Abraham Lincoln was the 16^th president of United States and also headed the country during the Civil War. He shall always be remembered for his efforts to abolish slavery and for his ability to rule a divided nation. The Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation and two other inaugural addresses made by Lincoln are considered to be the best speeches to be delivered by any American Leader.

Early Life

Abraham Lincoln was born on 12^th February, 1809 to Nancy and Thomas Lincoln. The family lived in Hardin County, Kentucky in a small log cabin of a farm. After two years, they moved into a farm of Knob Creek. Lincoln went to a school which was located two miles away from this farm and this is where he learnt the basics of writing, reading and mathematics.

In 1818, Abraham Lincoln lost his mother to a terrible disease called the “milk sickness”. The family started falling apart after the death of Nancy Lincoln and hence Abraham as well as his sister had to share much of the workload. His father later got married to Sarah Bush Johnson, who moved into the family with her three children. The family moved on to several places for better opportunities, however once Abraham grew up, he moved to New Salem and was later in charge of a store and a mill.

Public Life

While working at the mill, he soon grew popular amongst the masses and people came to him to enjoy his stories. Abraham soon became popular for his  little speeches and he was welcomed by the New Salem Debating Society. During the Black Hawk War, between hostile Native Americans and United States, Lincoln was elected as the captain of the region by the volunteers.

Lincoln announced himself as the candidate for the Illinois Legislature, soon after the war. Although he lost the election, he received about 277 votes out of 300, in the precinct of New Salem. He made another attempt in 1834 and was then elected at the Legislature. Most politicians during that time were impressed by the campaign skills used by Lincoln. He served four years in the Legislature and then became the party leader. After reading several law books, he started practicing law by September 1836. He was married to Mary Todd on 2^nd November, 1842.

The 16^th President

The Republican National Convention, in 1960, chose Abraham Lincoln as their candidate to fight presidency elections. With a recent formation of the Democratic party and the Constitutional Union Party, it was certain that Lincoln was to participate in the election. After Lincoln was elected, several parts of the country reacted harshly on the president’s stand on slavery. His tenure as a President was faced with early failures and he had to withstand the occurrence of the Civil War. Lincoln was elected again in 1864 and after the Confederate Army ended the Civil War, John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln while he was addressing the crowd in Ford Theatre in Washington. Abraham Lincoln died on 15^th April, 1965, the day after he was shot. Although the reasons behind his assassination are still unknown, he has managed to build a prominent place for himself in American history.

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is considered to be one of the finest players in the Indian Cricket Team. In addition, he is regarded as one of the greatest batsman of all times. Wisden, the renowned magazine for Cricket, ranked him as the second greatest Test Cricket Batsman, right after Sir Donald Bradman in 2002. After Viv Richards, the magazine also ranked him as the second greatest batsman for One Day International (ODI).

Early Life

Sachin Tendulkar was born in Mumbai, India on 24^th April, 1973. His father, Ramesh Tendulkar, was a Marathi novelist. His elder brother, Ajit Tendulkar, encouraged him to play cricket. While studying at Sharadashram Vidya Mandir, Sachin started playing cricket at a very early age. Under the strict guidance of his coach named Ramakant Achrekar, Sachin mastered the basics of this game. Later on, he showed his prowess in the game and was selected in the Indian team along with his school mate Vinod Kambli.

International Debut

In 1989, Sachin Tendulkar made his first Test cricket appearance in a match against Pakistan in Karachi. In the same match, another player from Pakistan made his debut, called Waqar Younis. Sachin scored 15 runs in the match and was soon bowled out by Younis. On 18^th December, 1989, he made his first ODI appearance against Pakistan at Gujranwala. He could not score a run in this match and was caught by Wasim Akram after facing a Waqar Younis ball.

Accolades

Sachin Tendulkar is known as the “Little Master” by his contemporaries. The leg spinner from Australia, Shane Warne, addressed Sachin as one of the greatest players of all times. In addition, Sachin is the only one from the current generation of players, who made it to the dream team formed by Sir Donald Bradman. At the moment, Sachin Tendulkar is credited with scoring the highest number of runs in ODI and Test Cricket. Also, he has scored the highest number of centuries in both forms of cricket. He happens to be the first player to score more than 10000 runs in ODI cricket. For his services to India in the field of sports, he is awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and the Padma Vibhushan Award.

Sachin Tendulkar has shown some of his best batting performances against Australia, supposedly the best team in the world. He scored his first test century at the age of 17 and he had scored 16 centuries by the time he was 25 years old. He surpassed Brian Lara and emerged as the biggest Test scorer in 2008.

Captaincy

Sachin Tendulkar was appointed as the Captain of the Indian Cricket Team, twice in his international career; however none of the trials turned out to be successful enough. In addition, the pressure of captaincy suppressed his skills as a batsman.

For many, Sachin Tendulkar is a true gentleman and a brand amabassador of Cricket. And such is the humbleness and grace of Sachin Tendulkar, that many people do worship him as a God of Cricket! Sachin Tendulkar has the maximum records in Cricket history including “Most runs in a single inning (ODI)” and Highest Total runs both in ODI and Test Matches. He also has number of centuries in both formats of game!

English writer, director and actor, Charlie Chaplin happened to be one of the most unique creators in the history of cinema. His performances often reflect the sympathetic comic character with a moustache and ill-fitting clothes. He was recognized and applauded all over the globe.

Childhood

Charlie Chaplin was born as Charles Spencer Chaplin on 16^th April, 1889, in a small district of London, England. His father’s name was Charles Spencer Chaplin Sr and was an accomplished singer until he started drinking whereas his mother’s name was Hannah Chaplin, which was a talented piano player, a singer and an actress. His mother spent most of his years in and out of the mental hospitals. Once his parents separated, Charlie spent his time with his half-brother Sidney, who was forced to move into orphanages. They often slept hungry here and were beaten up if they were found misbehaving.

Charlie left school and went out on a tour with a small group of comedy entertainers. He could barely read or write. He was seen starring in small comedy acts later on. At the age of 19, he turned out to be one of the renowned music-hall performers in London.

Journey to United States

Charlie Chaplin went to United States in 1910 and was chosen by Mack Sennet, a successful filmmaker, to appear in silent comedy acts of Keystone. After his early movies such as “Tillie’s Punctured Romance” and “Making a Living”, Charlie decided to change his acting style. He refused to overact and got precisely delicate with his comic movements. This is when he created the role of a “tramp”.

He appeared in more than 30 short films for Sennet, however he realized that the speed at which he was working, eventually held back his personal talent. He later quit working with Sennet and moved on to Essanay Studios. A few of his notable films during this period were “The Tramp”, “His New Job”, and “The Champion”, recognized for their sympathetic and comic moments. However the films shot in 1917, as a part of the Mutual Company, such as “The Immigrant”, “The Pilgrim”, “Easy Street” and “The Cure” portrayed sharp humor. Charlie Chaplin built his personal studio and penned down a million-dollar contract to produce silent-screen classics with National Films. The films made here touched some of the sensitive issues pertaining to slum life and life after the World War.

After a series of successful films, Charlie Chaplin was caught in a controversy, based on his political views about United States and its people. He was highly criticized for his behavior and was later caught in another controversy about his personal life. A woman claimed him to be a father of her child, however Charlie won the case and it was proved that he was not the father of her child.

In 1970s, Chaplin was recognized for his contribution to films and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of England as “Sir Charlie Chaplin”. Two years after this honor, Charlie Chaplin died in his sleep on 25^th December 1977, in Vevey, Switzerland.

Pele is one of the greatest soccer players ever. In his career, he has scored over 1200 goals, including several World Club, World Cup Championships and has covered 1360 games. This automatically translates to one goal per game.

Early Life

Pele was born as Edson Arantes do Nascimento on  23rd of October 1940. He happens to be the son of Dondinho (a Fluminense footballer) and his mother was Maria Celeste Arantes. His parents named him after Thomas Edison, the American inventor, however in order to create a unique name; his parents removed the “I” from the name and called him ‘Edson’. As the reports suggest, there seems to be a mistake on his documents, including the birth certificate and shows his name as “Edison”. His family originally nicknamed him as “Dico”. He received the name “Pele” only once he reached school, where the name was given to him according to the way he pronounced the name of his favourite player, Bilé. If we were to read his autobiography, Pele says that he had no idea how he got the name or what it meant. The only thing he knew that it was Hebrew for miracle and the word seemed to have no meaning in Portuguese.

Pele was brought up in Bauru, São Paulo and lived his life in poverty. He made some extra money while working as a servant in various tea shops. As a child, he could not afford proper football and was found playing with a sock filled with newspaper or a grapefruit tied with a string. When he turned 15, he later joined the junior team of Santos FC. Prior to joining the senior team, he played in the junior club for one season.

While his time at Santos, Pele got an opportunity to play along some of the gifted players of the time including Coutinho, Pepe and Zito. On 7th September 1956, Pelé made his debut for the Santos team and scored one goal against Corinthians. In the season of 1957, he was selected in a starting place and then he became the top scorer in the league, at the age of 16.

Personal Life

In 1966, Pele was married to Rosemarie Cholby, however they ended up being divorced in 1978. He later married a psychologist called Assiria Seixas Lemos. He had three children out of his first marriage.

Soccer Career
On July 7, 1957, Pele was asked to be a part of the national team of Brazil. He played his first international match against Argentina, in which he scored the first ever goal for his country. He then played his first international match against USSR in the World Cup of 1958. Pele happened to be the youngest player of the tournament and scored his first goal in the quarter finals against Wales. This was the deciding goal of the match, which took Brazil into the semi-finals. At just 17 years, Pele became the youngest player to score a World Cup goal on June 19, 1958. One of the goals that he scored in this World Cup is still considered to be one of the best goals in the history of soccer.

While Pele was still in the team, Brazil won three World Cups championships of 1962, 1966 as well as 1970. As soon as the 1962 World Cup ended, a few of the wealthiest European clubs wanted to sign Pele; however Brazil then declared him as the “national treasure” of the country.

On November 19th, 1969, pele scored the 1000th goal, which is now known as the “O Milesimo”. According to him, the goal that he scored against Sao Paulo at the Rua Javari stadium in 1959 happens to be the greatest goal of his life. Pele scored a “gol de placa” in March 1961. This goal was so impressive that it is still being remembered as the most beautiful goal. As far as the history is concerned, one of the most significant moments were when the Nigerian Civil War declared a ceasefire for 48 hours, just to watch Pele in an exhibition match.

On July 18th, 1971, Pele played his final international match in Rio de Janeiro against Yugoslavia.

After Soccer

Jose Alves de Araujo, a long time friend of Pele owns a company called Prime Licensing. This company is responsible for maintaining Pele’s brand along with his existing contracts including Pele L’uomo, Puma AG, Fremantle Media, Pelestation, QVC along with Pele Arena coffee places. Pele is active with his ambassadorial work for several organisations across the world. He was appointed as the UN ambassador for environment and ecology, in the year 1992. He was appointed as “Extraordinary Minister for Sport” in 1995 and was also the recipient of the Brazil’s Gold Medal. Later on he also served as the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. He took active steps to eliminate corruption within the Brazil football that was later referred to as the “Pele Law”. In 1997, he was honoured as the “knight” in the British Empire.

He has worked on several autobiographies, documentaries and semi-documentaries, along with a few musicals. Pelé was brought in as the Honorary President on August 1st, 2010 to revive the team “New York Cosmos”, so as to prepare them for the Major League Soccer.

Albert Einstein was a philosopher, a theoretical physicist and an author who is considered as one of the best and the most influential scientists of all times. He is also called the ‘Father of Modern Physics’. He incepted the relativity theory and made significant contributions to the growth of quantum mechanics, cosmology and statistical mechanics. He was awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize in 1921 for his discovery of the laws of photoelectric effect and his overall contribution to theoretical physics.

Albert Einstein has published more than 150 non-scientific and 300 scientific works. In addition, he has profusely commented on several political and philosophical subjects. His innovative approach to science and great intelligence has earned him the reputation of a ‘genius’.

Early Life and Education

Albert Einstein was born on 14th March, 1879 in Ulm, a part of the German Empire. His father, Hermann Einstein, was an engineer and a salesman, whereas his mother Pauline Einstein was a housewife. The family moved to Munich in the year 1880, where his father started a company called ‘Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie’ along with his uncle. This company manufactured electrical equipments running on direct current.

Einstein belonged to the family of Jews and he attended a Catholic school from the age of 5. Even with suffering from speech difficulties, Einstein was a topper in elementary school. While growing up, Einstein built different models and mechanical devices for amusement. He also started showing a natural talent for mathematics in school. At the age of 10, he was introduced to a poor Jewish medical student called Max Talmud in the year 1889. He introduced Einstein to mathematics, philosophy and some important texts in science. His father’s company failed in 1894 and the family moved to Italy in search of a newer business.

Einstein stayed back in Munich to complete his studies at Luitpold Gymnasium. His parents wanted him to pursue a career in electrical engineering but Einstein protested against the teaching methods at school and moved back to Italy with his parents. During this time, he wrote his first scientific investigative study on ‘Aether in Magnetic Fields’.

Later on, he applied directly to ETH (Eidgenössische Polytechnische Schule) in Zurich; however he lacked the pre-requisites for the program. He was required to give the entrance test where he failed even while scoring exceptional marks in physics and mathematics. His family sent him to Aarau to complete secondary school. He stayed with Professor Jost Winteler and his family. He studied about the Maxwell’s theory of electromagnetic waves. He graduated at the age of 17 and renounced his citizenship with the German Empire, so as to avoid the service in military. In 1896, Einstein enrolled for a program in physics and mathematics at a Polytechnic in Zurich and graduated in 1900.

Marriages & Family

Albert Einstein met his future wife Mileva Maric during his course at the Polytechnic in Zurich. The couple got married in January 1903 and they had two sons called Hans and Eduard. In 1914, Einstein moved to Berlin whereas his wife remained in Zurich with the sons. After living apart for five years, they divorced on 14th February, 1919. Meanwhile, Einstein had a relationship with Elsa Lowenthal since 1912. They got married on 2nd June 1919 and moved to United States. Elsa was diagnosed of serious kidney and heart problems in 1935, and she later died in December 1936.

Academic Career

Einstein wrote a paper on ‘capillary forces’ of a straw in 1901, which was published in the reputed ‘Annalen der Physik’. In 1903, he acquired a full time job as an examiner at the Swiss Patent Office. He completed his thesis on 30th April 1905 along with his professor of Experimental Physics called ‘Alfred Kleiner’. University of Zurich awarded Einstein a PhD after the completion of his dissertation on different molecular dimensions. 1905 has been a ‘miracle year’ in the life of Einstein since he published four revolutionary papers on the laws of photoelectric effect, special relativity, Brownian motion and the equivalence of energy and matter. These papers brought him a lot of recognition as far as the academic world was concerned. One of these papers on photoelectric effect also brought him the Nobel Prize in 1921.

By the year 1908, he was recognised as one of the leading scientist and was later appointed as a professor at the University of Bern. The subsequent year, he quit lectureship as well as the patent office and took up a position as a lecturer in University of Zurich. In 1911, he became a full professor at the University in Prague called Karl-Ferdinand. He was appointed as a director of the ‘Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics’ and moved back to Germany in 1914. He became the president of the ‘German Physical Society’ in 1916.

Based on his theory about general relativity, Albert Einstein had calculated that light emitted by other stars would be bent due to the gravitational force of Sun. After these calculations in 1911, Sir Arthur Eddington confirmed these observations during a solar-eclipse expedition of May 1919. Einstein became world famous after the international media reported these studies. However much later, numerous questions were raised about the accuracy of these calculations. Relativity was considered to be one of the most controversial topics of those times and hence the Nobel Prize was awarded to him for his explanation of the photoelectric laws. In addition, he was also awarded the Copley Medal in 1925, a prestigious honour from the Royal Society.

Death

Albert Einstein suffered from internal bleeding due to the rupture of the abdominal aortic aneurysm in 1948. However this was surgically reinforced by Dr. Rudolph Nissen. He experienced the same bleeding again on 17th April 1955. Einstein did not believe in surgery since he did not believe in artificial extension of life. He died at the age of 76 on the same day itself, while he was hospitalized at the Princeton Hospital. His remains were cremated but his ashes were sprinkled all around the grounds of Institute of Advanced Studies. While performing the autopsy, Thomas Stoltz Harvey, the pathologist in the Princeton Hospital removed Albert Einstein’s brain without informing his family, so that neuroscience would be able to find something that made the scientist this intelligent.