.... together they had six children, only two of whom survived into maturity; she herself died in 1782. Jefferson was among those who called the First Continental Congress in 1774; as a delegate to the Second Congress (1775--77), he was the principal drafter of the Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, which embodied some of his ideas on the natural rights of certain people. Jefferson then returned to Virginia, where as a member of its legislature (1776--79), he took the lead in creating a state constitution and then served as governor (1779--81); during this time he proposed that Virginia abolish the slave trade and assure religious freedom, but h .....

.... They lacked the authority to make the states work together to solve national problems. After the states won independence in the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), they faced the problems of peacetime government. The states had to enforce law and order, collect taxes, pay a large public debt, and regulate trade among themselves. They also had to deal with Indian tribes and negotiate with other governments. Leading statesmen, such as George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, began to discuss the creation of a strong national government under a new constitution. The United States is a republic that operates under a federalist system. The national government had s .....

.... elementary school and the private Lakeside School. There, he began his career in personal computer software, programming computers at age 13. In 1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman, where he lived down the hall from Steve Ballmer, now Microsoft's executive vice president for sales and support. While at Harvard, Gates developed the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer -- the MITS Altair. In his junior year, Gates dropped out of Harvard to devote his energies to Microsoft, a company he had begun in 1975 with Paul Allen. Guided by a belief that the personal computer would be a valuable tool on every office deskt .....

.... he experienced love and hate towards different members of his family. On January 18, 1882 in London, A. A. was born as the youngest son to Sarah Marie and John Van Milne. (Collier, Nakamura 1685) A. A. and his two older brothers Davis Barrett (Barry) and Kenneth John (Ken) grew up in the Henley House. This was a school for boys that his father ran. (WWW) As Milne grew up, he and his brother Ken became very close although he showed no affection for Barry. This is how things stayed for the rest of their lives. (WWW) Alan Alexander once said he and Ken shared “ ‘Equally all belief, all knowledge, all ambition, all hope and all fears’ ”. (WWW) While this sta .....

.... in Florence and Milan. In 1469 he was apprenticed to Andrea Verrocchio, a leading Renaissance master. Leonardo acquired a variety of skills while he remained at the workshop until 1476. He left Florence for Milan in about 1482 to work for Duke Lodovico Sforza. He stayed in Milan for nearly eighteen years. During his time there he applied his knowledge of mechanics to his obligations as a civil and military engineer. He also took up study in anatomy, biology, mathematics, and physics. During that time he completed his single most important painting, The Last Supper. Leonardo returned to Florence in 1500. Three years later, Leonardo began several import .....

.... his brother, Thomas, was five. Arriving into New York on August 14, 1848, aboard the Wiscasset from Glasgow, the Carnegies wasted little time settling in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, where relatives already existed and were there to provide help. Allegheny City provided Carnegie’s first job, as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory, working for $1.20 a week. His father also worked there while his mother bound shoes at home, making a miniscule amount of money. Although the Carnegies lacked in money, they abounded in ideals and training for their children. At age 15, Carnegie became a telegraph messenger boy in Pittsburgh. He learned to send a .....

.... a child or a bit of wood blown by a small paper sail, John Paul was a seaman from birth. He attended Kirkbean School but spent much of his time at the small port of Carsethorn on the Solway Firth. As he grew up others often found him teaching his playmates to maneuver their little boats to mimic a naval battle, while he, taking his stand on the tiny cliff overlooking the small river, shouted shrill commands at his imaginary fleet. At the age of thirteen he boarded a ship to Whitehaven, which was a large port across the Solway Firth. There he signed up for a seven year seaman's apprenticeship on The Friendship of Whitehaven, whose captain was James Young .....

.... of his strength and his strong war strategies. Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman whose dictatorship was pivotal in Rome’s transition from republic to empire. When he was young Caesar lived through one of the most horrifying decades in the history of the city of Rome. The city was assaulted twice and captured by Roman armies, first in 87 BC by the leaders of the populares, his Uncle Marius and Cinna. Cinna was killed the year that Caesar had married Cinna’s daughter Cornelia. The second attack upon the city was carried our by Marius’ enemy Sulla, leader of the optimates, in 82 BC on the latter’s return from the East. On each occasion the massacr .....