Goethe   Germany : Pillar of German literature and culture Born : 1749        Died : 1832 Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, the towering pillar of German language and literature, was a committed writer besides orienting himself to be an artist, scientist and philosopher. Goethe’s life and thoughts were influenced by French, English and Sanskrit literature as also Greek and Roman civilizations. His philosophy was direct outcome of all these influences and...

James Hadley Chaise   Britain : Popular detective writer Born : 1906                 Died : 1985 James Hadley Chaise remains a very popular novelist amongst the young people for his romantic and detective novels. He was rather succeeded in capturing their imagination and created for himself a committed band of readers. His popularity can be gauged from by the fact that twenty million copies of his novels have been sold all...

Dalai Lama   Tibet : Spiritual Head Born : 1935 Dalai Lama has been the traditional spiritual and religious ruler of Tibet which is considered as the roof of the world. Tibetans are basically Buddhists with a penchant for peace and steeped in religion. The present Dalai Lama is the fourteenth spiritual head in the series of Lamas who held this position. His real name is Tenjin Gyatso. He was born...

Maria Montessori    Italy : Founder of a new educational system Born : 1870        Died : 1952 You must have come across Montessori schools for small children. They carry the name of Dr. Maria Montessori, who propounded a new and innovative method for teaching children. She believed that education should be such that it is attractive as well as interesting for child aspirants. In this method, the children are allowed...

Andrey D. Sakharov   Soviet Union: Critic of Soviet system Born : 1921 Died : 1989 Sakharov was a top scientist in the Soviet Union who made significant 13 contributions to Physics and Space Science. He is the inventor of Hydrogen Bomb that placed Russia in a strong position vis-a-vis western powers. Andrey D. Sakharov was born in Moscow on May 21, 1921. His father was in the army and his...

Benjamin Franklin   America : Philosopher, journalist and diplomat Born : 1706        Died : 1790 Benjamin was a man of many talents. As a scientist he is compared to all time greats like Einstein and Edison. He conducted a lot of scientific investigations and invented many things that proved very useful in humanity’s march towards progress. In 1752, he conducted an experiment with a kite and found out the electric...

Niepce   France : Inventor of photography Born : 1765     Died : 1833 You must be aware of the tremendous progress made by photography in the recent years. First, we had Polaroid cameras, with which you could have prints in minutes, and then came fully automatic cameras that need no setting of focus, aperture or distance. You have to press the shutter only to get quality photographs. It was Niepce who...

Gunnar Myrdal   Sweden : Economic thinker Born : 1898        Died : 1987 The leading economic thinker of the twentieth century, Gunnar Myrdal (Karl) was born in Sweden in the year 1898. He was a very clear headed economist whose views many a time got clashed with established theories and norms. He worked in Stockholm University as a professor and propounded his economic ideas from time to time. It was...