World of faces

Osceola was a military leader of the Native American people, Seminole. In the 1830s he fought against the U.S. government, because they wanted the Seminole to leave their homeland in Florida.
Osceola was born in 1804 in Georgia. His mother was a Native American, member of the Creek nation. A white Scottish trader, William Powell, became his mother’s second husband. The family moved to northern Florida and joined the Seminole when Osceola was a boy.
In 1819 Spain sold Florida to the United States and this opened the fertile lands of the Seminole for white Americans. Later, in 1823, an agreement was signed according to which the Seminole had to leave the coastal territories and move inland, to the marshy lands of central Florida, which were not suitable for habitation. Osceola spoke out against it and was sent to prison. After the release he organized a fighting force. The warriors killed the U.S. official and the Seminole chief who had signed the treaty. So the Second Seminole War began in 1835. Resistance lasted almost two years.
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Basketball is one of the few sports in which there is no dispute who is the greatest player of all time. The answer is the same for everyone – Michael Jordan. The words “Jordan” and “basketball” are synonymous. He was an Olympic champion in 1984, 1992, and NBA champion in 1991-1993, 1996-1998.
Michael Jordan was born on February 17, 1963. Little boy often played baseball and basketball with his father and brothers. However, he wasn’t taken to the school basketball team. After a year of hard training the future legend became a part of the school team. Later the young player received an invitation from the university team of North Carolina, where his family moved from Brooklyn. The debut season was great and he became the best NCAA newcomer. He came, he saw, he conquered was Jordan’s motto.
For the next two seasons, the young star was one of the top five stars of the League. And in the summer of 1984 he decided to participate in the NBA draft, which gave the world such stars as Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley. It’s hard to believe now, but Jordan heard his last name only the third in the list of newcomers. The Chicago Bulls representatives got the lucky ticket, not knowing how lucky they were.
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There are few figures in the history of the Western European Middle Ages who were worshiped by the contemporaries during their lifetime. Death only promoted the growth of the already great glory.
Albert von Bollstedt was born in 1193 into a wealthy family in the small Bavarian town of Lauingen. As a child, Albert didn’t have any outstanding abilities that would indicate his bright future. However, little Albert had one passion: the future scientist and theologian had thirst for knowledge.
There is a legend that survived Albert for centuries. Once, Blessed Virgin appeared to the young man during his hot prayer and asked him what science he wanted to succeed in. Albert wished to achieve success in studying the queen of sciences – philosophy. Nodding, the Mother of God said with sadness: “I will fulfill your request – you will become a great philosopher. But, alas, you’ve chosen philosophy not theology. And it is theology that deserves the greatest preference over all other sciences, for there is nothing more beautiful than comprehending the greatest wisdom of our beloved God. As punishment for the lack of piety, you will return to your previous stupidity before your death.”
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Benvenuto Cellini was a famous Florentine sculptor, a representative of Mannerism, a goldsmith, the author of several books. The most famous of them were The Life of Benvenuto and two treatises: On Goldsmithing and On Sculpting.
Cellini was born on November 3, 1500 in Florence. Parents, who had only girls before, called the long-awaited heir Benvenuto, which in Italian means “desired”. A father who played the flute and viola well, really wanted his son to become a famous musician. But little Cellini didn’t like playing music, although he learned to sing well and play the flute. At the age of 13, the future sculptor had an interest in jewelry. Against the will of his father, he became a pupil of goldsmiths. And in this craft Benvenuto succeeded. In the following years, young Cellini traveled extensively in Italy, studying with the best jewelers. Only in 1518 he returned to Florence.
In his five years of study, Cellini became a good craftsman. At first he worked in his native city, but soon went to Rome. Benvenuto didn’t like the work of the apprentice, because a third of the earnings had to be given to the owner. Moreover, he surpassed many famous jewelers who profited from his work. This forced the young man to go home.
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James Walter Braddock, also known as Jim Braddock, was an American professional boxer, world heavyweight champion. His nickname was Cinderella Man. Braddock, just like the fairy-tale character Cinderella, went from being a poor person to becoming a rich person – although he didn’t marry the handsome prince.
During the 1930s, Jim Braddock became a champion for the common man, a symbol of the fight against poverty, and a hero for millions of Americans who were trapped in a desperate and helpless situation. Just recently Braddock’s story has been turned into a major film starring Russell Crowe.
When the stock market crashed in 1929 and the Depression started millions and millions of Americans lost their jobs, houses, all their savings. There was no food. The whole life came crashing down.
When the Depression started, people reacted in different ways. Some packed up and headed out west to look for work. Others hung around looking for any part-time work they could pick up. Some signed on for government benefits. And others even committed suicide. Braddock, like many others in the same situation, decided that he would never give up.
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The future US President Herbert Clark Hoover was born on August 10, 1874 in West Branch. His parents were Quakers with German roots from provincial Iowa. The boy’s father sold agricultural machinery and worked as a blacksmith. He died when Herbert was only 6 years old. His mother died 4 years later. An orphaned boy moved to his uncle in Oregon. In 1891, young Hoover entered the newly opened Stanford University. He became a mining engineer, and nothing foreshadowed that this specialist would be engaged in politics.
In 1895, Herbert Hoover received a bachelor’s degree. His professional career was extremely exciting. First, a Stanford graduate got a job as a rock cleaner at the mining company Reward Gold Mine. Then British Bewick, Moreing and Company, specializing in gold, hired a 23-year-old Hoover and sent him to Australia. There Hoover gained invaluable experience not only as a geologist, but also as a manager.
Later the specialist received an unexpected offer from the Chinese government. The Chinese wanted to learn modern Western experience. The American was in China when the infamous Boxing Uprising began there. Peasants were against the domination of foreigners and they did not like the missionary activity of Christians. Once Tianjin, in which the Hoovers lived, came under fire. The rebel shells landed in a building across the street from the house of an American engineer. On that day, Herbert, risking his life, rushed into the ruined house and saved a Chinese girl.
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The achievement of the famous Portuguese Vasco da Gama is difficult to overestimate. The brave navigator, having rounded Africa on a ship, was the first European to reach the Indian Peninsula. But besides this, he was a cruel conqueror, who hurt thousands of innocent people …
Thanks to the discoveries of Vasco da Gama, the poor kingdom of Portugal became one of the richest on the mainland.
Vasco da Gama was born in 1469 into the family of the royal governor of Estevan da Gama and his wife Isabel in Sines. Despite his noble birth, the boy grew up with the sons of fishermen, and therefore he learned to swim and sailed a lot. In the evenings, the children gathered around the old sailors, who told them about the adventures. Often there were stories about the African coast, where black people with big lips and bloodshot eyes lived. The Portuguese considered them savages and cannibals, and the boys took for granted the ruin of their settlements. There was no need to look for justifications for this – “in benefit of the crown and of Portugal.”
Vasco became a naval officer and soon received praise from the king himself. The fact is that in 1492 the French corsairs captured the Portuguese caravel with gold from Guinea. The king ordered the young officer to revenge. Vasco and his team, under cover of night, passed along the coast at lightning speed and captured all the ships of the French. Naturally, the enemy resisted, but Da Gama simply did not give them a chance. As a result, France returned the gold in exchange for the seized vessels, and the name of Vasco da Gama was pronounced after the prefix “ferocious corsair”.
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