Susan B. Anthony |
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Susan B. Anthony fought for woman's rights and equality. She was born
in Massachusetts in 1820. She dedicated much of her adult life battling
for the right to vote for woman and African Americans. She died in 1906
at the age of 86. During her life she saw four states introduce equal
voting rights for women. |
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Thomas Edison |
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Thomas Edison was an inventor. He was born in 1847 and died
in 1931 at the age of 84. He is best known for the invention of the electric
light, the phonograph, and the telephone. |
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Benjamin Franklin |
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Benjamin Franklin was an American statesman and scientist. He was born
in 1706. He did many things during his life. He had his own publishing
company. He was also the postmaster for the colony of Pennsylvania.
As a scientist, he is best known for flying a kite with a key on it during
a thunderstorm to prove that lightening is an electrical spark. From this
discovery he invented the lightening rod.
In 1757 he was appointed the British parliament representative for the
colony of Pennsylvania. He was the colonies spokesperson in their fight
against British taxation. In 1776, he helped Thomas Jefferson write the
Declaration of Independence. During the American
Revolution, he was responsible for persuading(1)
France to support the
Americans. |
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Thomas Jefferson |
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Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States and the
author of the Declaration of Independence. He was born in 1743 in the
British colony of Virginia. As an adult he owned a large plantation, and
was a lawyer. Later he entered politics and was elected to the local legislature.
He was a prominent spokesperson and active in debates about the colonies
independence from Britain. In 1776 he was asked to be the primary author
of the Declaration
of Independence. He was elected governor of Virginia in 1779 and then
in 1801 became the 3rd president of the United States.
He was responsible for purchasing
the Louisiana Territory from France. He also was the founder of the
University of Virginia. |
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John F. Kennedy |
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John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 34th president of the United States.
He was born in 1917. He dedicated his adult life to politics and serving
the United States of America. In 1946 he was elected a Democratic Member
of the House of Representatives. In 1952 he was elected as a Senator from
Massachusetts.
In 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected president. He was an inspirational
president. In his inaugural address he said the famous words, "My
fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, but what you
can do for your country." Kennedy faced major challenges. He gave
American help to Cuban refugees in the failed attempt to over
throw(2)
Castro.
In 1962, he successfully stopped the Soviet Union from building a nuclear
missile base in Cuba.
In November, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated by a sniper while
riding in an open car in Dallas, Texas. |
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Martin Luther King Jr. |
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Martin Luther King Jr. was an American civil rights leader. He was born
in 1929. In 1948 he received a degree in divinity, following in the footsteps
of his father and grandfather who were Baptist(3)
ministers.
Martin Luther King Jr. became a pastor at a church in Montgomery, Alabama
in 1950. There he joined in the struggle for African American rights.
He led a boycott against segregated seating on buses and forced the bus
company to allow African Americans to sit wherever they chose. He believed
that the best way to win black rights was to protest in non-violent ways.
He led many protests and was arrested for his acts, but he didn't give
up.
In August 1963 he led over 250,000 people in a march on Washington. There
he gave his famous speech,
"I have a dream that one day the nation will rise up and live out
the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident;
that all men are created equal.' I have a dream that one day on the red
hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave
owners will be able to sit down together in brotherhood. I have a dream
that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they
will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their
character."
In 1964 the Civil Rights Bill was passed and Martin Luther King Jr. was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1968 he was assassinated in Memphis,
Tennessee. |
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Abraham Lincoln |
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Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States. He
was born in 1809. He became a lawyer and a politician. He was elected
president on a campaign to end slavery. After the Civil War began in 1861,
Lincoln introduced the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 freeing all slaves
in the United States.
He is remembered for his famous speech after the battle of Gettysburg(4)
where he said, "Government of the people, by the people, for the
people shall not perish from the Earth." Abraham Lincoln was assassinated
in 1865. |
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Charles Lindbergh |
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Charles Lindbergh was a famous American aviator. He learned to fly as
an Army Air Service pilot flying mail across the United States.
In 1926 a prize was offered to any person who could fly non-stop from
New York to Paris. On May 20, 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off in the
"Spirit of St. Louis" and landed in Paris 33-1/2 hours later. |
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Paul Revere |
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Paul Revere was an American patriot during the American
Revolution. He was born in 1735. He was a strong supporter of an independent
America. He participated in the "Boston
Tea Party" to protest against British taxation.
On April 16, 1775 a single lantern in the North Church steeple signaled
that the British troops were coming. Paul Revere rode through the night
to warn people that the British were coming. Armed Colonists met the British
troops in the Battle
of Lexington and Concord, the start of the American Revolution. |
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George Washington |
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George Washington was the first president of the United States. He was
born in 1732. As a young man he had a surveying business, then in 1752
he inherited land from his brother. George Washington was in the British
Army and fought against the French in the French
and Indian War. He got a reputation for being a good soldier.
In 1775, George Washington was made commander-in-chief of the Continental
Army as the colonists took up arms against the British. He successfully
led his troops against the British, helping to win America's independence.
In 1789 he was elected the first president of the now United States of
America. |
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