Inspirations |
At the age of 10 Napoleon entered the military academy at Brienne, France. His first few months there were a nightmare with the other children teasing him for his strange name, his foreign accent and his small size. Napoleon coped by concentrating on his studies. In 1784 he won a place at the prestigious Ecole Militaire in Paris. A year later he graduated and was commissioned a second lieutenant of artillery. He was garrisoned at Valence. He spent the next six years as a struggling soldier in an isolated outpost. Napoleon’s regiment was stationed in Auxonne when the French Revolution broke out. Napoleon approved of the Revolution in principal but he deplored the violence of the common people. On 10, 1792 August he witnessed the second storming of the Tuileries and the arrest of King Louis XVI . He also saw the slaughter of the Swiss Guards that followed. From this point on Napoleon both hated and feared the common people of France. Between 1790 and 1791 Napoleon spent 18 months in his homeland of Corsica, helping to consolidate French rule. In 1793, he rejoined his regiment who were stationed in Italy. He was here given his first military command at the siege of Toulon. In 3 days Napoleon bombarded the city into submission, gaining control of this important harbor city . He was rewarded by a speedy promotion to brigadier-general and an appointment as commander of planning for the army of Italy. In 1795 he was recalled to Paris to help quell mobs under royalist leadership that were preparing to storm the Tuileries. Napoleon was placed as second in command of the defense. He ordered the storming crowds to be annihilated with forty cannon. This act established Napoleon as a hero of the Revolution and gained him entrance into Parisian society. Through such connections he met Josephine de Beauharnias. On March 9, 1796 the two were married. His bride’s connections were evident two days later when Napoleon became commander of the Army of Italy. In quick succession Napoleon achieved victories over the Italians, Austrians and Sardinians at Matenotte, Dego, Millesimo, Mondovi and Lodi, Milan, Castiglione and Arcola. In February 1797 he marched across the Alps toward Vienna. The Austrians sued for an Armistice before a single shot was fired. His return to France was triumphant. At just 28 years of age Napoleon had established himself as the greatest French general of all time. In honor of his achievements he was elected to the prestigious Institut. He set his sights on achieving total power. First though there was the ongoing sea war with Britain. He decided on a rearguard action to attack Britain’s resources by occupying Egypt and cutting off her trade routes with India and the Far East. On June 10, 1798 his forces took the island fortress of Malta. Three weeks later they seized Alexandria. Within days the entire Nile Delta was in French hands. Napoleon’s first defeat, however, came on August 1 when his entire naval fleet was destroyed by the British navy. In February, 1799 the French were again defeated, this time on land at the battle of Acre. Napoleon retreated to Egypt. Here he handed his command over to General Jean Baptiste Kleber and sailed for France. When he arrived back in Paris, Napoleon was dismayed to find that France had lost control of most of the territories he had won in Italy. The Directory was, in fact, in a state of chaos. The young General was seen as the last hope for the country. Two of the directors approached him with a plan to overthrow the Directory. A coup d’etat was executed on 10 November 1799. The directors were forced to resign and the Directory was abolished. A new Government was established consisting of three consuls. Napoleon Bonaparte was meant to be one of the three equal members of this consul but it didn’t take long for him to assert himself as de facto dictator of France. Napoleon set about reforming local and national government, education and legislature, proving himself a brilliant statesman and administrator. In 1802 Napoleon was voted consul for life. This, however, was not enough for him, and he set about paving the way for himself to be crowned Emperor of the French. In May, 1804 he got his wish. In 1803 the British declared war on France once more. In December of that year the Grand Armee assembled in preparation of an invasion of Britain. The destruction of his fleet, combined with the Spanish, by the British off Cape Trafalgar, however, ended any plans of a British invasion. In August, 1805 Napoleon invaded Germany. French victories followed at Ulm, and Austerlitz. Napoleon was crowned king of Italy. His relations were made kings of Naples and Holland. In 1806 Prussia declared war on France and was soundly defeated. Napoleon now introduced ‘The Continental System’ which forbade all European nations trading with his age old enemy, Britain. In June, 1807 he gained victory over the Russians at the Battle of Friedland. A year later Charles IV ceded his rights in Spain to Napoleon. Napoleon’s brother Joseph took the throne of Spain. The beginning of the end came in December, 1810 when the Russians announced that they would no longer observe the Continental System. Napoleon’s response was to invade Russia. Making it to Moscow the French forces were decimated by a massive fire. The Russian winter then took its toll on the French. More than half a million men had been reduced to less than 10,000. Napoleon retreated to Paris. Europe now believed that France could be beaten. In 1813 the Prussians joined forces with Russia in an alliance against France. When Austria joined the alliance, Napoleon knowing he couldn’t prevail, sued for an armistice. He soon reneged on the conditions, however and an allied invasion of France was put in motion. By January, 1814 France was under attack from all sides. In March, 1814 Paris fell to the allies. Napoleon had moved his army east. The Parisian authorities had, however, abandoned him and they came to terms with the allies. Napoleon was determined to hold out to the bitter end. But after his General defected he finally faced the inevitable. On 6 April, 1814 Napoleon Bonaparte announced his abdication. Under the Treaty of Fontainebleau he was exiled to the island of Elba. Just a year later, however, he returned to Paris and, with the masses rallying around him, was reinstated as head of state. The allies, of course, retaliated by marching once more on France. Initially Napoleon’s forces gained the victory but the final defeat came when the British forces, reinforced by the Prussians, met the French at Waterloo. Napoleon had fought his last battle. For a second time the Emperor abdicated. Deciding what to do with him, the allies finally decided on exile to the rocky island of St. Helena in the south Atlantic. Situated a thousand miles off the African Coast Napoleon was now well and truly out of the way. On 5 May, 1821 Napoleon Bonaparte died on his island prison. He was just fifty one years of age. |
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The most famous Frenchman in history was born at Ajaccio, Corsica on 15 August, 1769. Consequently Napoleon Bonaparte was not, in fact French. He was, though, a French subject as a result of the ceding of Corsica to France by the Genoese in 1768. His family was upper-middle class. His father Carlo was a political opportunist who gained acceptance into the French aristocracy.
Thomas Alva Edison
In 1879, Edison was the first to invent a commercially practical incandescent light bulb. He tested 3000 filaments before he came up with his safe and long lasting version of the electric light bulb that used a tungsten filament. This invention was followed by Edison’s greatest achievement – setting up of the first model of a complete power station. The first central power plant, called the Pearl Street Station in lower Manhattan began generating electricity in September 1882. Pearl Street had one generator and it produced power enough to run 800 electric light bulbs. With the success of Pearl Street Station, Edison created the Edison Company for Isolated Lighting in May 1883 to build and sell electric power stations, like the Pearl Street Station, to towns and cities throughout the United States. By 1890, Edison merged all his businesses to form the Edison General Electric, which was to become the General Electric Company in 1892 in which he was a major shareholder. Edison finally slowed down in the late 1920’s, although he still worked from home and met with his friends Henry Ford and Marie Curie among others. He received a patent even as late as 1931, the year of his death. A few months before his death, the Lackawanna Railroad implemented suburban electric trains in New Jersey, a project that was developed and conducted under the guidance of Edison. “Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration” |
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Thomas A. Edison was an exceptionally prolific inventor whose curiosity,ingenuity, and perseverance led him to dozens of inventions and a total of 1093 patents. Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. As a child, Edison did not speak until he was four and when he finally did was always full of questions. He was deemed to be a hyperactive child with an “addled brain” by his teacher. His mother, Nancy Edison who was an accomplished educator herself, withdrew Thomas Alva from the school and home schooled him herself. She encouraged young Thomas Alva to explore his interest in the sciences to the point that he set up his first chemical lab in the cellar of his home when he was ten years old!
When he was 21, Edison came out with his first patented invention of the electrical vote recorder, which was rapidly followed by vastly improved versions of the stock ticker and telegraph. Edison improved on the telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell by testing nearly two thousand materials for better reception. Finally, Edison found that a carbon transmitter greatly improved the reception, an extremely important step in making the telephone a practical instrument. Edison’s continued fascination with sound led him to the invention of a sound recording device, namely the phonograph. The phonograph consisted of a cylinder covered with a tinfoil, a movable arm with a mouthpiece at one end and a needle at the other, and a crank for turning the cylinder. To test it out, Edison recited “Mary had a little lamb…” into the mouthpiece. These sound vibrations were transmitted to the needle that traced the pattern on to the tinfoil of the cylinder and when the needle was made to re-trace the grooves on the tinfoil, the needle vibrated in much the same way as it did while recording and the vibrations reproduced the original sound recording of Edison’s voice! We owe our CD listening experience to Edison’s invention of the phonograph in 1877. The Next year, Edison moved on from sound to light.
Nick Vujicic (born December 4, 1982) is a motivational speaker and the director for Life Without Limbs, an organization that is for the physically disabled.
His life was filled with difficulties and hardships. One hardship was not being able to attend a mainstream school because of his physical disability, as the law of Australia required, even though he was not mentally impaired. During his schooling, the laws were changed, and Nick was one of the first disabled students to be migrated to a mainstream school. He learned to write using the two toes on his left "foot," and a special device that slid onto his big toe to grip. He also learned to use a computer and type using the "heel and toe" method (as demonstrated in his speeches). He can also throw tennis balls and answer the phone (also demonstrated in speeches).
Being bullied at his school, Nick grew extremely depressed, and by the age of eight, started contemplating suicide. After begging God to grow arms and legs, Nick eventually began to realize that his accomplishments were inspirational to many, and began to thank God he was alive. When he was seventeen, he started to give talks at his prayer group, and eventually started his non-profit organization, Life Without Limbs... Career
By the age of 25, Nick hopes to become financially independent. He wishes to promote his words through shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as by writing books. His first book, planned for completion by the end of 2009, is to be called No Arms, No Legs, No Worries! A DVD, Life's Greater Purpose, is available on the Life Without Limbs website. Most of the DVD was filmed in 2005, featuring a brief documentary about his home life, and how he does regular things without limbs. The second part of the DVD was filmed at his local church in Brisbane, and was one of his first professional motivational speeches. His secular DVD "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries" is available online through his corporate motivational speaking company "Attitude Is Altitude." Nick's first worldwide television interview, featured on 20/20 (ABC) with Bob Cummings was aired on March 28, 2008. Life Without Limbs
He deals with topics like fear and rejection, depression, suffering, and even unanswered prayers. The speeches take place in both Christian and non-Christian environments including churches, schools, and other venues. He appeared in a BodyShock documentary about his life. The documentary is entitled 'Born without Limbs,' and was broadcast on May 5, 2008. |
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First-born child into his devout Serbian Christian family, Nick Vujicic was born in Melbourne, limbless, missing both arms at shoulder level, and having one small foot with two toes protruding from his left thigh. Initially, his parents were devastated. However, Nick turned out to be otherwise perfectly healthy.
Nick graduated from college at the age of 21 with a double major in Accounting and Financial Planning. He began his travels as a motivational speaker, focusing on the topics that today's teenagers face. He also speaks in the corporate sector, although his aim is to become an international inspirational speaker, in both Christian and non-Christian venues. He regularly travels internationally to speak to Christian congregations, schools, and corporate meetings. He has spoken on four continents (Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America), in over twelve countries, and to over two million people face-to-face.
The Life Without Limbs organization, which Vujicic founded in 2005, is aimed at giving people living with no limbs motivation and inspiration for their lives. This is done by giving speeches worldwide about Christian faith and the impact that faith in God can have to help the world.
Kate Keller was a tall, statuesque blond with blue eyes. She was some twenty years younger than her husband Captain Keller, a loyal southerner who had proudly served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. The house they lived in was a simple, white, clapboard house built in 1820 by Helen’s grandparents. At the time of Helen’s birth the family were far from wealthy with Captain Keller earning a living as both a cotton plantation owner and the editor of a weekly local newspaper, the “North Alabamian”. Helen’s mother, as well as working on the plantation, would save money by making her own butter, lard, bacon and ham. Helen falls ill Whatever the illness, Helen was, for many days, expected to die. When, eventually, the fever subsided, Helen’s family rejoiced believing their daughter to be well again. However, Helen’s mother soon noticed how her daughter was failing to respond when the dinner bell was rang or when she passed her hand in front of her daughter’s eyes. It thus became apparent that Helen’s illness had left her both blind and deaf. The following few years proved very hard for Helen and her family. Helen became a very difficult child, smashing dishes and lamps and terrorising the whole household with her screaming and temper tantrums. Relatives regarded her as a monster and thought she should be put into an institution. By the time Helen was six her family had become desperate. Looking after Helen was proving too much for them. Kate Keller had read in Charles Dickens’ book “American Notes” of the fantastic work that had been done with another deaf and blind child, Laura Bridgman, and travelled to a specialist doctor in Baltimore for advice. They were given confirmation that Helen would never see or hear again but were told not to give up hope, the doctor believed Helen could be taught and he advised them to visit a local expert on the problems of deaf children. This expert was Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, Bell was now concentrating on what he considered his true vocation, the teaching of deaf children. Alexander Graham Bell suggested that the Kellers write to Michael Anagnos, director of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind, and request that he try and find a teacher for Helen. Michael Anagnos considered Helen’s case and immediately recommended a former pupil of the institution, that woman was Anne Sullivan. Anne Sullivan Anne’s brother died in the poorhouse. It was October 1880 before Anne finally left and went to commence her education at the Perkins Institution. One summer during her time at the institute, Anne had two operations on her eyes, which led to her regaining enough sight to be able to read normal print for short periods of time. Anne graduated from Perkins in 1886 and began to search for work. Finding work was terribly difficult for Anne, due to her poor eyesight, and when she received the offer from Michael Anagnos to work as the teacher of Helen Keller, a deaf-blind mute, although she had no experience in this area, she accepted willingly. Helen meets Anne Anne and Helen moved into a small cottage on the land of the main house to try and get Helen to improve her behaviour. Of particular concern were Helen’s table manners. She had taken to eating with her hands and from the plates of everyone at the table. Anne’s attempts to improve Helen’s table manners and make her brush her own hair and button her shoes led to more and more temper tantrums. Anne punished these tantrums by refusing to “talk” with Helen by spelling words on her hands. Over the coming weeks, however, Helen’s behaviour did begin to improve as a bond grew between the two. Then, after a month of Anne’s teaching, what the people of the time called a “miracle” occurred. Helen had until now not yet fully understood the meaning of words. When Anne led her to the water pump on 5 April 1887, all that was about to change. As Anne pumped the water over Helen’s hand , Anne spelled out the word water in the girl’s free hand. Something about this explained the meaning of words within Helen, and Anne could immediately see in her face that she finally understood. Helen later recounted the incident: “We walked down the path to the well-house, attracted by the fragrance of the honey-suckle with which it was covered. Someone was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten, a thrill of returning thought, and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me.” Helen immediately asked Anne for the name of the pump to be spelt on her hand and then the name of the trellis. All the way back to the house Helen learned the name of everything she touched and also asked for Anne’s name. Anne spelled the name “Teacher” on Helen’s hand. Within the next few hours Helen learnt the spelling of thirty new words. Helen’s progress from then on was astonishing. Her ability to learn was far in advance of anything that anybody had seen before in someone without sight or hearing. It wasn’t long before Anne was teaching Helen to read, firstly with raised letters and later with braille, and to write with both ordinary and braille typewriters. Michael Anagnos was keen to promote Helen, one of the numerous articles on her that he wrote said of Helen that “she is a phenomenon”. These articles led to a wave of publicity about Helen with pictures of her reading Shakespeare or stroking her dog appearing in national newspapers. Helen had become famous, and as well as again visiting Alexander Graham Bell, she visited President Cleveland at the White House. By 1890 she was living at the Perkins Institute and being taught by Anne. In March of that year Helen met Mary Swift Lamson who over the coming year was to try and teach Helen to speak. This was something that Helen desperately wanted and although she learned to understand what somebody else was saying by touching their lips and throat, her efforts to speak herself proved at this stage to be unsuccessful. This was later attributed to the fact that Helen’s vocal chords were not properly trained prior to her being taught to speak. The Frost King However, it was soon discovered that Helen’s story was the same as one called “The Frost Fairies” by Margaret Canby. This was ultimately to be the end of Helen and Anne’s friendship with Michael Anagnos. He felt he had been made to appear foolish by what he considered to be Helen’s deception. There had to be an investigation and it was discovered that Helen had previously been read the story some years before and had obviously remembered it. Helen always claimed not to recall the original story and it should always be remembered that Helen was still only 11 years old, however, this incident created a rift that would never heal between Helen, Anne and Anagnos. It also created great doubt in Helen’s own mind as to whether any of her thoughts were truly her own. In 1894 Helen and Anne met John D Wright and Dr Thomas Humason who were planning to set up a school to teach speech to the deaf in New York City. Helen and Anne were very excited by this and the assurances of the two men that Helen’s speech could be improved excited them further. Helen thus agreed to attend the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf. Unfortunately though, Helen’s speech never really improved beyond the sounds that only Anne and others very close to her could understand. Helen enters Radcliffe College Life at Radcliffe was very difficult for Helen and Anne, and the huge amount of work involved led to deterioration in Anne’s eyesight. During their time at the College Helen began to write about her life. She would write the story both in braille and on a normal typewriter. It was at this time that Helen and Anne met with John Albert Macy who was to help edit Helen’s first book “The Story of My Life” which was published in 1903 and although it sold poorly at first it has since become a classic. On 28 June 1904 Helen graduated from Radcliffe College, becoming the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. John Macy became good friends with Helen and Anne, and in May 1905 John and Anne were married. Anne’s name now changed to Anne Sullivan Macy. The three lived together in Wrentham, Massachusetts, and during this time Helen wrote “The World I Live In”, revealing for the first time her thoughts on her world. It was also during this time that John Macy introduced her to a new and revolutionary way of viewing the world. And in 1909 Helen became a member of the Socialist Party of Massachusetts. In 1913 “Out of the Dark” was published. This was a series of essays on socialism and its impact on Helen’s public image was immense. Everyone now knew Helen’s political views. Helen tours the World Although Helen and Anne made a good living from their lectures, by 1918 the demand for Helen’s lectures had diminished and they were touring with a more light-hearted vaudeville show, which demonstrated Helen’s first understanding of the word “water”. These shows were hugely successful from the very first performance, a review of which read as follows: “Helen Keller has conquered again, and the Monday afternoon audience at the Palace, one of the most critical and cynical in the World, was hers.” At this time they were also offered the chance to make a film in Hollywood and they jumped at the opportunity. “Deliverance”, the story of Helen’s life, was made. Helen was, however, unhappy with the glamorous nature of the film and it unfortunately did not prove to be the financial success that they had hoped for. The vaudeville appearances continued with Helen answering a wide range of questions on her life and her politics and Anne translating Helen’s answers for the enthralled audience. They were earning up to two thousand dollars a week, which was a considerable sum of money at the time. In 1918 Helen, Anne and John moved to Forest Hills in New York. Helen used their new home as a base for her extensive fundraising tours for the American Foundation for the Blind. She not only collected money, but also campaigned tirelessly to alleviate the living and working conditions of blind people, who at that time were usually badly educated and living in asylums. Her endeavours were a major factor in changing these conditions. Helen’s mother Kate died in 1921 from an unknown illness, and this left Anne as the sole constant in Helen’s life. However that same year Anne fell ill again and this was followed in 1922 by a severe bout of bronchitis which left her unable to speak above a whisper and thus unable to work with Helen on stage anymore. At this point Polly Thomson, who had started working for Helen and Anne in 1914 as a secretary, took on the role of explaining Helen to the theatre going public. They also spent a lot of time touring the world raising money for blind people. In 1931 they met King George and Queen Mary at Buckingham Palace, who were said to be deeply impressed by Helen’s ability to understand what people said through touch. All the while Anne’s health was getting worse, and with the news of the death of John Macy in 1932, although their marriage had broken up some years before, her spirit was finally broken. She died on 20 October 1936. When Anne died, Helen and Polly moved to Arcan Ridge, in Westport, Connecticut, which would be Helen’s home for the rest of her life. After World War II, Helen and Polly spent years travelling the world fundraising for the American Foundation for the Overseas Blind. They visited Japan, Australia, South America, Europe and Africa. Whilst away during this time Helen and Polly learnt of the fire that destroyed their home at Arcan Ridge. Although the house would be rebuilt, as well as the many mementoes that Helen and Polly lost, also destroyed was the latest book that Helen had been working on about Anne Sullivan, called “Teacher”. It was also during this time that Polly Thomson’s health began to deteriorate and whilst in Japan she had a mild stroke. Doctors advised Polly to stop the continuous touring she and Helen did, and although initially they slowed down a bit, the touring continued once Polly had recovered. In 1953 a documentary film “The Unconquered” was made about Helen’s life, this was to win an Academy Award as the best feature length documentary .It was at the same time that Helen began work again on her book “Teacher”, some seven years after the original had been destroyed. The book was finally published in 1955. Polly Thomson had a stroke in 1957, she was never to fully recover and died on March 21, 1960. Her ashes were deposited at the National Cathedral in Washington DC next to those of Anne Sullivan. It was the nurse who had been brought in to care for Polly in her last years, Winnie Corbally, who was to take care of Helen in her remaining years. The Miracle Worker In 1959 it was re-written as a Broadway play and opened to rave reviews. It became a smash hit and ran for almost two years. In 1962 it was made into a film and the actresses playing Anne and Helen both received Oscars for their performances. Helen retires from public life Her last years were not however without excitement, and in 1964 Helen was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, by President Lyndon Johnson. A year later she was elected to the Women’s Hall of Fame at the New York World’s Fair. On June 1, 1968, at Arcan Ridge, Helen Keller died peacefully in her sleep. Helen was cremated in Bridgeport, Connecticut and a funeral service was held at the National Cathedral in Washington DC where the urn containing her ashes would later be deposited next to those of Anne Sullivan and Polly Thomson. Helen’s legacy “Helen Keller and her beloved companion Anne Sullivan Macy are interred in the columbarium behind this chapel.” So many people have visited the chapel, and touched the braille dots, that the plaque has already had to be replaced twice. If Helen Keller were born today her life would undoubtedly have been completely different. Her life long dream was to be able to talk, something that she was never really able to master. Today the teaching methods exist that would have helped Helen to realise this dream. What would Helen have made of the technology available today to blind and deafblind individuals? Technology that enables blind and deafblind people, like Helen, to communicate directly, and independently, with anybody in the world. Helen Keller may not have been directly responsible for the development of these technologies and teaching methods. But with the help of Anne Sullivan, through her writings, lectures and the way she lived her life, she has shown millions of people that disability need not be the end of the world. In Helen’s own words: “The public must learn that the blind man is neither genius nor a freak nor an idiot. He has a mind that can be educated, a hand which can be trained, ambitions which it is right for him to strive to realise, and it is the duty of the public to help him make the best of himself so that he can win light through work.” |
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Helen Adams Keller was born on 27 June 1880 in Tuscumbia, a small rural town in Northwest Alabama, USA. The daughter of Captain Arthur Henley Keller and Kate Adams Keller she was born with full sight and hearing.
