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Discover the life of Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who was forced into hiding during World War II, in our Anne Frank facts...
All people should be treated equally, right? Well, sadly, throughout history, there have been many people who have been treated differently because of where they come from, what religion they follow, or whether they're a boy or a girl. And sometimes, this still happens today!

Thankfully, the incredible stories that people leave behind can be used to educate and inspire people to be kinder to one another, no matter their background. One such story, is that of Anne Frank...

Anne Frank facts
Anne Frank in 1942, Photo Collection Anne Frank House
Full name: Annelies Marie Frank

Born: 12 June 1929

Hometown: Frankfurt, Germany

Occupation: Jewish diarist

Died: February 1945

Best known for: Her diary entries during World War II

Also known as: Anne Frank

Who was Anne Frank?

Anne Frank was born in Germany in 1929 during a time when the country was troubled. Many people had lost their jobs and were becoming poorer and Adolf Hitler - the leader of the Nazi* party - was blaming Jews* for Germany's problems.

Afraid for their safety, Anne's parents moved the family to Holland when Anne was just four years old. Anne lived and went to school in Amsterdam, and had to learn Dutch. She made lots of friends, and spent her free time reading and playing table tennis.

But when World War II broke out, life for Anne and her family became much harder. The Nazis imposed strict rules on Jews, restricting the places they could visit, the shops they could use and even the schools they went to. Anne's father lost his company, as Jewish people were no longer allowed to run their own businesses.

Anne Frank's house

In 1942, the Nazis wanted to take Anne's elder sister, Margot, to Germany, but her family refused to be separated and went into hiding. Anne's father had spent several months preparing a hiding place, in the backhouse of his company at Prinsengracht 263. Anne later named it the ' Secret Annex'.

The Secret Annex was above the warehouse. The entrance to the Annex was later hidden behind a bookcase. Anne's father, Otto Frank, enlisted help from four of his employees who worked at the office and who became known as ' the helpers ' - Miep Gies, Bep Voskuijl, Johannes Kleiman and Victor Krugler. The helpers brought the family food, clothing and other supplies while they were in hiding. The people working in the warehouse didn't know about the people in hiding, except for Johannes Voskuijl, Bep's father, who made the book case.

The Franks were the first family to move into the Secret Annex. Soon after, another family moved in - Hermann and Auguste van Pels, and their son Peter. Later followed by Fritz Pfeffer.

The diary of Anne Frank
Anne Frank's first, red chequered diary. Photo Collection Anne Frank House.
On her 13th birthday, Anne was given a diary. She loved writing and dreamed of becoming a famous writer one day. She named her diary, Kitty.

Anne would write about everyday events in her diary; things that probably didn't seem that important at the time, but that have helped us form a picture of what life was like during this incredibly difficult time in history.

She wrote about what she ate, the film stars that she admired, the books she read, and the arguments she would have with her mother. She also wrote about being in hiding, the fears and difficulties, and how she longed to go outside.

"Footsteps in the house, the private office, the kitchen, then... on the staircase. All sounds of breathing stopped, eight hearts pounded... Then we heard a can fall, and the footsteps receded. We were out of danger, so far!"

- An extract from Anne's diary
When in hiding, the Franks, the van Pels and Fritz Pfeffer had to be incredibly careful to ensure they weren't discovered. For example, they weren't allowed to flush the toilet during the day in case the warehouse workers heard them, and Anne was only rarely allowed to open a window. She could never go outside, either.

How did Anne Frank die?

On 4th August 1944, the Nazis raided the Prinsengracht 263 and found the hiding place. They took the 8 people in hiding to Westerbork - a camp that held Jewish people and others captive - in Holland. A month later, they were sent to Auschwitz, a larger concentration camp* in Poland. Men and women were separated. Eventually, Anne and her sister Margot were separated from their mother and sent to another concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, on a crowded train.

Conditions at the camp were extremely poor. It was cold and wet, there was little food to eat and disease was common. Anne and Margot both died at the camp in February 1945 - just a few months before the end of World War II. It is believed that they died of a disease called typhus.

Anne and Margot's mother, Edith, also died at Auschwitz. Their father Otto was the only survivor of the eight people in hiding in the Secret Annex.

Anne Frank's story

Anne's diary was saved by one of the helpers, Miep. When Anne's father Otto - the only surviving member of the Frank family - returned to Amsterdam at the end of the war, he received his daughter's diary from Miep, at the day he heard that Anne and Margot died in Bergen-Belsen. He started to read Anne's diary and published it, making Anne's dream of becoming a writer a reality. The diary was published in 1947, titled: The Secret Annex.

Since its publication, Anne Frank's diary has sold millions of copies around the world and has been translated into more than 70 languages. It remains an important account of the treatment that Jewish people suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Otto hoped that his daughter's diary would educate readers on the dangers of hatred against others, prejudice and discrimination.

In 1960, with the help of Otto, the former hiding place opened its doors as a museum, named the Anne Frank House. Each year, it is visited by more than 1.2 million people from around the world, wanting to learn more about Anne Frank's life story.

*The Jews are people born into a Jewish family or practice the religion of Judaism.

*The Nazis were a group of people who followed the ideas of a German leader named Adolf Hitler.

*Concentration camps were places where Nazis held Jews and others. Many people lost their lives in camps due to the harsh treatment they faced, like being forced to work, and the lack of food, space and healthcare. Auschwitz, the largest concentration camp complex was based in Poland.

What did you think of our Anne Frank facts? Leave a comment below and let us know!

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Anne Frank facts - National Geographic Kids

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Discover the life of a Jewish family in hiding during World War II, in our Anne Frank facts. Who was Anne Frank? What did Anne write in her diary during World War II?

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Discover the remarkable life and work of Nelson Mandela - who helped change the lives of millions of South African people - in our Nelson Mandela facts...
Throughout history, lots of people around the world have faced discrimination - where they are treated differently because of their race, skin colour, gender, age and lots of other things, too.

Sadly, it still happens to this day! But there are some amazing people who have worked hard to make a change for the better, and helped us move towards a world where everyone is treated fairly and equally. One such person is Nelson Mandela ...

Nelson Mandela facts

Who was Nelson Mandela?

Full name: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
Born: 18 July 1918
Hometown: Mvezo, South Africa
Occupation: President of South Africa and civil rights activist
Died: 5 December 2013
Best known for: Becoming the first black President of South Africa and a civil rights hero
Also known as: Madiba

Nelson Mandela's early life

Nelson Mandela was born on the 18th July 1918 in the village of Mvezo, which is located in an area of South Africa called Transkei. His father's name was Henry, and his mother was called Nosekeni Fanny.

As a youngster, little Nelson was actually called Rolihlahla - it wasn't until he was seven that a teacher at school gave him the name ' Nelson ', and it stuck!

And check this out... Nelson was born into royalty! His father, Henry, was chief of a tribe in South Africa called the Tembu, and his great grandfather was the tribe's king! But sadly, Nelson was just twelve years old when his father died.

Nelson studied hard at school and later attended the University of Fort Hare, the South African Native College. He then moved to the city of Johannesburg to study law at the University of the Witwatersrand, before qualifying as a lawyer in 1942, aged 24.

Inequality in South Africa

South Africa is home to many different peoples and cultures - so much so that it's been nicknamed the ' rainbow nation'. But, sadly, at the time that Nelson Mandela was growing up, there was a huge racial divide in the country.

White people ran the country, and they generally led privileged lives with good jobs, nice homes and access to good schools and healthcare. Most black people, however, worked in low-paid jobs, and lived in poor communities with poor facilities. They had far fewer rights, too - they weren't even allowed to vote in elections!

Like many others, Nelson Mandela felt that everyone deserved to be treated the same, regardless of their skin colour. So, in 1944, he joined the African National Congress (ANC) - a political group that strived for equal rights for whites and blacks.

In 1948 the South African government introduced a system called ' apartheid', which furthered the country's racial divide even more. Under new racist laws, black people and white people were forced to lead separate lives. They weren't allowed to live in the same areas, share a table in a restaurant, attend the same schools or even sit together on a train or bus!

What did Nelson Mandela do?

Nelson Mandela became an important figure in the ANC, and he helped set up and lead a section for young people called the ANC Youth League. He later travelled the country to gain support for non-violent protests against the National Party's racist laws, too.

This activism made him very unpopular with the authorities, and Nelson was arrested for treason - the crime of betraying your country's government - several times.

While Nelson was under arrest in the late 1950s, the government banned anti-apartheid groups such as the ANC. But that didn't stop Nelson and his fellow activists - in fact, they felt more had to be done to bring about change.

So, even though they preferred using peaceful protests in their struggle for equality, in 1961 Nelson and other ANC leaders formed a secret military group called Umkhonto we Sizwe, or Spear of the Nation.

Why did Nelson Mandela go to prison?

Nelson knew he would be in big trouble if the authorities found out about the secret army and their plans, and so he kept a very low profile. He lived in hiding - and even dressed in disguise! But in August 1962, he was arrested on his return from a trip to Algeria in Northern Africa, and sentenced to five years in prison. From there, things only got worse for Nelson...

In 1963, the police raided a farm near the city of Johannesburg and found documents belonging to the secret army, as well as weapons. The result? Nelson and seven other men were charged for plotting to overthrow the government and given life sentences. Nelson would spend the next 27 years behind bars ...

Nelson was first sent to a prison on Robben Island, seven miles off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa's capital city. He was moved to Pretoria Local Prison to appear in court, then returned to the Island prison for nearly ten years. In 1982, Nelson was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison, and later in 1988, he moved for a final time to Victor Verster Prison near a town called Paarl.

Throughout his time behind bars, Nelson Mandela didn't give up on what he believed in. He even refused freedom on two occasions, and instead chose to stand by his principles. He used his time to learn new things, including Afrikaans - a language of South Africa spoken mostly by white people - which earned him respect from the guards he spoke to.

When was Nelson Mandela freed from prison?

Over time, Nelson Mandela became a famous prisoner, and there were calls all around the world to ' Free Nelson Mandela! '. For decades, countries around the world had put pressure on South Africa to end apartheid, but now the anti-apartheid movement had more support than ever.

Change for the better finally came in 1989. The president of South Africa, FW de Klerk, met with Nelson Mandela and in 1990 set him free!

In 1991, Nelson became President of the ANC and worked with FW de Klerk to bring an end to apartheid in a harmonious way, and introduce equal rights for everyone. Their work towards making South Africa a more peaceful place won the pair the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

Come the 1994 general election, all races in South Africa were allowed to vote. Nelson's hard work finally paid off - the ANC won, and Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first black president.

As President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela improved the living standards and facilities of South Africa's black population, who had suffered for decades under apartheid. He also worked hard to make South Africa a country of equality, where people of all race and colour could live together in peace.

In 1999, Nelson Mandela retired as President and his successor was called Mbeki. But whilst he left politics behind, he continued to be an important figure around the world as a symbol of peace and equality. The same year that he retired, he founded the Nelson Mandela Foundation, an organisation that works to this day to promote the principals of equality, freedom and peace.

When did Nelson Mandela die?

From 2004, he lived a quiet life with his wife Graça. Following a lung infection, Nelson Mandela sadly died in December 2013, aged 95 years old.

How is Nelson Mandela remembered?

Nelson Mandela's spirit and values are still very much alive to this day, and he will forever be remembered. He wrote a book called " Long Walk to Freedom", where people can read about the struggles he faced in his battle against discrimination and fight for equality. In 2009, Nelson's birthday, 18 July, was officially named ' Nelson Mandela Day '. Every year on this day, people around the world honour his legacy by helping their communities and making the world a better place.

Discover more inspirational figures who fought for equality by finding out all about Rosa Parks or reading our Martin Luther King facts.

What did you think of our Nelson Mandela facts? Let us know by leaving a comment, below!

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Nelson Mandela facts - National Geographic Kids

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Learn all about South Africa's first black president in our Nelson Mandela facts. His life story is extraordinary...

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NAME: Abraham Lincoln

NICKNAMES: Honest Abe, the Great Emancipator

BORN: February 12, 1809, near Hodgenville, Kentucky

DIED: April 15, 1865, in Washington, D.C.

TIME IN OFFICE: March 4, 1861, to April 15, 1865

VICE PRESIDENTS: Hannibal Hamlin (first term), Andrew Johnson (second term)

POLITICAL PARTY: Republican (formerly Whig)

EARLY LIFE

Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in Kentucky on February 12, 1809, to parents who could neither read nor write. He went to school on and off for a total of about a year, but he educated himself by reading borrowed books. When Lincoln was nine years old, his mother died. His father-a carpenter and farmer-remarried and moved his family farther west, eventually settling in Illinois.

As a young adult, Lincoln worked as a flatboat navigator, storekeeper, soldier, surveyor, and postmaster. At age 25 he was elected to the local government in Springfield, Illinois. Once there, he taught himself law, opened a law practice, and earned the nickname "Honest Abe."

He served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives but lost two U.S. Senate races. But the debates he had about the enslavement of people with his 1858 senatorial opponent, Stephen Douglas, helped him win the presidential nomination two years later. (Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery in the United States.) In the four-way presidential race of 1860, Lincoln got more votes than any other candidate.

A NATION DIVIDED

When Lincoln first took office in 1861, the United States was not truly united. The nation had been arguing for more than a hundred years about enslaving people and each state's right to allow it. Now Northerners and Southerners were close to war. When he became president, Lincoln allowed the enslavement of people to continue in southern states but he outlawed its spread to other existing states and states that might later join the Union.

Southern leaders didn't agree with this plan and decided to secede, or withdraw, from the nation. Eventually, 11 southern states formed the Confederate States of America to oppose the 23 northern states that remained in the Union. The Civil War officially began on April 12, 1861, at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, when troops from the Confederacy attacked the U.S. fort.

WARTIME PRESIDENCY

Lincoln's primary goal as president was to hold the country together. For a long time, it didn't look as if he would succeed. During the early years, the South was winning the war. It wasn't until the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania during July 1863 that the war turned in favor of the Union.

Through speeches such as the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln encouraged Northerners to keep fighting. In this famous dedication of the battlefield cemetery, he urged citizens to ensure "that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Earlier that same year Lincoln called for the end of the enslavement of people in his Emancipation Proclamation speech.

When the war was nearly over, Lincoln was re-elected in 1864. Civil War victory came on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Some 750,000 soldiers had died during the four-year conflict.

OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Seeing the Union successfully through the Civil War was Lincoln's greatest responsibility, but it wasn't his only triumph during his presidential years. Together with Congress, he established the Department of Agriculture; supported the development of a transcontinental railroad; enacted the Homestead Act, which opened up land to settlers; and crafted the 13th Amendment, which ended the enslavement of people.

TRAGIC FATE

Less than a week after people celebrated the end the Civil War, the country was mourning yet again. Lincoln became the first president to be assassinated when he was shot on April 14, 1865.

The night he was shot, he and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, were watching a play in Washington, D.C. The entrance to their box seats was poorly guarded, allowing actor John Wilkes Booth to enter. Booth hoped to revive the Confederate cause by killing Lincoln. He shot Lincoln in the back of the head, then fled the theater. He wasn't caught until two weeks later. He was shot during his eventual capture and died from his wounds.

The wounded and unconscious president was carried to a boardinghouse across the street, where he died the next morning, April 15, 1865. Lincoln's presidency was tragically cut short, but his contributions to the United States ensured that he would be remembered as one of its most influential presidents.
From the Nat Geo Kids books Our Country's Presidents by Ann Bausum and Weird But True Know-It-All: U.S. Presidents by Brianna Dumont, revised for digital by Avery Hurt

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Learn about the life and achievements of the 16th president of the United States.

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Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson (January 31, 1919 - October 24, 1972) was the first African-American Major League Baseball (MLB) player of modern times. Robinson broke the baseball color barrier, also called the color line, when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. He was the first black man to openly play in the major leagues since the 1880s. He had a big role in bringing racial segregation to an end in professional baseball. For sixty years until that point, African-Americans could only play in Negro leagues. Robinson's character and skills made people think about the usual basis of segregation. Robinson and his abilities added much to the civil rights movement.

Robinson had an overall good baseball career. Over ten seasons, he played in six World Series and helped in the Dodgers' 1955 World Championship. From 1949 to 1954, he was selected for all six All-Star Games. Robinson received the first MLB Rookie of the Year Award in 1947. He also won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949. He was the first black player to win this award. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. In 1997, Major League Baseball retired his uniform number, 42, across all major league teams.

Robinson was born on January 31, 1919. His middle name was in honor of former President Theodore Roosevelt, who died twenty-five days before Robinson was born.

In 1935, Robinson graduated from Washington Junior High School. He then entered Muir Tech (now called John Muir High School). Seeing that Robinson was good at sports, his older brothers inspired Jackie to follow his interest in them. At Muir Tech, Robinson played several sports at the varsity level.

Robinson lettered in four sports: football, basketball, track, and baseball. Jackie played shortstop and catcher on the baseball team, quarterback on the football team, and guard on the basketball team. With the track and field team, he won awards in the broad jump. He was also part of the tennis team.

In 1936, Robinson won the junior boys singles championship in the yearly Pacific Coast Negro Tennis Tournament. He also won a place on the Pomona baseball tournament all-star team. In late January 1937, the Pasadena Star-News newspaper wrote that Robinson "for two years has been the outstanding athlete at Muir, starring in football, basketball, track, baseball, and tennis."

After attending Muir, Robinson went to Pasadena Junior College (PJC). There he continued his sports career by playing basketball, football, baseball, and track. While playing football at PJC, Robinson fractured his ankle. Issues from this would later delay his deployment status while in the military. Despite his injury, Jackie Robinson was one of the best athletes at Pasadena Junior College. He broke school broad jump records that had been held by his brother, Mack.

As at Muir Hugh School, most of Jackie's teammates at PJC were white. In 1938, he was elected to the All-Southland Junior College Team for baseball. He was also selected as the region's Most Valuable Player. That year, Robinson was one of ten students named to the school's Order of the Mast and Dagger ( Omicron Mu Delta). This was awarded to students performing "outstanding service to the school and whose scholastic and citizenship record is worthy of recognition." It showed that Jackie not only excelled in sports but that he also was intelligent and had excellent character.

After graduating from PJC in the spring of 1939, Robinson transferred to UCLA, where he met his future bride. There he became the school's first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track. He was one of four African-Americans on the 1939 UCLA Bruins football team. This made UCLA college football's most integrated team.

Military career

In 1942, Robinson was drafted and assigned to a segregated Army cavalry unit in Fort Riley, Kansas. Having the necessary requirements, Robinson and several other black soldiers applied for entrance to an Officer Candidate School (OCS) then located at Fort Riley. The men were accepted into OCS. Upon finishing OCS, Robinson was commissioned as a second lieutenant in January of 1943. After receiving his commission, Robinson was moved to Fort Hood, Texas. There he joined the 761st "Black Panthers" Tank Battalion.

After he left the army, Robinson returned to his old football club, the Los Angeles Bulldogs, for a short time. Robinson then took an offer to be the athletic director at Sam Huston College in Austin. The job included coaching the school's basketball team for the 1944-45 season. Robinson was respected as a coach who made his players work hard. He received the respect of, among others, basketball player Marques Haynes, a future member of the Harlem Globetrotters.

On February 10, 1946, Jackie married his fiance, Rachel Isum, a nursing student he had met at UCLA. They went on to have three children: Jackie Jr., Sharon, and David. His family provided the emotional support he needed during the difficult times he faced as a black baseball player.

Baseball career

In early 1945, while Robinson was at Sam Huston College, the Kansas City Monarchs sent him a written offer to play professional baseball in the Negro leagues. Robinson accepted a contract for $400 ($6,021 in 2023) per month. This was a big deal for him at the time. In all, Robinson played 47 games for the Monarchs.

Rickey committed to officially signing Robinson before November 1, 1945. On October 23, it was announced that Robinson would be assigned to the Royals for the 1946 season. On the same day, with officials of the Royals (minor league) and Dodgers (major league) present, Robinson signed his contract with the Royals. In what was later referred to as "The Noble Experiment," Robinson was the first black baseball player in the International League since the 1880s.

Six days before the start of the 1947 season, the Dodgers brought Robinson up to the major leagues. On April 15, 1947, Robinson played his first major league game at Ebbets Field in front of a crowd of 26,623 spectators. More than 14,000 black fans attended the game. Robinson became the first player since the 1880s to openly break the major league baseball color line.

Post-baseball life

Robinson retired from baseball on January 5, 1957. Later that year, after he complained about a lot of physical problems, his doctors diagnosed Robinson with diabetes. Robinson started an insulin injection schedule. However, the quality of medicine at the time could not control the disease as well as the medicine we have today.

In 1962, Jackie was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first African-American inducted into the Cooperstown museum.

In 1965, Robinson served as an analyst for ABC's Major League Baseball Game of the Week telecasts. He was the first black person to do so. On June 4, 1972, the Dodgers retired his uniform number, 42. Retiring a number means that nobody on that team can use that number anymore. He was the first black person to serve as vice president of a major American company. Robinson always considered his business career as advancing the cause of African-Americans in business.

Problems with heart disease and diabetes made Robinson weak. He was almost blind by the end of his life. On October 24, 1972, at age 53, he died of a heart attack at home in Stamford, Connecticut.

2,500 people attended Robinson's funeral service on October 27, 1972, at New York City's Riverside Church. Many of his former teammates and other famous black baseball players served as pallbearers (people who carry the coffin when necessary. The Reverend Jesse Jackson gave the eulogy. Tens of thousands of people lined the procession route that followed to Robinson's gravesite site at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. He is buried next to his son Jackie and mother-in-law Zellee Isum.

After Robinson's death, his widow founded the Jackie Robinson Foundation, which advances higher education by providing scholarships for those who work hard. She stepped down as chairman of the board of directors, but still remains an officer as of 2022. Robinson's daughter Sharon serves as vice-chair of the board. As of 2022, funds are still being raised to open the Jackie Robinson Museum, which will be located at One Hudson Square in New York City.

Robinson's major league debut brought an end to almost sixty years of segregation in professional baseball, known as the baseball color line. Robinson's breaking of the baseball color line and his professional success meant big changes and showed that the fight for equality was more than just a political matter. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that he was "a legend and a symbol in his own time." In 1999, Jackie Robinson was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

Robinson said about himself, "I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me ... all I ask is that you respect me as a human being."

Awards and recognition

According to a poll conducted in 1947, Robinson was the second most popular man in the country, behind Bing Crosby. In 1999, he was named by magazine on its list of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. Also in 1999, he ranked number 44 on the Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.

Robinson has also been recognized outside of baseball. In December 1956, the NAACP recognized him with the Spingarn Medal, which it awards annually for the highest achievement by an African-American. President Ronald Reagan awarded Robinson the Presidential Medal of Freedom on March 26, 1984, after Robinson's death.

On March 2, 2005, President George W. Bush gave Robinson's widow the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award given by Congress. Robinson was only the second baseball player to receive the award. On August 20, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, announced that Robinson was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento.

A number of buildings have been named in Robinson's honor. The New York Public School system has named a middle school after Robinson. In 1976, his home in Brooklyn, the Jackie Robinson House, was declared a National Historic Landmark. Robinson also has an asteroid named after him, 4319 Jackierobinson. In 1997, the United States Mint issued a Jackie Robinson commemorative silver dollar and a five-dollar gold coin.

Jackie Robinson quotes

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."

"I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... all I ask is that you respect me as a human being."

"Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life."

"There's not an American in this country free until every one of us is free."

"The most luxurious possession, the richest treasure anybody has, is his personal dignity."

"Relationships may change throughout the gift of time, memories stay the same forever in my mind."

Interesting facts about Jackie Robinson

While Jackie was stationed in Fort Hood, he became friends with Joe Louis.

Robinson's brother Mack raced with Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympics.

He was arrested twice: once in 1938 for arguing with a police officer about the arrest of a black friend and again in 1944 by military police for refusing to go the back of an army bus.

Larry Doby became the second black player in the Major League. Robinson and Doby spoke regularly.

Robinson was an excellent bunter: Robinson laid down 46 bunts in 1947 and all except four resulted in either a base hit or a sacrifice.

Jackie starred as himself in the 1950 Hollywood film "The Jackie Robinson Story."

Images for kids

Lobby card for The Jackie Robinson Story, 1950, with Minor Watson (left, playing Dodgers president Branch Rickey) and Robinson

Depiction of Robinson in lobby card for the 1950 film The Jackie Robinson Story

In Spanish: Jackie Robinson para niños

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Meet the civil rights leader in our Martin Luther King facts and discover how he changed history for millions of African-American people during the Civil Rights Movement...
Martin Luther King facts

Full name: Michael King Jr.
Born: 15 January 1929.
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Occupation: Minister and activist.
Died: 4 April 1968.
Best known for: Campaigning for the rights of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

1) Martin Luther King Jr was born in the United States of America to African American parents. At birth he was named Michael King, but his father later changed his name to Martin Luther King Jr.

2) When Martin Luther King was growing up, life was hard for African Americans. The Southern United States operated under the 'Jim Crow laws' that kept black and white people separated in what was called 'segregation'. Black people had different schools, toilets and even sections of the bus to white people. They were also denied the right to vote in elections.

3) Martin Luther King had his first experience of segregation at just six years old, when he was told he wasn't allowed to play with his white friend anymore - his friend's father wouldn't allow it!

4) His first major role in the Civil Rights Movement came in 1955, after an African American lady - Rosa Parks - was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus. This sparked outrage in the African American community and Martin helped to organise a boycott of the city's buses. After 381 days of protest, a court finally ruled that such segregation laws should no longer be recognised.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable Martin Luther King primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

5) Martin was a great believer in peaceful protest, inspired by the Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi. His protests used no-violent tactics, even when the protesters themselves were met with violence from the police.

6) In 1963, Martin gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, at a famous rally named 'March on Washington.' Over 250,000 people gathered in the country's capital to hear Martin and other activists speak about the importance of civil rights. It has become one of the most famous speeches in history and focuses on Martin's dream of a society where black people and white people live together in harmony.

7) In 1964 - 99 years after the abolition of slavery - the Civil Rights Act was passed, outlawing racial segregation and discrimination in the USA.

8) In October 1964, Martin won the Nobel Peace Prize! He was told over the phone whilst he was in bed suffering from exhaustion - it had been a long, hard fight for civil rights!

9) Tragically, Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in 1968 in Tennessee, where he had given a speech the day before. He was standing on the balcony his hotel when he was shot. James Earl Ray was convicted of his murder and spent the rest of his life in prison, despite claiming to be innocent. James died in 1998.

10) Martin Luther King Jr is remembered for his tireless work during the Civil Rights Movement and his dream that one day everyone would be treated as equals. A statue built in his memory now stands in Washington D.C. and each year, the third Monday in January is celebrated as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an American federal holiday.

Want to know more? Check out Nat Geo Kids' and Nelson Mandela articles to learn about the vital work of these incredible activists.

What do you think of our Martin Luther King facts? Let us know by leaving a comment, below!

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Martin Luther King facts | National Geographic Kids

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Learn about the world-famous civil rights campaigner in our Martin Luther King facts. Born in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States of America, Martin Luther King is famous for campaigning for the rights of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s and his assassination in 1968...

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Cesar Chavez (born Cesario Estrada Chavez ; Spanish: [ˈt͡ʃaβes]; March 31, 1927 - April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) to become the United Farm Workers labor union .

Early years

Cesario Estrada Chavez was born in Yuma, Arizona on March 31, 1927.

Chavez was raised in a typical extended Mexican family. They were not well-off, but they were comfortable, well clothed, and never hungry. The family spoke in Spanish, and he was raised as a Roman Catholic.

One of six children, he had two sisters, Rita and Vicki, and two brothers, Richard and Librado. To entertain himself, he played handball and listened to boxing matches on the radio.

Cesario began attending Laguna Dam School in 1933; there, the speaking of Spanish was forbidden and Cesario was expected to change his name to Cesar.

The Chavez family joined the growing number of American migrants who were moving to California amid the Great Depression. First working as avocado pickers in Oxnard and then as pea pickers in Pescadero, the family made it to San Jose, where they first lived in a garage in the city's impoverished Mexican district. They moved regularly, and on weekends and holidays, Cesar joined his family in working as an agricultural laborer.

In California, he moved schools many times, spending the longest time at Miguel Hidalgo Junior School. His grades were generally average, although he excelled at mathematics. At school, he faced ridicule for his poverty and experienced anti-Latino prejudice from many European-Americans. He graduated from junior high in June 1942, after which he left formal education and became a full-time farm laborer.

Relocating to California, Chavez got involved in the Community Service Organization (CSO) and helped laborers register to vote.

In 1959, he became the CSO's national director. In 1962, he left the CSO to co-found the NFWA, based in Delano, California. He launched an insurance scheme, a credit union, and the El Malcriado newspaper for farmworkers.

Delano grape strike

Later that decade he began organizing strikes among farmworkers. In September 1965, Filipino American farm workers, organized by the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), initiated the Delano grape strike to protest for higher wages. Chavez and his largely Mexican American supporters voted to support them. The strike covered an area of over 400 square miles.

Police monitored the protests, photographing many of those involved; they also arrested various strikers. To raise support for those arrested, Chavez called for donations at a speech in Berkeley's Sproul Plaza in October; he received over $1000. Many growers considered Chavez a communist, and the FBI launched an investigation into both him and the NFWA.

In December, the United Automobile Workers (UAW) president Walter Reuther joined Chavez in a pro-strike protest march through Delano. This was the first time that the strike attracted national media attention.

Amid the grape strike his NFWA merged with Larry Itliong's AWOC to form the UFW in 1967. Chavez used nonviolent tactics to pressure farm owners into granting strikers' demands.

In July 1969, the Delano growers agreed to negotiate. On July 29, 1970, the Delano growers signed contracts with the union at the Forty Acres Hall, in front of press. These contracts agreed to wage rises for pickers, the introduction of a health plan, and new safety measures regarding the use of pesticides on the crop.

Final years and death

In the early 1990s, Chavez was seen as a heroic figure. In 1990, he appeared at 64 events. In 1991, he launched a "Public Action Speaking Tour" of U.S. colleges and universities. His standard speech at these events covered the problems facing farmworkers, the dangers of pesticides, the alliance of agribusiness and the Republican Party, and his view that boycotts and marches were a better means of achieving change than electoral politics.

Chavez's mother died in December 1991, aged 99. The following year, in September 1992, Chavez's mentor Ross died. Chavez died in bed on April 23. He was aged 66.

Chavez's body was flown to Bakersfield aboard a chartered plane. The family stated that he had died of natural causes. As his body lay in state, tens of thousands of people visited it. A funeral procession took place in Delano, with 120 pallbearers taking turns to carry the coffin. Chavez was then buried in a private ceremony at La Paz.

Personal life

When Chavez returned home from his service in the military in 1948, he married his high school sweetheart, Helen Fabela. The couple moved to San Jose, California. With his wife, he had eight children: Fernando (b.1949), Sylvia (b.1950), Linda (b.1951), Eloise (b.1952), Anna (b.1953), Paul (b.1957), Elizabeth (b.1958), and Anthony (b.1958).

Helen avoided the limelight, a trait which Chavez admired. While he led the union, she focused on raising the children, cooking, and housekeeping. Of these children, Chavez's eldest son, Fernando, was the only one to graduate college; Chavez's relationship with Fernando was strained, as he was frustrated with what he saw as his son's interest in becoming middle-class.

Personality

Physically, Chavez was short, and had jet black hair. He was quiet, outwardly shy and unimposing. Like many farm laborers, he experienced severe back pain throughout his life.

He could be self-conscious about his lack of formal education and was uncomfortable interacting with affluent people. When speaking with reporters, he sometimes mythologized his own life story.

Chavez was not a great orator. He was soft-spoken and was "good at reading people". He was unwilling to delegate or trust others. He preferred to tackle every task personally. He was also capable of responding quickly and decisively to events.

A tireless worker, he was known for often working 18 hours a day. He used to start his working day at 3.30am and would often continue working until 10pm. When he wanted to criticize one of his volunteers or staff members he usually did so in private but on occasion could berate them in a public confrontation. Once he accepted an idea, he could dedicate himself to it wholeheartedly.

He described his own life's work as a crusade against injustice, and displayed a commitment to self-sacrifice.

He disliked telephone conversations, suspecting that his phone line was bugged. Chavez was self-educated.

Interesting facts about Cesar Chavez

Chavez was named for his paternal grandfather, Cesario Chavez, a Mexican who had crossed into Texas in 1898.

As a child, Chavez was nicknamed "Manzi" in reference to his fondness for manzanilla tea.

He was a devoted Catholic and rarely missed Mass. He also liked to open all of his meetings with either a Mass or a prayer.

Privately, he also liked to meditate.

In 1970, he became a vegetarian.

As part of this diet he also shunned most dairy products except cottage cheese. He also avoided eating processed foods. Among his favorite foods were traditional Mexican and Chinese cuisines.

Chavez had a love of the music of Duke Ellington and big band music.

Chavez enjoyed dancing, although he suffered from chronic back pain.

He was also an amateur photographer, and a keen gardener, making his own compost and growing vegetables.

For much of his adult life he kept German shepherd dogs for personal protection.

He served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. He was promoted to the rank of seaman first class.

Chavez was greatly influenced by the ideas of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi. He kept a large portrait of Gandhi in his office, alongside another of Martin Luther King and busts of both John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln.

He became an icon for organized labor and leftist groups in the U.S. and posthumously became a "folk saint" among Mexican Americans.

His birthday is a federal commemorative holiday in several U.S. states, while many places are named after him.

In 1994, he posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In 2014 President Barack Obama proclaimed March 31 "Cesar Chavez Day" in the United States.

*His slogan in 1972 was "Si, se puede," Spanish for "Yes, it can be done." This became the Latino civil rights motto and also inspired Barack Obama's "Yes we can" motto from his presidential campaign in 2008.

Chávez is respected in California and other states. In 2000, California's state legislature started a holiday to honor him. The holiday is on March 31, Chávez's birthday. This is the first time that a US public holiday honored a Mexican American or a union leader. Many cities have streets or places named for him. These cities include San Francisco, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Austin, Texas, Chicago, Illinois, Milwaukee, and Salt Lake City. In 1998 he was inducted into the Hall of Honor by the United States Department of Labor.

Images for kids

In Spanish: César Chávez para niños

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In the 1940s, a powerful empire was defeated by a man of peace dressed in simple clothes.

He was Mohandas K Gandhi.

At that time, India was part of the British Empire, a group of countries ruled by Britain and Britain decided their laws.

Gandhi believed this was wrong. He thought India should be ruled by Indian people.

He wanted change but through peace, not violence.

Aged 23, Gandhi moved to South Africa, where one event changed the rest of his life. He was thrown off a train carriage which was just for white people. Because of this unfair treatment he returned to India, determined to work for change.

Gandhi started making many peaceful protests.

He now dressed in white cotton clothes to show he was living simply like the poor.

He wanted Indians to stop buying British things.

In 1930, he led the Salt March, a protest against the British who were selling salt to Indians. Indians needed salt to stay healthy. They wanted to make their own because it was cheaper. But the British said, "No".

Gandhi's protest was very important. Because of it, he was arrested and spent almost nine months in prison.

Gandhi won support from people around the world.

As his protests increased, the British decided they couldn't rule India any more.

In 1947 they left. But before going, they split it into two countries - India, where people mainly followed the Hindu religion, and Pakistan, where most were Muslims. This was called 'Partition'.

Gandhi died for his beliefs. In January 1948, he was killed by someone who blamed him for India being divided.

But we still remember him today for the power of his peaceful protests.

As Gandhi said, "In a gentle way, you can shake the world!"

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Explore the story of one man's peaceful fight to make India independent of British rule. Find out more with Bitesize KS1 History.

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Amelia Earhart didn't flinch. The 21-year-old was attending an air show in Canada in 1918 when a stunt plane dived right toward her. But instead of running out of the way, she faced the plane down.

That wasn't Earhart's only brave moment. Born in Kansas on July 24, 1897, she volunteered during World War I starting in 1917, treating wounded Canadian soldiers returning from the European battlefields. Nearby were pilot practice fields, where she discovered her passion for flying. After taking her first flight in 1920, she started working odd jobs to pay for flying lessons. Then, in 1923, she earned an international pilot's license, becoming one of only 16 women in the world to have one.

Aviation in the 1920s was still new-after all, the Wright brothers ' first flight had just happened in 1903-and most pilots were men. Earhart wanted to change that and in 1931 became the first president of the Ninety-Nines, an organization of female pilots. The next year, no one would ever think of pilots as "just men" again.

In 1932, Earhart took off from Newfoundland, Canada. Fifteen hours later, she landed in a cow pasture in Northern Ireland and became the first woman to fly by herself across the Atlantic Ocean. And she didn't stop there. In 1935, she became the first person to fly solo across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans after she flew from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Oakland, California. In fact, between 1930 and 1935, Earhart set at least five women's speed and distance flying records.

But Earhart wanted to do something even bigger. On June 1, 1937, she and navigator Fred Noonan took off from Miami, Florida, in an attempt to fly 29,000 miles around the world. By June 29, they had made it to New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea), an island north of Australia in the Indian Ocean. They had only 7,000 miles to go. But something happened as they crossed the Pacific Ocean. They set out on July 2, 1937, at 12:30 a.m., heading toward tiny Howland Island. They were never seen again.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent 66 aircraft and nine ships to look for them, but the fliers had vanished. The official search ended on July 18, 1937, but to this day people are still trying to solve the mystery of what happened to the woman who changed aviation history.

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How this pilot changed how high people thought women could fly

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Beverly Atlee Cleary (née Bunn; April 12, 1916 - March 25, 2021) was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide since her first book was published in 1950. Some of her best known characters are Ramona Quimby and Beezus Quimby, Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, and Ralph S. Mouse.

The majority of Cleary's books are set in the Grant Park neighborhood of northeast Portland, Oregon, where she was raised, and she has been credited as one of the first authors of children's literature to figure emotional realism in the narratives of her characters, often children in middle-class families. Her first children's book was Henry Huggins after a question from a kid when Cleary was a librarian. Cleary won the 1981 National Book Award for Ramona and Her Mother and the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. For her lifetime contributions to American literature, she received the National Medal of Arts, recognition as a Library of Congress Living Legend, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. The Beverly Cleary School, a public school in Portland, was named after her, and several statues of her most famous characters were erected in Grant Park in 1995. Cleary died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 104.

Beverly Atlee Bunn was born on April 12, 1916, in McMinnville, Oregon, to Chester Lloyd Bunn, a farmer, and Mable Atlee Bunn, a schoolteacher. Cleary was an only child and lived on a farm in rural Yamhill, Oregon, in her early childhood. She was raised Presbyterian. When she was six years old, her family moved to Portland, Oregon, where her father had secured a job as a bank security officer.

The adjustment from living in the country to the city was difficult for Cleary, and she struggled in school; in first grade, her teacher placed her in a group for struggling readers. Cleary said, "The first grade was sorted into three reading groups-Bluebirds, Redbirds and Blackbirds. I was a Blackbird. To be a Blackbird was to be disgraced. I wanted to read, but somehow could not."

With some work, Cleary's reading skills improved, but she eventually found reading boring, complaining that many stories were simple and unsurprising, and wondering why authors often did not write with humor or about ordinary people. However, on a rainy afternoon at home during Cleary's third-grade year, she found herself enjoying reading The Dutch Twins, a book by Lucy Fitch Perkins about the adventures of ordinary children. The book was an epiphany for her, and afterward, she started to spend a lot of time reading and at the library. By sixth grade, a teacher suggested that Cleary should become a children's writer based on essays she had written for class assignments.

After graduating from Portland's Grant High School in 1934, Cleary entered Chaffey Junior College in Ontario, California, with aspirations of becoming a children's librarian. After two years at Chaffey, she was accepted to the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1938. While in college, Cleary worked odd jobs to pay her tuition, including working as a seamstress and a chambermaid. During what Cleary described as "two of the most interesting years of my life", she was one of the first residents of women's cooperative Stebbins Hall, and met her future husband Clarence Cleary at a school dance. In 1939, she graduated from the School of Librarianship at the University of Washington with a second bachelor's degree in library science and accepted a year-long position as a children's librarian in Yakima, Washington. Her parents disapproved of her relationship with Cleary, a Roman Catholic, so the couple eloped and were married in 1940. After World War II, they settled in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

After her graduation from the University of Washington in 1939, she served as a children's librarian in Yakima, Washington, until 1940, and then as the post librarian at the U.S. Army Hospital on Camp John T. Knight in Oakland, California, from 1942 to 1945. She also worked at Sather Gate Book Shop in Berkeley before becoming a full-time writer for children.

As a children's librarian, Cleary empathized with her young patrons, who had difficulty finding books with characters they could identify with, and she struggled to find enough books to suggest that would appeal to them. After a few years of making recommendations and performing live storytelling in her role as librarian, Cleary decided to start writing children's books about characters that young readers could relate to. Cleary has said, "I believe in that 'missionary spirit' among children's librarians. Kids deserve books of literary quality, and librarians are so important in encouraging them to read and selecting books that are appropriate."

Cleary's first book, Henry Huggins (1950), was the first in a series of fictional chapter books about Henry, his dog Ribsy, his neighborhood friend Beezus and her little sister Ramona. When writing the book, Cleary took inspiration from the times she composed stories for children during Saturday afternoon story hours when she worked as a librarian in Yakima. Like many of her later works, Henry Huggins is a novel about people living ordinary lives and is based on Cleary's own childhood experiences, the kids in her neighborhood growing up, as well as children she met while working as a librarian. Although her book was accepted by Morrow, the first publisher she sent it to, it had been initially rejected, and Cleary had added the characters of Beezus and Ramona while revising it.

Cleary's first book to center a story on the Quimby sisters, Beezus and Ramona, was published in 1955. A publisher asked her to write a book about a kindergarten student. Cleary resisted, because she had not attended kindergarten, but later changed her mind after the birth of her twins.

Cleary also wrote two memoirs, one about her childhood, entitled A Girl from Yamhill (1988), and one about her years in college and as an adult up to writing her first book, entitled My Own Two Feet (1995). During a 2011 interview for the Los Angeles Times, at age 95, Cleary stated, "I've had an exceptionally happy career."

Critical significance

Cleary's books have been historically noted for their attention to the daily minutiae of childhood, specifically the experience of children growing up in middle-class families. Leonard S. Marcus, a children's literature historian, said of Cleary's work: "When you're the right age to read Cleary's books you're likely at your most impressionable time in life as a reader. [Her books] both entertain children and give them courage and insight into what to expect from their lives." Cleary's employment of humor has also been noted by critics; William Grimes of The New York Times wrote that Clearly used a "humorous, lively style" while "ma[king] compelling drama out of the everyday problems, small injustices and perplexing mysteries - adults chief among them - that define middle-class American childhood", while Roger Sutton of The Horn Book Magazine noted that "Cleary is funny in a very sophisticated way. She gets very close to satire, which I think is why adults like her, but she's still deeply respectful of her characters-nobody gets a laugh at the expense of another. I think kids appreciate that they're on a level playing field with adults."

Pat Pflieger, professor of children's literature at West Chester University, commented: "Cleary's books have lasted because she understands her audience. She knows they're sometimes confused or frightened by the world around them, and that they feel deeply about things that adults can dismiss." Eliza Dresang, professor in children and youth services at the University of Washington Information School, Cleary's alma mater, said, "Those books don't seem so radical now, but they were when she was writing them". Dresang added that Cleary's writing, "in terms of the topics [covered], the honesty, the accuracy, [and] the ability to portray real-life children", was decades ahead of her time. Twentieth-Century Children's Writers said, "Beverly Cleary's impact as a children's writer cannot be overestimated... her extraordinary talent in creating memorable young characters whose exuberant spirit and zest for life attract young and old readers alike."

In 1955, Cleary gave birth to twins, Malcolm and Marianne. She lived in Carmel Village in California from the 1960s onwards. As of 2018, she lived in a retirement home.

Cleary celebrated her 100th birthday on April 12, 2016. On March 25, 2021, Cleary died at her retirement home in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, at the age of 104.

Honors and legacy

In 1975, Cleary won the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association for "substantial and lasting contributions to children's literature". She was the U.S. nominee for the biennial international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1984. In April 2000, she was named Library of Congress Living Legend in the writers and artists category for her contributions to the cultural heritage of the United States. She received the National Medal of Arts in 2003.

Cleary's books have been published in over 25 different languages and have been recognized by many awards and honors. Dear Mr. Henshaw won the Newbery Medal in 1984, and Newbery Honors were conferred on Ramona and Her Father in 1978 and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 in 1982. She won the 1981 National Book Award in category children's fiction (paperback) for Ramona and Her Mother, a William Allen White Children's Book award for (1973), the Catholic Library Association's Regina Medal (1980), and the Children's Book Council's Every Child Award (1985).

In 2012, Ramona the Pest was ranked number 24 among all children's novels in a survey published by the School Library Journal, a monthly with a primarily U.S. audience. The Mouse and the Motorcycle (89) and Ramona and Her Father (94) were also among the top 100.

Cleary has been mentioned as a major influence by other authors, including Laurie Halse Anderson, Judy Blume, Lauren Myracle, and Jon Scieszka.

Publisher HarperCollins recognizes Cleary's birthday, April 12, as National Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) Day, in promotion of sustained silent reading.

In Portland, Oregon, the Hollywood branch of the Multnomah County Library, near where she lived as a child, commissioned a map of Henry Huggins's Klickitat Street neighborhood for its lobby wall. Statues of her characters Henry Huggins, the Hugginses' dog Ribsy, and Ramona Quimby can be found in The Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden for Children, which is part of Portland's Grant Park in the Hollywood-Fernwood neighborhood. In June 2008, the neighborhood's K-8 school, formerly named Fernwood Grammar School and once attended by Cleary, was officially renamed Beverly Cleary School.

In 1997, the Central Library in downtown Portland, Oregon, which serves as the main branch of the Multnomah County Library system, dedicated its children's room as the Beverly Cleary Children's Library.

In 2004, the University of Washington Information School completed fund-raising for the Beverly Cleary Endowed Chair for Children and Youth Services to honor her work and commitment to librarianship. In 2008, the school announced that she had been selected as the next recipient of the university's Alumna Summa Laude Dignatus Award, the highest honor the University of Washington can bestow on a graduate.

Cleary has a 220-student residential hall named after her, Beverly Cleary Hall, at her alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley.

In April 2016, on the occasion of her 100th birthday, Oregon Public Broadcasting produced an original half-hour program, Discovering Beverly Cleary, which included an extensive interview with Cleary at age 99 at her home in Carmel, California, and photographs and stories from her life. It was broadcast in the spring of 2016 on PBS stations across the country.

Key: † Henry Huggins series (1950-1964), ‡ Ramona series (1955-1999)

Adaptations

In Spanish: Beverly Cleary para niños

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Thomas Edison (February 11, 1847 - October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and entrepreneur who invented many things. Edison developed one of the first practical light bulbs, but contrary to popular belief, did not invent the light bulb. Edison's received 1093 patents, which was the most granted to any inventor in his time. He started the General Electric Company to make some of the things he invented. He died due to a disease called diabetes.

Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. When Edison was seven years old, he moved with his family to Port Huron, Michigan, where he started school late because of an illness. Three months later, Edison was removed from school because he could not pay attention to his teacher. His mother, who had been a teacher in Canada, taught Edison at home. Edison's mother helped him become motivated for learning.

When Edison was twelve years old, he caught scarlet fever. The effects of the fever left Edison completely deaf in his left ear and 80 percent deaf in the other. When he was thirteen, he began a job selling candy, newspapers, and vegetables on a train. He used the money he made to buy equipment for chemical and electrical experiments.

After Edison saved a young boy from being hit by a runaway train, the boy's father trained him to be a telegraph operator ("brass pounder") on the Grand Trunk Railway. At age sixteen, Edison made his first invention, which was called an "automatic repeater." It used punched tape to send telegraph signals more quickly between telegraph stations that did not have operators in them.

In 1868, Edison moved East and began to work for the Western Union Company in Boston, Massachusetts, as a telegraph operator. He worked twelve hours a day, six days a week. Within six months, he had applied for and received his first patent for an electric vote recorder. It made the voting process faster, but he could not find buyers. Then, Edison moved to New York and began to work for a company fixing their machines. At night, he continued to work on his projects.

In 1876, Edison used the money from his inventions to start his own laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. In just over a decade, Edison's Menlo Park laboratory had expanded to cover two city blocks.

In 1877~78, he invented the carbon microphone, which made the sound for Alexander Graham Bell's new telephone invention louder.

In 1877, Edison invented the phonograph, the first machine that could record and play sound. The phonograph made him famous around the world. However, it was later discovered that the French inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville had invented sound recording before Edison.

In 1879, Edison made a light bulb that lasted longer than the current light bulbs.

Another invention in 1879, the electric power distribution network, helped bring electricity to homes and businesses.

West Orange and Fort Myers

After the death of his first wife, Mary, Edison purchased "Glenmont," a home in West Orange, New Jersey, as a wedding gift for his second wife, Mina. The couple spent the winters at a home they purchased in Fort Myers, Florida. Edison kept working no matter where he lived. His main focus while he lived in Fort Myers was rubber. He and his friends Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone started a laboratory where Edison could grow plants that would make rubber so that America would not have to depend on other countries for it.

During World War I, he suggested forming a science and industry committee to provide advice and research to the US military, and he headed the Naval Consulting Board in 1915.

Personal life and children

Thomas Edison married Mary Stilwell in 1871. He had three children in that marriage: Marion Estelle Edison (also called "Dot"), Thomas Alva Edison, Jr. (also called "Dash"), and William Leslie Edison. Mary Stilwell died in 1884 at the age of twenty-nine.

When he was thirty-nine, Edison married his second wife, Mina Miller, who was nineteen. He had 3 children in that marriage: Madeleine Edison, Charles Edison (who took over the company when his father died and was later elected Governor of New Jersey), and Theodore Miller Edison.

Final years and death

Edison was active in business even in his last years. He worked on developing the Lackawanna Railroad and was there when it began. He drove the train its first mile.

Thomas Alva Edison passed away on October 18, 1931, from complications from diabetes. He is buried behind his "Glenmont" home.

Thomas Edison quotes

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

"A genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework."

"If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."

"I have more respect for the fellow with a single idea who gets there than for the fellow with a thousand ideas who does nothing."

"The world owes nothing to any man, but every man owes something to the world."

Interesting facts about Thomas Edison

Thomas's father, Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr., took part in a protest of the British Crown's rule of its North American territory. After the protest, he fled to America, where Thomas was born.

Edison thought his poor hearing helped him concentrate.

Edison was called "Al" as a child.

When Thomas was fifteen, he began printing a newspaper on the Grand Trunk Railway called the Grand Trunk Herald.

Edison's first two children were nicknamed with telegraph-inspired names: "Dot" and "Dash."

Nikola Tesla worked for Thomas Edison for a short time.

Thomas has been called "The Wizard of Menlo Park."

On December 31, 1879, the Menlo Park laboratory was electrically lit for the first time.

Edison enjoyed reading and reciting poetry.

Edison made a device to kill cockroaches with electricity.

The Henry Ford Museum claims to hold Thomas Edison's last breath in a test tube.

Images for kids

Photograph of Edison with his phonograph (2nd model), taken in Mathew Brady's Washington, DC studio in April 1878

Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory, reconstructed at Greenfield Village at Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Note: the pipe organ against the back wall.

The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company's new steamship, the Columbia, was the first ship to use Edison's incandescent light bulb in 1880.

From Left to Right: Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone, the three partners of the Edison Botanic Research Corporation

In Spanish: Thomas Alva Edison para niños