Simon Bolivar was the most influential and well-known leader of the war of the Spanish colonies in America, Venezuela’s national hero. He liberated Venezuela, New Granada (present-day Colombia and Panama), Royal Audiencia of Quito (now Ecuador) from Spanish rule. In 1819-1830 he was a president of Gran Colombia. In 1824 he freed Peru and became the head of Upper Peru (modern day Bolivia, named in his honor). He is known as Liberator.
Simon Jose Antonio de la Santisima Trinidad Bolivar de la Concepcion y Ponte Palacios y Blanco was born on July 24, 1783 in Caracas. He was the son of Juan Vicente Bolivar and Marfa de la Concepcion Palacios y Blanco, one of the most distinguished Creole (American-born Spanish) families in the city of 20,000 inhabitants.
In 1799 Simon was sent to Spain where he studied law. Then he traveled to Italy, Switzerland, Germany, England and France.
In in May 1802 he married in Madrid and eight months later his wife died.
More »

Marie Antoinette was Queen of France, youngest daughter of Emperor Francis I and Maria Theresa. In 1770 she became the wife of King Louis XVI of France.
Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen was born on November 2, 1755 in Vienna, Austria. Marie was the 15th child of Maria Theresa and Emperor Franz I. She was named in honor of the Virgin Mary, Saint Anthony of Padua, her elder brother, Joseph, and St. John. Her godparents were King and Queen of Portugal, although their representatives were the Archduke Joseph and the Archduchess Maria Anna.
Childhood and adolescence Marie Antoinette spent at court, mainly in the Schönbrunn Palace, in a large and loving family. At the age of three she had to wear a corset, as well as other female members of her family. She had dance lessons, visited theater performances, studied history, art, spelling, a little math, and foreign languages. Girls were also taught needlework and art of small talk. However the princess did not have a great love for knowledge. The girl preferred games to lessons.
More »

Thomas Jefferson was a prominent figure in American Revolutionary War, one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence (1776), 3rd President of the United States in 1801-1809, one of the founding fathers of the state, an outstanding politician, a diplomat and Enlightenment philosopher. The main events of his presidency were the purchase of Louisiana from France (1803) and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806). Jefferson founded the University of Virginia and created its first program. Jefferson was governor of Virginia (1779-1781), the first US Secretary of State (1789-1795), Second Vice-President (1797-1801) and the third president of the United States (1801-1809). Jefferson and Martin Van Buren were the only American politicians who occupied successively the posts of Secretary of State, Vice-President and President.
He was a versatile scientist – agronomist, architect, archaeologist, paleontologist, inventor, collector, and writer. As an architect, Jefferson designed the Capitol of Virginia, University of Virginia and his own Monticello manor.
He is widely known as one of the main founders of the doctrine of separation of church and state.
More »

Genghis Khan was a conqueror, founder and the first great Khan of the Mongol Empire. He was a political and military genius who brought together the wandering peoples of central Asia. His continental empire was the largest in the history of mankind.
Genghis Khan was born in about 1162 in northern Mongolia. His name at first was Temujin. He was named after an enemy his father had defeated. His father, Yesugei, was the chief of one Mongol group. Yesugei was killed by the Tatars when Temujin was 9 years old. Later he became chief. He married Borte, who became the mother of four sons and a daughter.
Temujin built up a large army to conquer neighboring groups and unify them into a single Mongol nation. He used harsh training and strict discipline to create a superior fighting force.
In 1206 the people named him Genghis Khan, which means “universal ruler.”
More »

James Abram Garfield was the 20th US President (March – September 1881), versatile self-taught prodigy, Republican Party activist. He is the only president in US history elected to this position when he was a member of the House of Representatives. He was seriously wounded, three months after taking office and died two and a half months later.
James Abram Garfield was born on November 19, 1831 in a log cabin near Orange, Ohio. He grew up on his family’s farm. Garfield graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts in 1856. In 1858 Garfield married Lucretia Rudolph. They had seven children.
He worked as a boatswain, a teacher at the folk school and finally became a teacher and director of one of the institutions of higher education. He also was engaged in the legal profession and was a minister in the Ohio Senate.
When the American Civil War began in 1861, Garfield formed a volunteer regiment in Ohio and took part in military operations in Kentucky. Then he was the Chief of Staff and on January 11, 1862 he was promoted to brigadier general.
More »

Ashoka was the ruler of the Maurya Empire from 273 on 232 BC. After a series of military successes, he conquered a considerable part of South Asia from the present-day Afghanistan to Bengal and further to Mysore. He is known mostly as a great patron of Buddhism. It is said that Ashoka became a Buddhist when he saw the horrors caused by the wars he’d led.
Ashoka was the grandson of Chandragupta and son of Bindusara. His mother was Subhadrangi – daughter of a poor Brahmin. According to legend, the father gave her in the harem, because he received a prophecy that his daughter would be a mother of a great ruler.
Arriving in Ujjain, the capital of Avanti, Ashoka proved to be an excellent governor. He married Shakya Kumari – the daughter of a rich merchant, who gave birth to two children, named Mahendra and Sanghamitra.
Emperor of Bindusara died in 272 BC and Ashoka was crowned as the king of Magadha after his father’s death.
More »

Ferdinand and Isabella were the first king and queen of Spain. They were called the Catholic Monarchs because they strongly supported the Roman Catholic Church.
Ferdinand II of Aragon, Ferdinand the Catholic, was king of Castile (Fernando the V), Aragon (Fernando II), Sicily and Naples (Ferdinando III). He was the husband and co-ruler of Queen Isabella of Castile. He ruled for nearly four decades and played a significant role in pan-European politics. In 1475 the political unity of Castile and Aragon was created, in 1492 America was discovered and in 1494 the era of the Italian Wars began. He together with his matchmaker Maximilian I was one of the architects of World Empire of his grandson Charles V.
Ferdinand was born on March 10, 1452 and Isabella was born on April 22, 1451.
In 1461 after the death of his older brother Ferdinand became the heir to the crown of the Kingdom of Aragon, was appointed chief governor of Catalonia (1462) and in 1468 the King of Sicily. During the Catalan Civil War he met the public administration of his father.
More »