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Biography

Marie Curie's cookbooks are still so radioactive that they sit sealed in lead-lined boxes. Abraham Lincoln patented a device for lifting riverboats in 1849. Walt Disney lost Oswald the rabbit to Universal, and Mickey Mouse came next. Joan of Arc was convicted in 1431, and a second court threw out that verdict in 1456. Frederick Douglass never knew his birthday, so he chose February 14. Each of these biographies starts from one small, real moment and works outward to the whole person.

  • Mahatma GandhiOn the day India won freedom, Gandhi refused to celebrate. He fasted and spun cloth in Calcutta, pleading for peace.
  • Nelson MandelaNelson Mandela wore a Springbok shirt to the 1995 Rugby World Cup final. He gave the trophy to an Afrikaner captain.
  • Leonardo da VinciLeonardo da Vinci wrote most of his notes in mirror-image cursive, right to left.
  • William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare called himself in "perfect health" in his will, then died within a month.
  • Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln is the only U.S. president to hold a patent. In 1849 he patented a way to lift riverboats.
  • NapoleonNapoleon crowned himself emperor with a replica of Charlemagne's crown. The pope had just anointed him.
  • Galileo GalileiGalileo watched four points of light move beside Jupiter. In January 1610 he realized they were moons circling it.
  • Bruce LeeBruce Lee appeared in his first film as a baby. By 18, he had been in 20 films in Hong Kong.
  • Walt DisneyIn 1928, Walt Disney lost his hit cartoon rabbit Oswald to Universal. Only Ub Iwerks stayed, and Mickey Mouse followed.
  • Marie CurieMarie Curie's cookbooks are still highly radioactive. They are sealed in lead-lined boxes.
  • CleopatraCleopatra was the first Ptolemaic ruler to learn the Egyptian language.
  • Frederick DouglassFrederick Douglass never knew his birthday, so he picked February 14. His mother had called him her Little Valentine.
  • Joan of ArcJoan of Arc was convicted of heresy in 1431, but a second court overturned every word of that verdict in 1456.
  • Stephen HawkingDoctors gave Stephen Hawking two years to live at age 21, but he died at 76.
  • Florence NightingaleFlorence Nightingale broke into locked storage with a hammer to reach medicine for the wounded.

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