Biography Planet: December 2011

31.12.11

Victoria Beckham (Models)

After forming in 1993, each of the five members of the Spice Girls developed her own persona, with Victoria Beckham as "Posh Spice." They released their debut album, Spice, in 1996, and it sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Beckham later explored her love of fashion, developing a line of jeans called VB Rocks in 2004. In 2007, Beckham went on a reunion tour with the Spice Girls.

Model Carol Alt was born in College Point, New York on December 1, 1960. A photographer discovered her while she was waitressing at a local steak house. She dropped out of college and by 1980 appeared on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar. Her career laid the foundation for the “supermodel” trend that exists today. She had an Italian film career and in the 2000s wrote books about the raw food movement.

Most people probably don’t know his name, but almost everyone has seen his images. Steve McCurry is probably the most famous for his image of Sharbat Gula, the Afghani refugee girl with the striking eyes. It has been said that this image is the most recognizable photograph in the world. That is saying a lot. While Steve McCurry is easily one of the best photographers and image creators in the world, he is not a household name. I’m sure he doesn’t care.

has had a long and incredible career in photography. He has won a Pulitzer Prize for his work as well as being credited with helping to end America’s police action in Vietnam. If anyone has ever had any doubts about the power of an image, that should change their minds. The image of a naked young girl running down the road while billows of black smoke burned her village in the background launched Nick Ut into the halls of legend. The girl, Kim Phuc , was fleeing her village after it was hit with napalm on June 8, 1972.

The wartime photojournalist, Robert Capa, is famed for his black and white images of war. One of his most famous images was the Falling Soldier, taken as a man fell in death after being shot in Spain in 1936. The image’s proper and full name is, “Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death, Cerro Muriano, September 5, 1936.”

was born as Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr. on January 20, 1930 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, U.S., is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history. On July 20, 1969, he was the second human being to set foot on the Moon, following mission commander Neil Armstrong.

the chemist Geber of the Middle Ages, is generally known as the father of chemistry. Abu Musa Jabir Ibn Hayyan, sometimes called al-Harrani and al-Sufi, was the son of the druggist (Attar). The precise date of his birth is the subject of some discussion, but it is established that he practiced medicine and alchemy in Kufa around 776 C.E. He is reported to have studied under Imam Ja’far Sadiq and the Ummayed prince Khalid Ibn Yazid. In his early days, he practiced medicine and was under the patronage of the Barmaki Vizir during the Abbssid Caliphate of Haroon al-Rashid. He shared some of the effects of the downfall of the Barmakis and was placed under house arrest in Kufa, where he died in 803 C.E.

was born in Buzjan, Nishapur in 940 C.E. He flourished as a great mathematician and astronomer at Baghdad and died in 997/998 C.E. He learnt mathematics in Baghdad. In 959 C.E. he migrated to Iraq and lived there till his death.

full name (Abu Muhammad Abdallah Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Baitar Dhiya al-Din al-Malaqi) was one of the greatest scientists of Muslim Spain and was the greatest botanist and pharmacist of the Middle Ages. He was born in the Spanish city of Malaqa (Malaga) towards the end of the 12th century. He learned botany from Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati, a learned botanist, with whom he started collecting plants in and around Spain. In 1219 he left Spain on a plant-collecting expedition and travelled along the northern coast of Africa as far as Asia Minor. The exact modes of his travel (whether by land or sea) are not known, but the major stations he visited include Bugia, Qastantunia (Constantinople), Tunis, Tripoli, Barqa and Adalia. After 1224 he entered the service of al-Kamil, the Egyptian Governor, and was appointed chief herbalist. In 1227 al-Kamil extended his domination to Damascus, and Ibn al-Baitar accompanied him there which provided him an opportunity to collect plants in Syria His researches on plants extended over a vast area: including Arabia and Palestine, which he either visited or managed to collect plants from stations located there. He died in Damascus in 1248.

(known as Ibn Al-Nafis) was born in 1213 A.D. in Damascus. He was educated at the Medical College Hospital (Bimaristan Al-Noori) founded by Noor al-Din Al-Zanki. Apart from medicine, Ibn al-Nafis learned jurisprudence, literature and theology. He thus became a renowned expert on the Shafi’i School of Jurisprudence as well as a reputed physician.

was born in 980 C.E. in the village of Afshana near Bukhara which today is located in the far south of Russia. His father, Abdullah, an adherent of the Ismaili sect, was from Balkh and his mother from a village near Bukhara. In any age Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna, would have been a giant among giants. He displayed exceptional intellectual prowess as a child and at the age of ten was already proficient in the Qur’an and the Arabic classics. During the next six years he devoted himself to Muslim Jurisprudence, Philosophy and Natural Science and studied Logic, Euclid, and the Almeagest.

Known as Averroes in the West, was born in 1128 C.E. in Cordova, where his father and grandfather had both been judges. His grandfather was well versed in Fiqh (Maliki School) and was also the Imam of the Jamia Mosque of Cordova. The young Ibn Rushd received his education in Cordova and lived a quiet life, devoting most of his time to learned-pursuits. He studied philosophy and law from Abu J’afar Haroon and from Ibn Baja; he also studied medicine.

was a Swiss physicist who is known for his electric clock, telegraph device and optical instruments, particularly telescopes with silver covered mirrors.

(December 1878 – December 25, 1972), known as or Rajaji or C.R., was n Indian lawyer, writer, statesman and a Hindu spiritualist. He was the econd vernor-General of independent India. Later he became the Chief Minister of the Madras Presidency.

was born on February 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky & died on April 15, 1865 in Washington, D.C., sometimes called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed Honest Abe, the Rail Splitter, and the Great Emancipator, was the 16th President of the United States, and the first president from the Republican Party.

(March 15, 1767-June 8, 1845) was the seventh President of the United States, serving from 1829 to 1837. Sometimes nicknamed “Old Hickory,” Jackson was the first president not born an aristocrat. Andrew Jackson’s Scotch-Irish parents Andrew Jackson, Sr. (c. 1730 – February, 1767) and Elizabeth “Betty” Hutchinson (c. 1740 – November, 1781), immigrated to the US from Carrickfergus, in modern-day Northern Ireland, in 1765.

Amir Khusrau (Poets)

was the foremost visionary of his age, when contributed most to the two cultures i.e. Indian and Persian. He was born in 1253. His mother was of Indian origin. Khusrau’s father Amir Saifuddin Mahmud, a noble, was in military service of Sultan Iltrumish.

(15 July 1602 – 31 October 1659) was an English judge. He is most notable for his role as President of the High Court of Justice for the trial of King Charles I and as the first Lord President of the Council of State of the English Commonwealth.

A liberal Supreme Court Justice appointed by Herbert Hoover in 1932, was a founder of the American Law Institute and a renowned legal essayist. His rulings, both on the New York Supreme Court and later on the U.S. Supreme court, helped to shape American common law and American tort law. He was also instrumental in upholding the federal Social Security program.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor), styled HM The Queen ( born 21 April 1926) is the queen regnant and head of state of Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The British writer, born in Trinidad, V(idiadhar) S(urajprasad) Naipaul was born in 1932 in Chaguanas, close to the Port of Spain on Trinidad, in a family descended from immigrants from the north of India. His grandfather worked in a sugar cane plantation and his father was a journalist and writer. At the age of 18 Naipaul travelled to England where, after studying at University College at Oxford, he was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1953. From then on he continued to live in England (since the 70s in Wiltshire, close to Stonehenge) but he has also spent a great deal of time travelling in Asia, Africa and America. Apart from a few years in the middle of the 1950s, when he was employed by the BBC as a free-lance journalist, he has devoted himself entirely to his writing.

Francois-Marie Arouet (November 21, 1694-May 30, 1778), better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, deist and philosopher. Voltaire was born in Paris to Francois Arouet and Marie-Marguerite Daumart or D’Aumard. Both parents were of Poitevin extraction, but the Arouets were long established in Paris, the grandfather being a prosperous tradesman.

born on April 2, 1840 & died on September 29, 1902, was an influential French novelist, the most important example of the literary school of naturalism, and a major figure in the political liberalization of France.

was born on 24 November 1961 in Shillong, Meghalaya, India, is an Indian novelist, essayist and activist who focuses on issues related to social justice and economic inequality. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and has also written two screenplays and several collections of essays. Her writings on various social, environmental and political issues have been a subject of major controversy in India.

He was the widely famous creator of the devil-may-care heroes, The Three Musketeers (1844). He was born in france in 1802. His father , Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie rose from the rank of a private to commander-in-chief of the western pyrenees in France . His father could crush a steel helmet in between his hands or a horse between his legs.

(November 7, 1913 – January 4, 1960) was a French author and philosopher and one of the principal luminaries (with Jean-Paul Sartre) of existentialism. Albert Camus was born in Mondovi, Algeria to a French Algerian (pied noir) settler family. His mother was of Spanish extraction. His father, Lucien, died in the Battle of Marne in 1914 during the First World War. Camus lived in poor conditions during his childhood in the Belcourt section of Algiers.

was born in London 1929. Alvarez was educated at Oundle School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was poetry critic of The Observer from 1956 to 1966 and is a poet and novellist, but some of his most famous works are in the realm of non-fiction: The Savage God: A Study of Suicide; and Biggest Game in Town, about poker players.

Steven Paul “Steve” Jobs was born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco, California, U.S. & died on October 5, 2011 in Palo Alto, California, U.S., was an American computer entrepreneur and innovator. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Jobs also previously served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios; he became a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, following the acquisition of Pixar by Disney. He was credited in Toy Story (1995) as an executive producer.

Internet entrepreneur, computer scientist. Born Lawrence Page on March 26, 1973 in East Lansing, Michigan. Page’s father Carl was a pioneer in computer science and artificial intelligence and his mother taught computer programming. After earning a bachelor of science degree in engineering from the University of Michigan, Page decided to concentrate on computer engineering at Stanford University, where he met Sergey Brin.

In 1984 he founded Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories with a vision to establish India’s first discovery led global pharmaceutical company. Dr. K. Anji Reddy is a pioneer in the pharmaceutical research in India and is founder-chairman of Dr Reddy’s Group of Companies.

Comic Magician, Michael Finney, received the Academy of Arts Award for Comedy Magician of the year 2005 on March 6, 2005 in Hollywood. These awards are similar to the Academy Awards for movie stars. The entertainers are nominated and voted upon by Members and peers of the craft.

has been called one of the world’s funniest Comedy Magicians working today. His mild manner persona becomes very disarming once he hits the stage. His quick wit and ability to adapt to any situation while making it funny and entertaining makes him a hit at any function.

was born on October 15, 1957 in Rourkela, Orissa, India, is an Indian film director and producer based in New York. Her production company is Mirabai Films. Her father was employed. She was the youngest of three children from a middle-class family. Her father was a civil servant and her mother a social worker.

William Alexander “Bud” Abbott (Actors)

born on October 2, 1897 in Asbury Park, New Jersey, was an American actor, producer and comedian.

American comedian Bud Abbott was the tall, bullying member of the popular comedy team Abbott and Costello. The son of circus employees, Abbott entered show business as a burlesque show producer, then took to the stage himself as straight man for a number of comedians.

was born as Aamir Hussain Khan on 14 March 1965 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, is an Indian film actor, director and producer who has established himself as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema.

Sir Richard John Hadlee KBE (Sports)

(born July 3, 1951), New Zealand cricketer (known as the Black Caps), and universally regarded as their best-ever. A bowling “all-rounder”, in an 86-Test career he took 431 wickets (at the time the world record) at the excellent average of 22.29, and made 3124 test runs at 27.16, including 2 centuries and 16 fifties. For Nottinghamshire, on often overgrassed Trent Bridge pitches, his bowling was often quite deadly, and he gained some analyses that are remarkable in an era of covered pitches, notably his eight for 22 against Surrey in 1984. He represented Nottinghamshire between 1978 and 1987, but played only three full seasons due to injuries and Test calls. However, his bowling figures for those three seasons were quite remarkable:

(born 21 December 1934 in Junagadh, Gujarat, India) was one of Pakistan’s greatest cricketers, playing for the Pakistani cricket team in 55 Test matches between 1952/53 and 1969/70 and averaging a fine 43.98, with twelve hundreds.

was a West Indian cricketer. He was part of the fearsome quartret of fast bowlers from the late 70s and early 80s. With his giant frame of 6 foot 6, he bowled nasty bouncers and was very aggressive. His figures of 8/29 against Pakistan in 1977 is still the best Test figures by a genuine fast bowler from the West Indies. His career ended when he went to the rebel tour of South Africa in 1982.

Tatia Tope (Patriots)

was a hero of the fight for freedom in 1857. His very name made the mighty English generals tremble. Deceived by his friend, he faced death like a hero, for the sake of his country. The British troops had pitched their tents on the parade grounds near the fort of Shivpuri, 75 miles from Gwalior. The day was April 18, 1859. It was 4 o’clock in the afternoon. A smiling, charming prisoner was brought out of the prison.

was born on 11 November 1888 in Mecca & died on 22 February 1958 Delhi, India, was an Indian Muslim scholar and a senior political leader of the Indian independence movement. He was one of the most prominent Muslim leaders to support Hindu-Muslim unity, opposing the partition of India on communal lines.

(June 14, 1928Â¹ – October 9, 1967), commonly known as Che Guevara, was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary and Cuban guerrilla leader. Guevara was a member of Fidel Castro’s "26th of July Movement", which seized power in Cuba in 1959. After serving various important posts in the new government, Guevara left Cuba in 1966 with the hope of fomenting revolutions in other countries, first in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and later in Bolivia, where he was captured in a CIA-organized military operation. Some believe that the CIA wanted to keep him alive for interrogation but he was executed by the Bolivian army, although this is disputed. After his death, Guevara became a hero of Third World socialist revolutionary movements, as a theorist and tactician of asymmetric warfare.

was born on 27 September 1907 in Lyallpur, Punjab, British India & died on 23 March 1931 Lahore, Punjab, British India, was an Indian freedom fighter, considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement.

is one of the world’s most renown freedom fighters and advocates of nonviolence, having served as the figurehead for Burma’s struggle for democracy since 1988. Born on June 19th, 1945 to Burma’s independence hero, Aung san, Aung San Suu Kyi was educated in Burma, India, and the United Kingdom. Her father was assassinated when she was only two years old.

was born on 22 October 1900 in in Shahjahanpur, a historical city of Uttar Pradesh & died on 19 December 1927, was a freedom fighter in the Indian independence movement who had given away his life along with Ram Prasad Bismil for the betterment of his country. Bismil and Ashfaq, both were good friends and Urdu poets (Shayar). Bismil was the pen name or Takhallus of Ram Prasad whereas Ashfaq used to write poetry with the pen name of ‘Hasrat’. In Indian independence movement,the sacrifice of these two has become an excellent example of religious unity for the young generations. Both were hanged on the same day, date and time but in different jails.

Abu Abdallah Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abdallah Ibn Idris al-Qurtubi al-Hasani (Scientists)

was born in Ceuta, Spain, in 1099 C.E. He was educated in Cordova. Later he traveled far and wide in connection with his studies and then flourished at the Norman court in Palermo. The date of his death is controversial, being either 1166 or 1180 C.E.

was born at Seville in 1091/c. 1094 C.E. After completing his education and specializing in medicine, he entered the service of Almoravides (Al-Murabatun), but after their defeat by the Al-Mohades (Al-Muwahadun), he served under ‘Abd al-Mu’min, the first Muwahid ruler. He died in Seville in 1161/c. 1162 C.E. As confirmed by George Sarton, he was not a Jew, but an orthodox Muslim.

Ibn Zuhr was one of the greatest physicians and clinicians of the Muslim golden era and has rather been held by some historians of science as the greatest of them. Contrary to the general practice of the Muslim scholars of that era, he confined his work to only one field medicine. This enabled him to produce works of everlasting fame.

Abul Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahravi (Scientists)

(known in the west as Abulcasis) was born in 936 C.E. in Zahra in the neighbourhood of Cordova. He became one of the most renowned surgeons of the era and was physician to King Al-Hakam-II of Spain. After a long medical career, rich with significant original contribution, he died in 1013 C.E.

was English inventor who worked with Charles Wheatstone in developing electric telegraphy. William Fothergill Cooke, a British electrical engineer, was born on May 4, 1806, in Ealing, Middlesex, England. He became interested in electrical telegraphy when he was a child. His interest may have resulted from watching his father and Francis Ronalds transmitting messages from the coach house to the tool shed at the end of the garden when he was a boy. After eight years of military service with the East India Company, William Fothergill Cooke left to study anatomy at the University of Heidelberg, Germany.

Oliver Joseph Lodge was born on June 12, 1851, at ‘The Views’ Penkhull, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. He was the eldest son from 12 children of Oliver Lodge (his father was also Oliver) and Grace nee Heath. His father was a supplier of pottery materials and the family was prolific.

was born around 858 C.E. in Harran, and according to one account, in Battan, a State of Harran. Battani was first educated by his father Jabir Ibn San’an al-Battani, who was also a well-known scientist. He then moved to Raqqa, situated on the bank of the Euphrates, where he received advanced education and later on flourished as a scholar. At the beginning of the 9th century, he migrated to Samarra, where he worked till the end of his life in 929 C.E. He was of Sabian origin, but was himself a Muslim.

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