Amazing People

[Gail]

In this thread I'd like for us to share about what amazing people we have heard about.

I would like to start with Ruby Bridges.

Ruby was the little black American girl who was the first to attend a integrated public school. She lived in New Orleans.

Her courageous story is here: Ruby's story

(click on "Story")

[Woody]

Thanks Gail. This is a great idea for a thread. I will look forward to reading this.

[SivartM]

Mary Jones

http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/about-bible-society/history/mary-jones/

[Woody]

Good One SivartM

[Gail]

Ah, yes! Mary Jones and her Welsh Bible! Nice!

[phkrause]

Should be a great thread to read and hopefully contribute too.

pk

[Gail]

George Washington Carver

Reading this man's story never ceases to amaze me. From his humble beginnings on a plantation he gained education and saved the deep South from economic collapse by telling its farmers they needed to rotate their crops instead of trying to grow cotton year after year. He invented 300 uses for peanuts alone and also discovered uses for soybeans, thereby making them marketable.

You can read his biography here:

George Washington Carver

[Woody]

It says he invented instant coffee. I still think Folgers was no wimp.

[Gail]

The above-mentined biography mentions this:

Quote:

Carver did not patent or profit from most of his products. He freely gave his discoveries to mankind. Most important was the fact that he changed the South from being a one-crop land of cotton, to being multi-crop farmlands, with farmers having hundreds of profitable uses for their new crops. "God gave them to me" he would say about his ideas, "How can I sell them to someone else?" In 1940, Carver donated his life savings to the establishment of the Carver Research Foundation at Tuskegee, for continuing research in agriculture.

[Gail]

Here are some cool quotes from Carver:

Quote:

•The primary idea in all of my work was to help the farmer and fill the poor man's empty dinner pail.. My idea is to help the 'man farthest down', this is why I have made every process just as simply as I could to put it within his reach.

and

Quote:

•How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.

[nuff sed]

Does anyone remember Luther Burbank, The Plant Magician?

http://www.invent.org/Hall_Of_Fame/21.html

[Gail]

Thanks, Gladussee, for the addition! I'd love to read about more amazing people! I love reading biographies!

[nuff sed]

If you stick to Luther Burbank for his agricultural accomplishments you will be OK...There was a book, "Luther Burbank, Plant Magician" written in the 40's I remember as a kid. He did, however, call himself "an Infidel' and a "Free Thinker" .

[nuff sed]

http://www.ffrf.org/fttoday/back/burbankbio.html

[Gail]

Phineas Gage:

He was a most amazing person in that he suffered a traumatic brain injury. In an explosion a metal rod shot through his head and landed 80' away. His incredible story of survival provided much information for studies in neurology and psychology.

This article provides the only daguerreotype picture of Mr. Gage:

The man who survived a massive brain injury

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Phineas Gage:

He was a most amazing person in that he suffered a traumatic brain injury. In an explosion a metal rod shot through his head and landed 80' away. His incredible story of survival provided much information for studies in neurology and psychology.

This article provides the only daguerreotype picture of Mr. Gage:

The man who survived a massive brain injury

Pretty gross injury! Amazing that Mr. Gage survived..

[phkrause]

Jesus, the most influencial person ever to walk the earth.

pk

[Gail]

Ah, yes! What part of Jesus' life do you find especially amazing, pk?

[phkrause]

Every aspect Gail, I don't find one thing that he did, said, etc. that wasn't amazing in one way or the other. I think his compassion towards all really sticks out. Be it one of his disciples or the woman in the synagogue that gave all she had. He never failed to recognize all peoples of all levels and walks of life. And also the way he treated woman, especially in that time of history, not that there weren't other times just as bad but he did not shy away from being a christian (hence I imagine where we got that word )

pk

[nuff sed]

Louis Pasteur, Sr. Kenny, Eva Curie

[Gail]

Gladussee, when you add a name could you include some quick note about the person you mentioning so that we could have a clue as to why they are considered amazing? That would be awesome!

[Gail]

Exploreres seem to stretch the envelope when it comes to adventure.

How about Sir Ernest Shackleton?

This big-talkin' English explorer made an ill-fated expedition to the Antarctic which met upon disaster. He rallied the men against incredible odds to rescue. The great thing about this story is that there are many photographs of the ship and materials the men used to help them survive.

Shackleton and the Endurance

[Nan]

I think I remember a story about the Shackleton saga in

Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories. Or am I hallucinating? I have

a much more recent book with photos, quite awe-inspiring that

those guys survived that winter.

[GreatLakesGramma]

The most amazing thing about the Shackleton expedition is that every crew member survived.

I also have a book about it, Endurance, by Alfred Lansing. What a story! He was truly a hero. He would not give up until all his men were rescued.

[nuff sed]

Gladussee, when you add a name could you include some quick note about the person you mentioning so that we could have a clue as to why they are considered amazing? That would be awesome!

That's what Google is for................