Douglas McArthur   America : Fearless commander Born : 1880         Died : 1964 Douglas McArthur is one of the most honoured and decorated commanders of the American army. It was his strategy that made Japan surrender in 1945. He remained as a fine strategist along with all-time greats as Rommel, Goering, Yamashita and Cheshire. Douglas McArthur was born on January, 1880, at Little Rocks in America in a...

Aesop   Greece : The immortal story-teller Birth : 620 B.C.          Death : 560 B.C. The stories of this master story- teller have been translated into all the languages and are known for their interesting content and educative value. Aesop was supposed to be a slave. He has made fun of human foibles and weaknesses by using animals as the characters of his stories Most of them have a moral...

Bob Geldof   Ireland : Humanist and social worker Born : 1954 Bob Geldof shall ever be remembered for his humanism and desire to help the needy. There is a controversy regarding his date of birth. It is now generally accepted that he was born on October 5, 1954. His father was a vendor of clothes in Ireland. He lost his mother at an early age. Bob did not show much...

John Dryden   England : A great poet Barn : 1631        Died : 1700 John Dryden was one of the greatest English poets. He was one of the prominent writers of seventeenth century and the latter part of that century is called ‘the age of Dryden’. Dryden was born in Northamptonshire on August 9, 1631. He had his early education at Westminster school and then graduated from Cambridge University in...

Dante   Italy : Writer of immortal fame Born : 1265        Died : 1321   This prolific writer, who is considered equal in rank to such literary ‘giants as Goethe, Virgil, Shakespeare, Kalidas and Homers played a key role in the enrichment of Italian language and literature. Dante was born in Florence (Italy) in AD 1265. Dante studied Latin, Greek, science, music, philosophy and grammar. He once fought in a...

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...