Biography of Charles Dickens

 

Charles John Huffam Dickens was born February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. Shortly thereafter his family moved to Chatham, and Dickens considered his years there as the happiest of his childhood. In 1822, the family moved to London, where his father worked as a clerk in the navy pay office. Dickens' family was considered middle class, however, his father had a difficult time managing money. His extravagant spending habits brought the family to financial disaster, and in 1824, John Dickens was imprisoned for debt.

Charles was the oldest of the Dickens children, and a result of his father's imprisonment, he was withdrawn from school and sent to work in a shoe-dye factory. During this period, Dickens lived alone in a lodging house in North London and considered the entire experience the most terrible of his life. Nevertheless, it was this experience that shaped his much of his future writing.

After receiving an inheritance several months later, Dickens' father was released from prison. Although Dickens' mother wanted him to stay at work, resulting in bitter resentment towards her, his father allowed him to return to school. His schooling was again interrupted and ultimately ended when Dickens was forced to return to work at age 15. He became a clerk in a law firm, then a shorthand reporter in the courts, and finally a parliamentary and newspaper reporter.

In 1833, Dickens began to contribute short stories and essays to periodicals. He then provided a comic narrative to accompany a series of engravings, which were published as the Pickwick Papers in 1836. Within several months, Dickens became internationally popular. He resigned from his position as a newspaper reporter and became editor of a monthly magazine entitled Bentley's Miscellany. Also during 1836, Dickens married Catherine Hogarth. Together, they had nine surviving children, before they separated in 1858.

Dickens' career continued at an intense pace for the next several years. Oliver Twist was serialized in Bentley's Miscellany beginning in 1837. Then, with Oliver Twist only half completed, Dickens began to publish monthly installments of Nicholas Nickleby in 1838. Because he had so many projects in the works, Dickens was barely able to stay ahead of his monthly deadlines. After the completion of Twist and Nickleby, Dickens produced weekly installments of The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge.

After a short working vacation in the United States in 1841, Dickens continued at his break-neck pace. He began to publish annual Christmas stories, beginning with A Christmas Carol in 1843. Within the community, Dickens actively fought for social issues; such as education reform, sanitary measures, and slum clearance, and he began to directly address social issues in novels such as Dombey and Son (1846-48).

In 1850, Dickens established a weekly journal entitled Household Words to which he contributed the serialized works of Child's History of England (1851-53), Hard Times (1854), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), and Great Expectations (1860-61). At the same time, Dickens continued to work on his novels, including David Copperfield (1849-50), Bleak House (1852-53), Little Dorrit (1855-57), and Our Mutual Friend (1864-65). As his career progressed, Dickens became more and more disenchanted. His works had always reflected the pains of the common man, but works such as Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend expressed his progressing anger and disillusionment with society.

In 1858, Dickens began a series of paid readings, which became instantly popular. Through these readings, Dickens was able to combine his love of the stage with an accurate rendition of his writings. In all, Dickens performed more than 400 times. The readings often left him exhausted and ill, but they allowed him to increase his income, receive creative satisfaction, and stay in touch with his audience.

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After the breakup of his marriage with Catherine, Dickens moved permanently to his country house called Gad's Hill, near Chatham in 1860. It was also around this time that Dickens became involved in an affair with a young actress named Ellen Ternan. The affair lasted until Dickens' death, but it was kept quite secret. Information about the relationship is scanty.

Dickens was required to abandon his reading tours in 1869 after his health began to decline. He retreated to Gad's Hill and began to work on Edwin Drood, which was never completed. died suddenly at home on June 9, 1870. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Biography of Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin was born in the town of Shrewsbury, England on February 12, 1809 - the same birth date as Abraham Lincoln. Of the six children in the family, four girls and two boys, Charles was next to youngest. For a long time, Charles Darwin seemed to be a misfit in a family of energetic intellectuals. He enjoyed an easygoing life - taking walks, collecting beetles, and playing with his dogs.

When Charles reached 16, Dr. Darwin had had enough of his son’s easygoing ways and insisted he attend the University of Edinburgh in Scotland to study medicine. A professor, John Steven Henslow, head of the botany department at the University, was impressed by Darwin’s beetle collection. It was through Henslow that Darwin met Captain Robert Fitzroy of the Royal Navy. Fitzroy was in search of a young naturalist to be his companion, without pay, aboard H.M.S. Beagle on a five-year sailing voyage around the world. As the ship’s naturalist, he was affectionately known as “Mr. Flycatcher” by the crew. This journey changed his life and led him to develop one of the most important theories of modern scientific thought.

The Beagle was in constant danger during its time in Tierra del Fuego, and yet Captain Fitzroy stubbornly refused to give up his search for new land. On one occasion, when the ship’s boats were drawn up on the beach, an overhanging glacier suddenly plunged into the water. A great wave rushed toward the shore, and it seemed as though the small boats were about to be broken into pieces. Charles and two other men, although in great danger, rushed down to the shore and secured the boats. To commemorate the heroic deed, Captain Fitzroy named a nearby body of water Darwin Sound and a peak to the north Mount Darwin.

On September 15, 1835, almost four years after the Beagle had sailed from England, the ship put in to the remote Galápagos Islands. On these islands, which are located on the equator some 600 miles west into the Pacific from South America, reptiles are the main inhabitants. Darwin even rode a 300-pound turtle, the size of which had never been seen before. He also discovered 13 varieties of finch, each with beaks of a different size and shape. Darwin concluded that the finches must have descended from one variety of South American finch that had flown across the ocean to the islands in prehistoric times. The finches had then evolved in different ways in order to survive. He called this process “natural selection” or “the survival of the fittest.” He had discovered a key to evolution and how different kinds of animals and plants came into existence.

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From the Galápagos Islands, the Beagle sailed across the Pacific to Tahiti. After a brief stop there, the brig then sailed on to New Zealand, Australia, the Keeling Islands, around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, and to Brazil again. Finally, its missions completed, the Beagle headed for home. As the ship touched the shores of England on October 2, 1836, the ship’s naturalist had arrived home at the age of 27, and still without a profession.
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection still holds its place as one of the greatest discoveries of modern science. His theory is accepted by practically all scientists, but it is regarded as only one of the many factors of evolution. He was able to prove that species do evolve and change, but this kind of information has led to an even bigger mystery. The debate still continues about what really causes evolutionary changes. Scientists in their quest for knowledge about the creation of our world and the universe continue to ask how species evolve.
Darwin’s theories were published in 1859 in his famous book The Origin of Species. Charles Darwin died on April 19, 1882.

Biography of Jacques Cousteau

Jacques-Yves was born in Saint-Andre-de-Dubzac, France, to Daniel and Elizabeth Cousteau on June 11, 1910. Cousteau always loved the water and in his early teens, he became interested in machines. At the age of 11, Cousteau built a model crane and at 13, he built a battery-operated car. Also in his early teens, Cousteau became fascinated with films. He saved his money and bought a home movie camera.
In high school, Cousteau became bored with school and began to cause trouble. As a result, his parents sent him to a strict boarding school. Cousteau excelled in this new environment and upon graduation, he entered the Ecole Navale (Naval Academy) in Brest. In 1933, Cousteau joined the French Navy as a gunnery officer. It was during this time that he began his underwater explorations and began working on a breathing machine for longer dives.
In 1937, Cousteau married Simone Melchoir, and they had two sons, Jean-Michel and Phillipe. Two years after their marriage, Cousteau fought for the French in World War II. He spent time as a spy and was awarded several medals. During the war, Cousteau still found time to continue his underwater work. In 1943, he and French engineer Emile Gagnan perfected the aqualung, which allowed a diver to stay underwater for several hours. Divers used the aqualung to located and remove enemy mines after World War II.
Cousteau was named a capitaine de corvette of the French navy in 1948, and two years later he became president of the French Oceanographic Campaigns. That same year, Cousteau purchased the ship Calypso to further his explorations. To finance his trips and increase public awareness of his undersea investigations, Cousteau produced numerous films and published many books. His films include The Silent World (1956) and World Without Sun (1966). Both won Academy Awards for best documentary. His books include The Living Sea (1963), Dolphins (1975), and Jacques Cousteau: The Ocean World (1985).
Because of his many projects, Cousteau retired from the French navy. In 1957, he became director of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, founded the Underseas Research Group at Toulon, and headed the Conshelf Saturation Dive Program. The Conshelf program was an experiment in which men lived and worked underwater for extended periods of time.
In 1968, Cousteau was asked to make a TV series. For the next 8 years, The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau introduced the public to a world of sharks, whales, dolphins, sunken treasure, and coral reefs. In 1974, Cousteau started the Cousteau Society to protect ocean life. The membership of this non-profit group has grown to include more than 300,000 members worldwide. Cousteau was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Reagan in 1985 and in 1989, he was honored by France with membership in the French Academy.
On January 11, 1996 the Calypso sank in Singapore harbor. In his last years, Cousteau was involved in a legal battle with his son, Jean-Michael over the use of the Cousteau name. Cousteau died on June 25, 1997.

Biography of Aaron Copland

 

Aaron Copland, one of America's greatest composers, was the fifth child born into a family of Russian-Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York. He was born on November 14, 1900. However, it was not until he reached his teens that Copland began to show an interest in music. He learned to play the piano from his older sister Laurine, and in less than one year, Copland had learned everything she could teach him. Following much pestering of his father, Copland was allowed to take formal lessons. After attending his first concert at age 15, Copland decided to become a composer.
Upon graduating high school, Copland studied harmony and counterpoint through a correspondence course, a very difficult way to learn music. He was then referred to Rubin Goldmark, who was a specialist in harmony. Copland dreamt of studying music in France, and for the next several years, he saved his money and continued to practice. In 1920, Copland was granted a scholarship, and in the summer of 1921, he traveled to the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau.
In France, Copland studied with Nadia Boulanger and became her first American student in composition. Copland studied in France for three years, then returned to New York with a commission from his teacher. While working as a pianist in a Pennsylvania resort, Copland composed the Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, for Boulanger's American appearances. The work premiered at Carnegie Hall with the New York Symphony Orchestra, under conductor Walter Damrosch.
After his successful debut, Copland spent several months composing in New Hampshire. His early compositions were influenced by jazz rhythms. He described this style as symphonic jazz. Music for the Theater (1925) and Piano Concerto (1926) were written during this period of Copland's career. During this time, Copland was awarded the first monetary grant from the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, enabling him to continue his work.
Copland soon moved into a more austere and abstract style. Piano Variations (1930) and Statements for Orchestra (1933-35) reflect this change. Copland made another abrupt style change in the mid-1930s with a move towards simplicity and melody, in an effort to be more accessible to the general public. He wanted to bring more music to more people.
The next 10 years were Copland's most productive. Using elements of American folk music, Copland produced lyrical compositions such as the ballets Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942), and Appalachian Spring (1944). He composed music for films, including Of Mice and Men (1937), Our Town (1940), and The Heiress (1949). Copland also produced two works for high school students called The Second Hurricane (1937) and An Outdoor Overture (1938). Additional works of this period include Lincoln Portrait (1942), Third Symphony (1946), and El salon Mexico, an orchestral piece based on Mexican folk music.
Copland again returned to a more austere style in the 1950s. The Piano Fantasy (1957); Connotations (1962), which was commissioned for the opening of Lincoln Center in New York City; and Inscape (1967), reflect the 12-tone style popularized by composer Arnold Schoenberg. These works were not as well received as Copland's previous works.
In the 1970s, Copland virtually stopped composing, although he continued to conduct. His final work, Proclamation (1982), was performed during a concert celebrating his 85th birthday. Aaron Copland died on December 2, 1990.
In addition to composing and conducting, Copland wrote several books, including What to Listen for in Music (1939), Music and Imagination (1952), and Copland on Music (1960). He was influential in promoting contemporary composers and organized numerous musical events. Copland received more than 30 honorary degrees. He was a distinguished teacher at the Berkshire Music Center, and in 1945, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Biography of Beverly Cleary

 

Beverly Bunn was born in McMinnville, Oregon on April 12, 1916. She spent her early childhood on a farm in Yamhill, Oregon, a town so small it didn't even have a library. Beverly's love for books began when her mother made an agreement with the State Library to have books sent to their town and to act as the local librarian.
Beverly's family moved to Portland, Oregon when she was old enough to attend school. She had trouble reading, and found herself in the low reading group in her class. However, she worked hard and conquered the problem by the time she was in third grade. Since then, she has always been sympathetic towards children who have difficulty reading.
From third grade on, Beverly spent most of her time in the library. At eight years old, she found herself wondering why there weren't more funny books to read. She dreamed of being a writer some day and making up those funny stories – stories about kids like her and the other kids she knew.
In 1934 she moved to California and attended college, where she met her husband, Clarence Cleary. She graduated junior college in Ontario, California and the University of California Berkeley. She continued her education at the School of Librarianship at the University of Washington in Seattle. When she began working as a librarian as the children's librarian in Yakima, Washington in 1940, she found more inspiration in the children she met. She wanted to write books to which these kids could relate. She continued to work there until she and her husband moved back to California.
Her husband encouraged her to write a book.  Beverly told him that she couldn't because they didn't have ant sharp pencils in the house. The next day he bought her a pencil sharpener, and her writing career was under way.
"I wanted to read funny stories about the sort of children I knew, and I decided that someday when I grew up I would write them,” said Cleary. Her childhood memories of growing up on a farm and her own school days helped inspire her many books. Cleary's imagination has brought the world many memorable characters such as Ramona Quimby and her sister Beazus, Henry Huggins and Ellen Tibbits.
Her twins (a boy and a girl who are now all grown up) were another inspiration for her stories. Cleary was encouraged to write one book in particular in response to her own son's lack of interest in reading. He wanted to read about motorcycles but found all of the books too hard to read. The Mouse and the Motorcycle, written by Cleary, solved this problem for her son.
Throughout her career, Beverly Cleary has won many awards for her writing, including the 1975 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award and the Newbery Medal in 1984 for Dear Mr. Henshaw. Two of her books have been named Newbery Honor Books, Ramona and Her Father in 1978 and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 in 1982.
In 1995, Beverly Cleary received a different kind of honor. On October 13, the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden opened in Portland, Oregon's Grant Park. It features two fountains for children to play in and life size bronze sculptures of Ramona, Henry, and Ribsy, not to mention it is only four blocks away from the real Klickitat Street! Her greatest reward in writing, however, is not the special awards she receives. Cleary's biggest thrill is hearing about children who wouldn't read before, but now love to read... because of her books.
Every writer works differently. Cleary is no exception. She has a great deal of difficulty in starting on a project. Cleary spends time staring out the window and chewing pencils or sitting in a chair trying to get inspired. "Once I get the first draft pinned down on paper, the fun begins. Because then I can cross out and revise and shape, and I love doing that," said Cleary.
The wonderful thing about being published is that books written by that person will live on forever. It is comforting to know that Beverly Cleary's books will continue to inspire children to read for years to come.

Biography of Cesar Chavez

 

Cesar Estrada Chavez was born March 31, 1927 near Yuma, Arizona. Chavez was named after his grandfather, who escaped from slavery on a Mexican ranch and arrived in Arizona during the 1880s. Chavez' grandparents homesteaded more than one hundred acres in the Gila Valley and raised 14 children. Chavez' father, Librado, started his family in 1924 when he married Juana Estrada. Cesar was the second of their six children. Librado worked on the family ranch and owned a store in the Gila Valley. The family lived in an apartment above the store.
Chavez began school at age 7, but he found it difficult because his family spoke only Spanish. Chavez preferred to learn from his uncles and grandparents, who would read to him in Spanish. In addition, Chavez learned many things from his mother. She believed violence and selfishness were wrong, and she taught these lessons to her children.
In the 1930s, Chavez' father lost his business because of the Great Depression, and the family moved back to the ranch. However in 1937, a severe drought forced the family to give up the ranch. The next year, Chavez and his family packed their belongings and headed to California in search of work. In California, the Chavez family became part of the migrant community, traveling from farm to farm to pick fruits and vegetables during the harvest. They lived in numerous migrant camps and often were forced to sleep in their car. Chavez sporadically attended more than 30 elementary schools, often encountering cruel discrimination.
Once Chavez completed the eighth grade, he quit school and worked full-time in the vineyards. His family was able to rent a small cottage in San Jose and make it their home. Then in 1944, Chavez joined the navy and served in World War II. After completing his duty two years later, Chavez returned to California. He married Helen Fabela in 1948, and they moved into a one-room shack in Delano. Chavez again worked in the fields, but he began to fight for change. That same year, Chavez took part in his first strike in protest of low wages and poor working conditions. However, within several days the workers were forced back to the fields.
In 1952, Chavez met Fred Ross, who was part of a group called the Community Service Organization (CSO) formed by Saul Alinsky. Chavez became part of the organization and began urging Mexican-Americans to register and vote. Chavez traveled throughout California and made speeches in support of workers' rights. He became general director of CSO in 1958.
Four years later, however, Chavez left CSO to form his own organization, which he called the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). The name was later changed to the United Farm Workers (UFW). In 1965, Chavez and the NFWA led a strike of California grape-pickers to demand higher wages. In addition to the strike, they encouraged all Americans to boycott table grapes as a show of support. The strike lasted five years and attracted national attention. When the U.S. Senate Subcommittee looked into the situation, Robert Kennedy gave Chavez his total support.
In 1968, Chavez began a fast to call attention to the migrant workers' cause. Although his dramatic act did little to solve the immediate problems, it increased public awareness of the problem. In the late 1960s, the Teamsters attempted to take power from the UFW. After many battles, an agreement was finally reached in 1977. It gave the UFW sole right to organize field workers.
In the early 1970s, the UFW organized strikes and boycotts to get higher wages from grape and lettuce growers. During the 1980s, Chavez led a boycott to protest the use of toxic pesticides on grapes. He again fasted to draw public attention. These strikes and boycotts generally ended with the signing of bargaining agreements.
Cesar Chavez died on April 23, 1993.

Biography of George Washington Carver

 

Powdered coffee, shaving cream, plastics, paper, shampoo, milk, cream, synthetic rubber, beverages, metal polishes. It might be surprising, but all these products and hundreds more can be extracted from the peanut, and the man responsible for all these uses is George Washington Carver.

The discoveries Carver made about the peanut are quite remarkable and have had a tremendous effect on farmers in the South and in countries around the world. What is truly remarkable is the man himself. His life and work are inspirational, and there is much that we can all learn from both.

George Washington Carver was born into slavery about 1864. During the Civil War, Night Riders took both him and his mother from the cabin where they lived. After a few days, baby George was returned to his owners in trade for a horse. His mother was never seen again and was most likely sold. George was sick, but the Carver family, who were kind people, nursed him back to health. They grew to love George and saw in him a unique and special talent.

George was a small, gentle child, who showed a love for plants and life early on. He had a need and longing to learn. He watched, listened, and experimented with the soil and growing things. He made many discoveries that others never noticed, and he displayed a gentle respect for all living things. His love of learning took him away from his home with the Carvers and to a town that had a school African-American children were allowed to attend. Another family gave him a home in exchange for work. He stayed there and attended school until he was 13. At that age, he had learned all the school had to offer, and he once again began a search for another school.

While at his new school, the teacher noticed what a talented artist George was, so she enrolled him in an art class. Not having money for paints, he discovered nature’s paints in clay, berries, and decayed fruits and vegetables. Just as he did early on with his paints, George found answers to many questions throughout his life in the world around him.

George graduated from high school at the top of his class and looked forward to college. However, his first attempts to enroll were met with disappointment. He was not allowed to attend because he was not white, but George didn’t give up his dreams. He was committed to going to college and someday to teach his African-American brothers who were not allowed to go to a white school. He deeply wanted to help the southern farmers improve their methods and products. Before he finally found a college that would accept him, he continued to impress people with his talents in art, music, cooking, and gardening and with his kind, gentle nature.

Simpson College finally accepted George, and he entered as a student in art and music. He did very well at Simpson. He made many friends and earned the respect of his professors, but he felt that he was somehow headed in the wrong direction. He wanted to help his people, and he longed to do it through farming. So he transferred to the best agricultural college in the United States – the Iowa Agricultural College at Ames. He excelled there and was offered a job as an instructor. He accepted and enjoyed his tenure.

It wasn’t long before he received an unusual offer that he couldn’t refuse. A man named Booker T. Washington asked him to head the department of agriculture at Tuskegee Institute, a small Alabama school for African-American teachers. He took the offer, and it was there that he worked and committed his life to helping improve the lives of poor families.

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Cotton, the main crop of the South, was in trouble because of the boll weevil. Cotton plantations were being destroyed year after year. Because of this devastation, Carver was determined to find an alternative to the dependence on cotton. He experimented with the peanut and discovered the many products that could be extracted from it. He also taught farmers to rotate their crops each year so as not to exhaust the nutrients from the soil. Farmers were encouraged to rotate cotton with cowpeas, sweet potatoes, and other crops. This proved very successful, and he continued to encourage planting the peanut. The plant was easy to grow, it enriched the soil, it could be used in many dishes, and it contained a great deal of protein.

The peanut and rotation farming were only two of the discoveries Carver made that helped people both in the South and around the world. During World War I, shortages of some foods led the army to call on Carver to demonstrate using sweet potato flour as a substitute for wheat. During World War II, he introduced the process of drying food, or dehydration, to preserve food for later use. He was also a leading scientist in the development of synthetics for articles such as tires, clothing, medicines, and foods that were scarce because of the war.

Carver never stopped his search for knowledge and his search for a better way to help his people. His discoveries were many, and his influence was great. He was recognized around the world and at home for his great contributions. Even though he lived in a world that continually insulted him because of the color of his skin, he never stopped caring and loving all his fellow men.