikh Mohammed joined meetings with bankers, businessmen and
intellectuals.
Sheikh Mohammed also developed a keen interest in traditional Arabic poetry, as well as falconry
and horse riding. He is an expert in both pursuits and he now hosts the worlds richest horse race,
the Dubai Gold Cup. His love of sport has also resulted in many other prestigious international
sporting events being held in Dubai, including tennis, rugby and golf.
Sheikh Mohammed has guided many projects that are transforming Dubais international image.
These include the Burj Al Arab hotel, the luxury offshore islands and the worlds tallest building. He
owns Dubai Holdings, a company with many investments around the world. He is also well known for
his charity. In 2007, he launched Dubai Cares, a campaign to educate one million children in poor
countries.
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Jordans Queen Rania is a very modern monarch. She has worked for companies like Citibank and
Apple Computer and appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. She also uses YouTube to help people
around the world understand more about the Arab world. She became a Jordanian royal after
marrying King Abdullah bin Al-Hussein in June 1993, six months after they met.
She was born as Rania Al-Yassin in Kuwait in 1970. Her parents were Palestinian. She graduated from
the American University in Cairo with a degree in Business Administration. She is frequently in the
Forbes magazine list of the 100 most powerful women in the world. Being an honorary colonel of the
Jordanian Armed Forces might help keep her there.
Queen Rania is famous around the world for her charity work. She fights for education reform and
better school facilities for poor children. She is a strong believer in the need for compulsory English
language classes at schools. She is involved with a great variety of organizations and campaigns for
better vaccines, cancer research, family safety and many more worthy causes.
Harpers & Queen magazine named her the worlds third most beautiful woman in 2005. She is a very
strong supporter of womens rights. She tours the world talking about womens issues at
international conferences. In particular, she speaks about peoples misunderstandings about
women's role in Islam. She inspires women around the world and works to improve their lives.
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Sources: http://www.wikipedia.org/ and assorted biographies.

Enzo Ferrari was born in 1898 and died in 1988. He made his name known all over the world for fast
cars and motor racing. Ferrari was an Italian car driver and businessman. He founded the Scuderia
Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team. It became the most successful Formula 1 team in history.
Ferrari also built a factory to produce super-fast sports cars.
Ferrari was born in Modena, Italy. He grew up with a passion for fast cars and racing. He served in
the Italian Army during World War I. After he returned home, he tried to find a job at FIAT, without
success. He joined a smaller car company called CMN and took up racing in 1919 but wasnt so
successful.
In 1920, Ferrari joined Alfa Romeo and did well as a racer throughout the 1920s. He managed a team
of 40 drivers and took responsibility for the development of Alfas cars. Ferrari resigned from Alfa
and went his own way, setting up his own company in 1947. He built a car to participate in the very
first Formula 1 World Championship race in 1950.
Ferraris first victory came in the British Grand Prix in 1951. The first championship came in the
1952-53 season. Ferrari started making sports cars in order to finance his Grand Prix and Le Mans
adventures. Ferrari headed the company until he stepped down in 1971. He died in his hometown of
Modena. His name is the most famous in motor sports.
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Cristina Kirchner (born February 19, 1953) is an Argentine lawyer and the current President of
Argentina. She is the wife of former President Nestor Kirchner. Before she became president, she
was a Senator for Buenos Aires and First Lady during her husband's term. She swept to power in
October 2007. She crushed the other candidates, with a 22% lead over her nearest rival.
Kirchner briefly started out in politics in the 1970s. However, due to the authoritarian rule in her
country, she dropped out to practice law. She re-entered politics in the late 1980s and in 1995, she
became a senator. She was a guiding light behind her husbands successful presidential campaign in
2003. She gained a reputation for being a strong speaker and won many admirers.
Kirchner is Argentina's second female president. She is the first wife in any countrys history to be
elected to succeed her husband as leader. She is often compared to Eva Evita Peron but always
rejects the comparisons. She once said the only similarity is "the hair in a bun and the clenched fist
before a microphone".
Kirchner immediately faced some mighty challenges upon taking power. She had to tackle high
inflation, unions demanding higher salaries, corruption, and a credit crisis. She introduced some very
unpopular taxes and her popularity nosedived. A poll taken in April 2008 showed her disapproval
rating was at 61.8%. She needs to dig deep to turn around her countrys economy and her own
political fortunes.
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Sources: http://www.wikipedia.org/ and assorted biographies.

Jobs guided Apple to be a major player in the digital revolution. The introduction of the iMac and
other cutting-edge products made Apple a powerful brand with a loyal following. Jobs also enjoyed
considerable success at Pixar. He created Oscar-winning movies such as Toy Story and Finding
Nemo. Jobs advice for success is: Youve got to find what you love." He died in October 2011, aged
56.
Steve Jobs was the co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc. and former CEO of Pixar Animation Studios. He
was the largest individual shareholder in Walt Disney. Jobs name is associated with innovative
products like the iPod, iPhone, iTunes and iPad. He was a much-respected corporate leader whose
management style is studied worldwide. His attention to design, function and style won him millions
of fans.
Jobs was born in San Francisco in 1955. He became interested in computers when he was a teenager
and attended lectures after school at Hewlett Packard. In 1974, Jobs got a job as a technician at the
video game maker Atari. He saved enough money to backpack around India and then returned to
Atari, where he met Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Jobs and Wozniak founded Apple in 1976. Jobs persuaded Wozniak to make a computer and sell it.
Together, they developed the Mac. It was the first small computer with a user-friendly interface to
be commercially successful. Jobs also built the computer on which the World Wide Web was created.
He developed a passion for style and functional perfection, which became Apple trademarks.

Kim Jong-il was born in 1941 in the Soviet Union. North Koreas official biographies state his year of
birth as 1942 and his birthplace as Korea. He was the leader of North Korea for over a decade. Since
Kim was not actually the president, he never had to hold elections to keep power. He died from
natural causes in December 2011.
North Koreans learn that a double rainbow over the mountains and a new star in the heavens
announced Kim Jong-ils birth. They are also taught that he was the worlds greatest and kindest
ruler. They call him "Dear Leader". It is extremely dangerous for any North Korean to say anything
negative about him. He was leader of the worlds fourth largest army.
He spent the first three years of his life in the Soviet Union and was known as Yuri. Official records
say he was educated in Pyongyang. Foreign reports claim he went to school in China to escape the
Korean War. He was involved in political activities throughout his schooling. At university he studied
Marxism, philosophy and military science.
Kim left behind a daughter and three sons, but there is no official information about his marital
history. His hobbies included collecting cars and watching movies. He had many luxury Mercedes
and over 20,000 videos. His favorite films included the James Bond series. He also loved golf. North
Koreas government reports that Kim got up to four holes-in-one every time he played.
Sources: http://www.wikipedia.org/ and assorted biographies.