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Learn how Malala began her fight for girls — from an education activist in Pakistan to the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate — and how she continues her campaign through Malala Fund.

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Malala Yousafzai
The Nobel Peace Prize 2014

Residence at the time of the award: United Kingdom

Prize motivation: "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education"

Prize share: 1/2

For the right of every child to receive an education

Malala Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her fight for the right of every child to receive an education. She was born in the Swat Valley in Pakistan. When the Islamic Taliban movement took control of the valley in 2008, girls' schools were burned down. Malala kept a diary of the events, which was published in 2009 by BBC Urdu. In her diary she spoke out against the Taliban's terrorist regime. An American documentary film made Malala internationally famous.

It was not long before the Taliban threatened her life. In 2012, Malala was shot in the head on a school bus by a Taliban gunman. She survived, but had to flee to England and live in exile there because a fatwa was issued against her.

In 2013, TIME magazine named Malala one of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World." On her 16th birthday she spoke in the United Nations. In her speech Malala called for the equal right to education for girls all over the world, and became a symbol of this cause.

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MLA style: Malala Yousafzai - Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Fri. 1 Dec 2023. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2014/yousafzai/facts/>

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Eleven laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in 2023, for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. Their work and discoveries range from effective mRNA vaccines and attosecond physics to fighting against the oppression of women.

See them all presented here.

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The Nobel Peace Prize 2014 was awarded jointly to Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education"

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Malala Yousafzai Calls For ‘Immediate Ceasefire’ Amid Israel-Hamas Conflict

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“War never spares children,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner said in a heartfelt plea for peace.

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Malala Yousafzai - Story, Quotes & Facts

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As a young girl, Malala Yousafzai defied the Taliban in Pakistan and demanded that girls be allowed to receive an education. She was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 but survived. In 2014, she became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

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This is Malala's autobiography. Read a few excerpts from the book!

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This is Malala's autobiography. Read a few excerpts from the book!

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A MEMOIR BY THE YOUNGEST RECIPIENT OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

As seen on Netflix with David Letterman
"I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday."

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.

Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she became a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I AM MALALA is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

I AM MALALA will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world.

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A MEMOIR BY THE YOUNGEST RECIPIENT OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE As seen on Netflix with David Letterman"I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday."When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out.

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This is a transcription of the speech that Malala Yousafzai gave to the United Nations on 12 July 2013, the date of her 16th birthday and "Malala Day" at the UN.
In the name of God, the most beneficent, the most merciful.

Honorable UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-moon, respected president of the General Assembly Vuk Jeremic, honorable UN envoy for global education Mr Gordon Brown, respected elders and my dear brothers and sisters: Assalamu alaikum.

Today is it an honor for me to be speaking again after a long time. Being here with such honorable people is a great moment in my life and it is an honor for me that today I am wearing a shawl of the late Benazir Bhutto. I don't know where to begin my speech. I don't know what people would be expecting me to say, but first of all thank you to God for whom we all are equal and thank you to every person who has prayed for my fast recovery and new life. I cannot believe how much love people have shown me. I have received thousands of good wish cards and gifts from all over the world. Thank you to all of them. Thank you to the children whose innocent words encouraged me. Thank you to my elders whose prayers strengthened me. I would like to thank my nurses, doctors and the staff of the hospitals in Pakistan and the UK and the UAE government who have helped me to get better and recover my strength.

I fully support UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his Global Education First Initiative and the work of UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown and the respectful president of the UN General Assembly Vuk Jeremic. I thank them for the leadership they continue to give. They continue to inspire all of us to action. Dear brothers and sisters, do remember one thing: Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights.

There are hundreds of human rights activists and social workers who are not only speaking for their rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goal of peace, education and equality. Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured. I am just one of them. So here I stand. So here I stand, one girl, among many. I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to live in peace. Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of opportunity. Their right to be educated.

Dear friends, on 9 October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends, too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born.

I am the same Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. And my dreams are the same. Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group. I am here to speak for the right of education for every child. I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion I have learned from Mohammed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother. This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone.

Dear sisters and brothers, we realize the importance of light when we see darkness. We realize the importance of our voice when we are silenced. In the same way, when we were in Swat, the north of Pakistan, we realized the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns. The wise saying, "The pen is mightier than the sword." It is true. The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them. This is why they killed 14 innocent students in the recent attack in Quetta. And that is why they kill female teachers. That is why they are blasting schools every day because they were and they are afraid of change and equality that we will bring to our society. And I remember that there was a boy in our school who was asked by a journalist why are the Taliban against education? He answered very simply by pointing to his book, he said, "a Talib doesn't know what is written inside this book."

They think that God is a tiny, little conservative being who would point guns at people's heads just for going to school. These terrorists are misusing the name of Islam for their own personal benefit. Pakistan is a peace loving, democratic country. Pashtuns want education for their daughters and sons. Islam is a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood. It is the duty and responsibility to get education for each child, that is what it says. Peace is a necessity for education. In many parts of the world, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, terrorism, war and conflicts stop children from going to schools. We are really tired of these wars. Women and children are suffering in many ways in many parts of the world.

In India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labor. Many schools have been destroyed in Nigeria. People in Afghanistan have been affected by extremism. Young girls have to do domestic child labor and are forced to get married at an early age. Poverty, ignorance, injustice, racism and the deprivation of basic rights are the main problems, faced by both men and women.

Today I am focusing on women's rights and girls' education because they are suffering the most. There was a time when women activists asked men to stand up for their rights. But this time we will do it by ourselves. I am not telling men to step away from speaking for women's rights, but I am focusing on women to be independent and fight for themselves. So dear sisters and brothers, now it's time to speak up. So today, we call upon the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favor of peace and prosperity. We call upon the world leaders that all of these deals must protect women and children's rights. A deal that goes against the rights of women is unacceptable.

We call upon all governments to ensure free, compulsory education all over the world for every child. We call upon all the governments to fight against terrorism and violence. To protect children from brutality and harm. We call upon the developed nations to support the expansion of education opportunities for girls in the developing world. We call upon all communities to be tolerant, to reject prejudice based on caste, creed, sect, color, religion or agenda to ensure freedom and equality for women so they can flourish. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back. We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave, to embrace the strength within themselves and realize their full potential.

Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child's bright future. We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education. No one can stop us. We will speak up for our rights and we will bring change to our voice. We believe in the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the whole world because we ware all together, united for the cause of education. And if we want to achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.

Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty and injustice and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of their schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright, peaceful future.

So let us wage, so let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first. Thank you.

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'Let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons' | Malala Yousafzai

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Malala Yousafzai: Malala delivered this address on education to the United Nations Youth Assembly on 'Malala Day', her 16th birthday

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Abraham Lincoln became the United States' 16th President in 1861, issuing the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy in 1863.

Lincoln warned the South in his Inaugural Address: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you.... You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it."

Lincoln thought secession illegal, and was willing to use force to defend Federal law and the Union. When Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter and forced its surrender, he called on the states for 75,000 volunteers. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy but four remained within the Union. The Civil War had begun.

The son of a Kentucky frontiersman, Lincoln had to struggle for a living and for learning. Five months before receiving his party's nomination for President, he sketched his life:

"I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families-second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... My father ... removed from Kentucky to ... Indiana, in my eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up.... Of course when I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher ... but that was all."

Lincoln made extraordinary efforts to attain knowledge while working on a farm, splitting rails for fences, and keeping store at New Salem, Illinois. He was a captain in the Black Hawk War, spent eight years in the Illinois legislature, and rode the circuit of courts for many years. His law partner said of him, "His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest."

He married Mary Todd, and they had four boys, only one of whom lived to maturity. In 1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator. He lost the election, but in debating with Douglas he gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860.

As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization. Further, he rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy.

Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here highly resolve 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."

Lincoln won re-election in 1864, as Union military triumphs heralded an end to the war. In his planning for peace, the President was flexible and generous, encouraging Southerners to lay down their arms and join speedily in reunion.

The spirit that guided him was clearly that of his Second Inaugural Address, now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds.... "

On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who somehow thought he was helping the South. The opposite was the result, for with Lincoln's death, the possibility of peace with magnanimity died.

Learn more about Abraham Lincoln's spouse, Mary Todd Lincoln.

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Abraham Lincoln became the United States' 16th President in 1861, issuing the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy in 1863.

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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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Sir David Attenborough on Saving Baby Turtles | Planet Earth III | BBC Earth

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David Attenborough: An Extraordinary Life

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David Attenborough, English broadcaster, writer, and naturalist noted for his innovative educational TV programs, notably the nine-part Life series. As controller of BBC-2, he helped launch The Forsyte Saga and Civilisation. He also aired Monty Python's Flying Circus. Learn more about Attenborough's life and career.

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Beloved by millions around the world, Sir David Attenborough is an inspirational broadcaster, presenter and conservationist.

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Yuan Longping ( Chinese: 袁隆平; pinyin: Yuán Lóngpíng ;August 13, 1929 - May 22, 2021) was a Chinese agronomist and inventor . He was a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering known for developing the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s, part of the Green Revolution in agriculture. For his contributions, Yuan is known as the "Father of Hybrid Rice".

Hybrid rice has since been grown in dozens of countries in Africa, America, and Asia-boosting food security and providing a robust food source in areas with a high risk of famine. The technology allowed China to sustain 20% of the global population on 9% of global arable land, an achievement in food security where he was awarded the 2004 World Food Prize and the 2004 Wolf Prize in Agriculture respectively.

Yuan was born at Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing, China on August 13,1929 to Yuan Xinglie and Hua Jing. He was the second of six siblings. His ancestral home is in De'an County, Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province in Southern China. During the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, he moved with his family and attended school in many places, including Hunan, Chongqing, Hankou and Nanjing.

He graduated from Southwest Agricultural College (now part of Southwest University) in 1953.

Yuan began his teaching career at the Anjiang Agricultural School, Hunan Province. In the 1960s he had the idea of hybridizing rice to increase its yield after reading of similar research that was underway successfully in maize and sorghum. Undertaking this hybridization was important because the first generation of hybrids is typically more vigorous and productive than either parent.

For the rest of his life Yuan devoted himself to the research and development of better rice varieties.

The biggest problem was that rice is a self-pollinating plant. Hybridization requires separate male and female plants as parents. The small rice flowers contain both male and female parts. Although the male parts can be removed, carefully, by hand (to produce female-only flowers), this is not practical on a large scale. It was thus difficult to produce hybrid rice in large quantities. In 1961 he spotted a seed-head of wild hybrid rice. By 1964, Yuan hypothesized that naturally-mutated male-sterile rice could exist and could be used for the creation of new hybrid rice varieties. He and a student spent the summer searching for male sterile rice plants. Two years later he reported in a scientific publication that he had found a few individuals of male-sterile rice with potential for production of hybrid rice. Subsequent experiments proved his original hypothesis feasible, which proved to be his most important contribution to hybrid rice.

Yuan Longping in 1953 in Southwest University. Yuan is in the back row, third from the left.

Yuan Longping in 1962

Yuan went on to solve more problems over the next decades to achieve higher yielding hybrid rice. This took more than a decade. The first experimental hybrid rice did not show any significant advantage over commonly grown varieties, so Yuan suggested crossbreeding cultivated rice varieties with ones growing wild in the countryside. In 1970, beside a railway line in Hainan, he and his team found a particularly important wild variety. Using this one within a breeding programme resulted in varieties with yields improved by 20 - 30% in the late 1970s. For this achievement, Yuan Longping was dubbed the "Father of Hybrid Rice."

At present, as much as 50 percent of China's total number of rice paddies grow Yuan Longping's hybrid rice and these hybrid rice paddies yield 60 percent of the total rice production in China. China's total rice output rose from 56.9 million tons in 1950 to 194.7 million tons in 2017. The annual yield increase is enough to feed 70 million additional people.

The "Super Rice" Yuan worked on improving showed a 30 percent higher yield, compared to common rice, with a record yield of 17,055 kilograms per hectare being registered in Yongsheng County in Yunnan Province in 1999.

In January 2014, Yuan said in an interview that genetically modified food would be the future direction of food and that he had been working on genetic modification of rice.

As recently as the 1950s, two separate theories of heredity were taught in China. One theory was from Gregor Mendel and Thomas Hunt Morgan and was based on the concept of genes and alleles. The other theory was from Soviet Union scientists Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin and Trofim Lysenko which stated that organisms would change over the course of their lives to adapt to environmental changes they experienced and their offspring would then inherit the changes. At the time, the Chinese government's official stance on scientific theories was one of "leaning towards the Soviet side", and any ideology from the Soviet Union was deemed to be the only truth while everything else would be seen as being invalid. Yuan, as an agricultural student at Southwest University, remained skeptical on both theories and started his own experiments to try and come up with his own conclusions.

Yuan was taught and mentored by some biologists who followed the ideas of Gregor Mendel and Thomas Hunt Morgan. These included Guan Xianghuan at Southwest Agricultural College and, later, Bao Wenkui at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing. Both were persecuted. Guan took his own life in the 1960s while Bao was imprisoned. In 1962, Yuan visited Bao to discuss Mendelian genetics, and Bao gave him access to up-to-date foreign scientific literature. In 1966 Yuan himself was named as a counter-revolutionary and there were plans to imprison him. However, a letter of support for Yuan and his work was received based on his publication about male-sterile rice, sent from Nie Rongzhen, director of the National Science and Technology Commission. As a result, Yuan was allowed to continue his research and provided with both research assistants and financial support by the Hunan Provincial Party Committee leader Hua Guofeng and others. Yuan did not join the Communist Party during the Cultural Revolution or later.

Yuan's first experiments, before he became focused on rice, were on the sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas) and watermelons. Following Michurin's theory, he grafted Ipomoea alba (a plant with high photosynthesis rate and high efficiency in starch production) onto sweet potatoes. These plants grew substantially larger tubers than those of plants without I. alba grafts. However, when he planted seeds from these grafted sweet potatoes for a second generation, the tubers were normal sized from seeds of the sweet potato part of the plant, while seeds from the I. alba part did not grow sweet potatoes. He continued with similar grafting experiments on other plants, but none of the plants produced offspring with any mixtures of the beneficial traits grafted into their parents. This was in contradiction to the expectations of Michurin's theory. Yuan concluded, "I had learned some background of Mendel and Morgan's theory, and I knew from journal papers that it was proven by experiments and real agricultural applications, such as seedless watermelon. I desired to read more and learn more, but I can only do it secretly."

In 1959 China experienced the Great Chinese Famine. Yuan as an agricultural scientist could do little to greatly help people around him in Hunan province. "There was nothing in the field because hungry people took away all the edible things they can find. They eat grass, seeds, fern roots, or even white clay at the very extreme." He remembered the sight of those who had starved to death all his life. Yuan considered applying the inheritance rules onto sweet potatoes and wheat since their fast rate of growth made them the practical solutions for the famine. However, he realized that in Southern China sweet potato was never a part of the daily diet and wheat didn't grow well in that area. Therefore, he turned his mind to rice.

Back in 1906, geneticist George Harrison Shull experimented with hybrid maize. He observed that inbreeding reduced vigor and yield among the offspring but crossbreeding did the opposite. Those experiments proved the concept of heterosis. In the 1950s, geneticist J. C. Stephens and a few others hybridized two sorghum varieties found in Africa to create high-yielding offspring. Those results were inspiring for Yuan. However, maize and sorghum reproduce mainly through cross-pollination, while rice is a self-pollinating plant, which would make any crossbreeding attempts difficult, for obvious reasons. In Edmund Ware Sinnott's book Principles of Genetics, it clearly states that self-pollinating plants, like wheat and rice, have experienced long-term selection both by nature and by humans. Therefore, traits that were inferior were all excluded, and the remaining traits were all superior. He speculated that there would be no advantage in crossbreeding rice, and that the nature of self-pollination makes it hard to do cross breed experiments on rice on a large scale.

Yuan was both professionally and personally interested on rice production. He spent a majority of his time in the field, rather than staying confined in a lab or publishing papers. As such, he played a large role in Chinese agriculture by mentoring and leading others in the field, which helped foster future achievements in Chinese agriculture.

In 1979, his technique for hybrid rice was introduced into the United States, making it the first case of intellectual property rights transfer in the history of the People's Republic of China.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization 1991 statistics show that 20 percent of the world's rice output came from 10 percent of the world's rice fields that grow hybrid rice.

Yuan advocated for sharing the success of his breakthroughs with other nations. He and his team donated crucial rice strains to the International Rice Research Institute in 1980. These donated strains were used to create hybrid rice strains that could sustain and grow in tropical countries to help their food supply chains. In addition to donating important rice strains, Yuan and his team taught farmers in other countries to grow and cultivate hybrid rice.

At present, the annual planting area of hybrid rice in China is about 230 million acres, accounting for 50% of the total rice planting area, and the output accounts for 57% of the total rice production. This increases the country's grain production by more than 20 billion kilograms every year, which is equivalent to the annual total grain production of a medium-sized province. Due to the great success of hybrid rice, he has won eight international awards, including the only National Special Invention Award and the UNESCO "Science Award", and is known as the "Father of Hybrid Rice" internationally.

Four asteroids and a college in China have been named after him. The minor planet 8117 Yuanlongping was also named after him.

For his achievement, Yuan was awarded the 2011 Mahathir Science Award. The award was presented by Malaysian former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Yuan won the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award of China in 2000, the Wolf Prize in Agriculture and the World Food Prize in 2004.

He was the Director-General of the China National Hybrid Rice R&D Center and appointed Professor at Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha. He was a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, foreign associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2006) and the 2006 CPPCC.

Yuan worked as the chief consultant for the FAO in 1991.

Yuan married one of his students, Deng Ze () in 1964. They had three sons, among them Yuan Ding'an () and Yuan Dingjiang ().

On March 10, 2021, Yuan Longping collapsed at his hybrid rice research base in Sanya. On April 7, he was transferred to Changsha, Hunan Province for treatment. At 13:07 on May 22, Yuan Longping died of multiple organ failure at Xiangya Hospital of Central South University (). Considered a national hero, tens of thousands of people sent flowers to the funeral home.

The man who puts an end to hunger: Yuan Longping, "Father of Hybrid Rice". Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. 2007. ISBN 9787119051093.

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Yuan Longping ( Chinese: 袁隆平; pinyin: Yuán Lóngpíng ;August 13, 1929 - May 22, 2021) was a Chinese agronomist and inventor . He was a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering known for developing the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s, part of the Green Revolution in agriculture.

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World will remember Yuan Longping for his contribution to food safety

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How Professor Yuan Long-ping develop high-yielding hybrid rice? 袁隆平教授怎樣研究高產雜交水稻技術？

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The third-generation hybrid rice developed by Yuan Longping, the "father of hybrid rice," and his team achieved a new record of yield in rice fields in central China's Hunan Province.

The new record of the hybrid rice planted in Qingzhu Village, Hengyang City, one of the hybrid rice's experimental fields, reached 1,603.9 kg per mu (about 667 square meters).

Hunan is one of the major rice producers in China, as farmers there plant double-cropping rice. Among the output of the hybrid rice, the yield of early rice came to 667.8 kg per mu in the test fields, and that of late-season rice stood at 936.1 kg per mu.

Last year, the same hybrid rice variety made a double-cropping yield of 1,530.76 kg per mu in a year on the same plot.

"Surpassing a yield of 1,500 kg per mu in a year on the same plot means that the target set by Professor Yuan Longping has been realized," said Li Jianwu, a researcher at Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center.

The high yield under unfavorable conditions of the earlier continuous high temperature has shown that the variety has strong adaptability and has laid a good foundation for future promotion, he said.

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Third-generation hybrid rice achieves high yield

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The third-generation hybrid rice developed by Yuan Longping, the "father of hybrid rice," and his team achieved a new record of yield in rice fields in central China's Hunan Province. The new record of the hybrid rice planted in Qingzhu Village, Hengyang City, one of the hybrid rice's experimental fields, reached 1,603.9 kg per mu (about 667 square meters).

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Yuan Longping, China's 'father of hybrid rice,' dies at 91

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A special gift at the tomb of Yuan Longping

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History of Maya Angelou for Kids | Bedtime History

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Go to EPIC and read Maya Angelou's book! It has been assigned for you.

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Go to EPIC and read Maya Angelou's book! It has been assigned for you.

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Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

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Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

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I get so many questions about how I do things with one arm.

"What are my strategies?" "How do I do my daily life?" "Do I ever get discouraged?"

After I lost my arm, all of the sudden daily tasks like cutting an apple or putting my hair up were so overwhelming. Learning to surf with one arm was really challenging too. I quickly learned that I have to be extremely adaptable to conquer all the little things that come my way.

However, sometimes I find it to be a fun challenge because I have to think a little harder about how to do typical things than those with two arms would. It's an opportunity to get creative and see things from a different point of view!

I definitely have to do a lot of things in unique way, but I often think of myself as more capable than the average person.

I never want to let the loss of my arm stop me from doing what I love or what I want to accomplish. I tend to be hard on myself and I focus less on my arm and more on my goal. I see the goal and say, "how am I going to get there?"

In terms of getting through daily life tasks, my knees and feet are SO helpful!

I use them to open doors, help change kiddos' diapers, lift things and just about anything in between! I also use my mouth to hold things here and there. Another major trick I've found is holding things in the crook of my neck between my stubby shoulder and my head - it's the best!

Something else that has helped me a ton is keeping my body extremely flexible. I use so many different muscles to help me do everything and often this puts my body in unique positions that require flexibility.

For example, when my kids were very little and couldn't walk yet, I had to figure out how to pick them up when they were on the floor.

It didn't work to reach down and just grab the little baby with one hand, as you can imagine! I would typically squat down super low and lean my chest towards the ground, bringing my face to his level. Then I would pull him against my chest with my arm and shift him over to my hip or nestle him in the crook of my arm before I stood up. If my hips were really tight and I wasn't flexible enough to get my upper body that low to the ground while I squatted, I really struggled! So flexibility is so important for me!

I do a lot of work to keep my muscles loose so that I can do what I need to do get the task done. Here's a fun video clip with a couple highlights:

I will be the first to admit that constantly adapting in this way is not always easy! I have lots of discouraging moments and some tears for sure!

But I choose not to stay in them and I keep pushing through. I choose to flip my mindset from "I can't" to "I can". I choose to try, even when it's hard. And when I mess up, I try again.

You can do this too! Look at the obstacles in your life and be willing to adapt and be creative! Be willing to give it your best shot and go for it and be proud of incremental progress, even if you haven't reached your goal yet.

I know that you can do so much more than you think you can!

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I get so many questions about how I do things with one arm. How do I do my hair or change kids' diapers? Here are my answers!

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Twenty years ago on October 31, 13-year old surfer Bethany Hamilton was attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark resulting in the loss of her left arm.

Hamilton and friend and fellow pro surfer Alana Blanchard were surfing her home spot, Tunnels Beach on the North Shore of Kauai.

Despite the tragic incident, Hamilton has persevered. She's continued to surf and serves as an inspiration for people overcoming challenges. Yesterday, she reflected on her journey since that life-changing day.

Hamilton posted the photos above yesterday and captioned them:

"20 years later... This was the location of my shark incident as a 13 year old girl.

"I'm in awe of how much God has made beauty out of something so scary and so awful. When we face challenge, it can be hard to have hope beyond our chaos, but it is essential.

"I hope that my life can be a hint of hope for you in the challenges that you face. I see the challenges along the way as a call to live in faith and to trust in God to carry me through it all! I'm so grateful to God for his faithfulness Life today...

"I have an incredible husband, 4 amazing children, one super strong arm and a body that still allows me to surf and do my thang! I see so much goodness through one of the hardest moments of my life. Thank you Jesus!!

"The past 20 years has given me the opportunity to step into a call to bring hope to others and to be a part some really amazing things.

"Check them out!: * @ohanaexperiences (mentorship for young women) * @beautifullyflawedfoundation (Incredible retreats for men and women with limb differences) But no doubt being a mom now and serving my family is the best call to my life!

"Here's to the next 20 years!!!"

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Bethany Hamilton Reflects on Losing Arm to Tiger Shark 20 Years Later

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Twenty years ago on October 31, 13-year old surfer Bethany Hamilton was attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark resulting in the loss of her left arm. Hamilton and

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Young Surfer Who Lost an Arm in a Shark Attack Refuses to Give Up | The Oprah Winfrey Show | OWN