Despite his future courageous actions, Louis Zamperini’s early childhood was very difficult. Louis Zamperini was born from Italian immigrants in 1917 and his family moved from New York to California when he was only three. His father taught him how to box and fight to protect himself from bullies. When Louis Zamperini was only five years old, he started to smoke and at age eight, he started to drink. Later in high school, however, Louis Zamperini ran the fastest mile in his school’s history and started to emerge as a runner. Louis Zamperini then received a scholarship to go to the University of Southern California. Then while Louis Zamperini was still a teenager in high school, he was invited to go to the 1936 Olympics. He was one of the best distance runners in the country, but finished eighth (Gale).

          Louis Zamperini’s actions after his childhood would impact his life forever. After the 1936 Olympics Louis Zamperini planned on returning to the Olympics in 1940, but the games were cancelled because of World War II. Louis Zamperini graduated in 1940 and then joined the U.S. Army Air Corps for World War II in 1941. In 1943, his plane was being attacked and eventually the plane crashed into the ocean with eleven crew members on board. Zamperini and two others were the only survivors. Their only way to stay afloat was by a small raft. They survived by rainwater and birds that they would kill and eat. Sadly, one of the crew members died, leaving Zamperini and one other. Then finally after forty-seven days, the two were found. Zamperini had lost fifty pounds over the course of his time at sea, weighing in at seventy-five pounds. Unfortunately, they were captured and put in a POW (prisoner of war) camp by the Japanese (Gale). Louis Zamperini went through so much to survive through his wreck at sea and his dire circumstances. He endured the pain of starvation at sea for forty-seven days, only to be captured by the Japanese. Zamperini was pushed to his limits with pain and torture, and he persevered valiantly through it.

           After being captured by the Japanese, Louis Zamperini would face scarring torture. During his time at the POW camp, Zamperini had to endure many beatings and hardships. One guard, notorious for his extreme torture and violent actions to POWs, named Mutsuhiro Watanabe (known as the bird) abused Louis Zamperini and singled out Zamperini in particular because Watanabe knew Zamperini was an Olympic athlete (Gale). One time Louis Zamperini was forced to race a Japanese guard while Zamperini was still severely injured. Zamperini knew that if he won, he could be killed for such an infraction. In spite of this possibility, he heard his fellow prisoners cheering him on, and he knew he needed to win. After Zamperini won, he  was clubbed unconscious (Hillenbrand). When the war ended in 1945, Louis Zamperini was set free (Gale). Louis Zamperini had just gotten through his treacherous situation at sea and then was tortured and even singled out in his weakness by the Japanese guards. Louis Zamperini never gave up and kept going through his awful days at the Japanese POW camp.

           Once home from the POW camp, Louis Zamperini had a hard time adjusting to society. When Zamperini was released back to his home in 1945, he became an alcoholic and suffered from post traumatic stress disorder (ptsd). He almost lost his marriage. 

            After his transformation, Louis Zamperini demonstrated forgiveness and kindness to his persecutors and became an inspirational figure. He got his life back together in 1949 after a sermon by Billy Graham and even returned to Japan as a missionary in 1950 (Gale). Also while he was in Japan he forgave his tormentors and intended on forgiving the bird, but Mutsuhiro Watanabe refused and they never met again. Zamperini became an inspirational writer and speaker (Biography); writing two autobiographies (Gale). Louis Zamperini even carried the torch in the 1998 olympics in Japan.

Oskar Schindler  was born in 1908 in Zwittau and died in 1974 in Frankfurt Germany (Scholastic go). Oskar grew up with a sister who was seven years younger than him. When he could he joined the Nazis, because it  made sense and it was a good way to help the people. (Oskar Schindler Biography) He didn’t really show anything to make someone think he would be that courageous and kind to do something like save over 1,000 jews. 

We remember Oskar Schindler today because of his courageous acts. When Oskar saw that the people needed help, he bought a warehouse and took Jews to work for him instead of the Nazis. He treated them good to make sure they would stay healthy. Whenever he got a chance, Oskar would take in more Jews to make sure they wouldn’t be killed or have to do too much work. Because Oskar befriended high ranking Nazi officers, he was able to take in a lot of Jews.

Bethany Hamilton’s early life started as normal as a girl’s life could get. She was born in Hawaii on February 8, 1990. Bethany began surfing at age 8, but earned her first sponsorship at age 9. In 2003, she won both her age group and the open division of Hawaii’s Local Motion/Ezekiel Surf Into Summer (Biography.com Editors). On October 31, 2003 Bethany’s life had a major change. 

Bethany Hamilton loved to surf any time she could get a chance. One day, she went to surf at Tunnels Beach in Ha’ena with her best friend Alana Blanchard, and her father and brother. Laying on her surfboard, she suddenly felt pain in her left arm and noticed the water turning red around her. Bethany Hamilton later said, “I was holding onto my board, with my thumb, because I probably didn't want to get pulled under. It was like pulling me back and forth, not like pulling me underwater. Just like, you know how you eat a piece of steak? It was kind of like that.” (Biography.com Editors). She was then rushed to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, and had bumped her father, who was there to have surgery on his knee, from the operating room. Bethany had lost about 60% of her blood, but was released a few days after her surgeries (Biography.com Editors). When she got out of the hospital, she couldn’t wait to get back on the surfboard even though she lost her left arm in the accident.

Glenn Cunningham’s young life seemed very enjoyable for a while, but a threatening tragedy was lingering to happen. Glenn Cunningham was born in Atlanta, Kansas on a peaceful day in 1909. He had a brother named Floyd who was 5 years older than him. Glenn was just an ordinary kid living in Atlanta, except Glenn was intelligent and did really well in school. His father was a water-well driller, and also did many varieties of jobs before being a water-well driller (Encyclopedia of World Biography). School was going well for the the two boys until one day their schoolhouse caught on fire in 1916 (“Story of Determination”). Glenn’s brother Floyd died from burns in the school fire, and Glenn was projected to never walk again (Encyclopaedia Britannica). He visited different doctors, and some said that they might have to amputate his legs. Glenn had to go through a long fight to keep his legs, and he finally regained his strength. Through the whole time, Glenn had persevered and had courage to be able to walk again, after what many doctors had thought would be the loss of his legs.

After almost losing his very own legs from a fire, Glenn Cunningham persevered and became a very successful runner. The year Glenn graduated in 1933, he had won the AAU 800 and 1500 meter races. He also won the NCAA mile the same year (Encyclopedia of World Biography). Before every race Glenn raced in, he had to massage his legs because of the school fire when he was a kid (Story of Determination). Seeing the speed of Glenn Cunningham would make you think that nothing ever happened to his legs, since he ran so fast. He graduated from the University of Kansas and then earned a master’s degree in the University of Iowa. He then got a Ph.D. from the New York University (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Also the same year he graduated from the University of Kansas, he was called the “Ironman” and won the Sullivan Memorial Trophy. This trophy is awarded to the most outstanding ameteur athlete. Glenn Cunningham participated in many tough races throughout his years going through college and won lots of them, even though his legs were not in perfect condition. The way he had persevered through every moment is why Glenn Cunningham was a very courageous man.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s early life was privileged and easy, and it did not point towards courageous acts Bonhoeffer would do in the future. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau, Germany, on February, 4, 1906, but was raised in Berlin (Scholastic Go). He was the son of a well known German family in the fifteenth century (Gale: Research in Context). He earned a doctorate in Theology in the University of Tübingen and Berlin. Then, he took the role of a theology lecturer in the University of Berlin. In 1933, he went to England to serve as a pastor (Scholastic Go). As a result, his early life did not play a major role in Bonhoeffer’s later actions.

Immediately after Hitler became chancellor of Germany, Dietrich Bonhoeffer identified himself as an opponent of Nazism and quickly stood up. Although it was forbidden to speak in public, he secretly worked for a church against the Nazis. Their plan was to overthrow the Nazis and assassinate Adolf Hitler. Then, he met a circle of resistance to the Nazis inside the Abwehr (military intelligence service) by his brother-in-law. With a fail attempt on killing Hitler, Bonhoeffer was arrested on April 5, 1943 (Scholastic Go). Because of his actions to stop the Nazis, he was hanged on April 9, 1945 (Ebsco host). As a result, his actions would later impact the world tremendously.

Although many people know William Wilberforce as a politician that tried numerous times to abolish slavery very few people knew his childhood. William Wilberforce was an only child born to Robert Wilberforce and Elizabeth Wilberforce in 1759 (BBC). When William’s father died in 1768 his guardianship was then transferred to his aunt and uncle (TheFamousPeople). This was when William had started to develop health issues his eyesight was diminishing and in 1833 he was the victim of influenza which he never recovered from. His aunt and uncle had a huge impact on Wilberforce by introducing him into christianity. Even though Wilberforce was now religous he focused on his studies which he enrolled at St John’s College, Cambridge. Although Wilberforce didn’t know much about politics he considered it as a career and soon he joined the parliament in 1780 (Gale). 

During when William studied at St John’s College, Cambridge he learned good speaking qualities that was give him a edge in the parliament. As Wilberforce was also an extremely religious man he began to realize the cruelty of slavery and started a anti-slavery campaign in 1823. He passed along several cases to try to ban slavery with each one getting denied in the parliament after that Wilberforce gained active attention in the parliament. He began his speeches to the people how cruel and inhumane it really was (Explora). With each case getting denied he began to shine his religious views on slavery since christianity was prominent back then (Gale).

Who is Susan Brownell Anthony? Susan B. Anthony is an American hero to others. She was the face of women’s rights. Because of the hard work and perserverance she put into the National Woman’s Suffrage Association , Susan Anthony helped equal rights become possible. Today, she is an inspiration to women around the world and changed the world for the better.   

               Although she grew up to be an amazing role model to others, her childhood was difficult because of family issues. Susan Brownell Anthony was born on February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts. She was raised Daniel Anthony and Lucy Read. Her father, Daniel had built the first cotton mill in the town. Her father had gotten a great opportunity in Battenville, New York for a larger mill. This opportunity was great for the family of 10 because the children would get the opportunity to go to a private school. But the mill closed. The family lost their house, boarding school, everything...but the family slipped by because of Susans teaching job. 

        While teaching she had seen a magazine about  the Declaration of Woman’s Rights, which included equality, justice, everything she had hoped for. She new this is what she wanted to do so she met Elizabeth Stanton, and they instantly became close friends co-workers. Without Stanton Susan may not have been so important to us as she is now.  But later on ,the Civil War had begun and people had gotten broken up. 

Wilma Rudolph had a very tough childhood filled with many health challenges that she dealt with. She was born on June 23, 1940, in Bethlehem, Tennessee, weighing only four-and-one-half pounds. She was the twentieth of twenty-two children born to Ed and Blanche Rudolph (Newsmakers). As a young child, Wilma Rudolph was diagnosed with scarlet fever, and she was diagnosed twice with double pneumonia. As a result of these illnesses, she contracted polio, which made it extremely difficult to move her left leg, and almost impossible to walk. Rudolph and her family did all they could in order to heal her leg. Rudolph’s mother took Rudolph to heat therapy weekly, and her brothers and sisters gave her therapeutic massages four times a day. Eventually, when Rudolph was six years old, her doctor gave her a leg brace that used until she was eleven. Since she got the leg brace, Rudolph was finally able to start school at Cobb Elementary (UXL Biographies).

After persevering through years of having to walk with a brace, and going to therapy weekly, Rudolph surprised the doctors one day when she took her brace off and began to walk on her own (Discovering Multicultural America). This was a major accomplishment for someone with polio. Soon, Rudolph started to run and play, just like all the other children her age. By the time she was twelve, Rudolph was challenging all of the boys who lived near her at athletics, and joined the basketball team at her high school. Rudolph set a state record in basketball  (Discovering Multicultural America). She did not let polio hold her back.

Rudolph’s positive mindset helped her to immediately excel in track. Rudolph’s basketball coach recommended her for track, and Rudolph found that she had a talent in the 50 meter, 75 meter, 100 meter, and relay races. When she was thirteen, Rudolph ran twenty races and won all of them. However, in eleventh grade, Rudolph  went to Alabama Tuskegee Institute for a track meet and lost all her races. Even though Rudolph did not enjoy losing, she did not give up. In fact, she used this as an opportunity to improve. This loss motivated her to get a good coach, so Rudolph went to Tennessee State University for cross country training to improve her endurance. Rudolph ran approximately 20 miles each day to improve her endurance. While at Tennessee State University, Rudolph set a record for a 200 meter race, which lasted for eight years (UXL Biographies).

Rudolph’s perseverance, courage, and hard work soon payed off when she qualified for the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Rudolph was the youngest runner on the team, but that did not hold her back. Although she won a bronze medal, Rudolph wanted to return to the Olympics to improve (UXL Biographies). Just as she had planned, Rudolph returned to the 2000 Olympics in Rome. She won three gold medals, and was the first African American female to receive a gold Olympic medal in the United States (Discovering Multicultural America).

Nobel prizes are awarded to the most courageous, kind hearted, brave people. Leymah Gbowee definitely deserved the Nobel Prize award. Leymah Gbowee’s courageous acts of kindness to women and children during the Liberian civil war are still remembered today as amazing attempts on creating peace.

Leymah Gbowee lived a pretty average life as a child. Gbowee lived with her parents and two of her three sisters. She lived in Monrovia liberia. When she finished  high school she wanted to study medicine, but the civil war had blocked of that goal. She later moved away to help women and children who suffered from the violence that the war has created. She eventually moved back to central librea and now has a masters degree in conflict transformation.

Leymah Gbowee won The Nobel Prize Award in 2011 for her courageous act towards women and children. Leymah Gbowee helped women and children of all races and all religions that suffered from the violence from the civil war. She would hold prayer groups and protests and marches against the war. In 2003 and 2004 Gbowee gathered up women in a attempt to convince the liberian president to end the war. Leymah Gbowee received the Nobel Prize for her efforts to help women be more active in politics and for she won the award for non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for her attempt of creating peace. She shared the award with with a Liberian political leader Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and the Yemeni activist Tawakul Karman. 

Abbott had to work through many challenges throughout his childhood. Jim was born September 19,1967 in Flint, Michigan with no right hand. His parents helped him with whatever he needed and encouraged him to follow his dreams. One day his dad taught him how to play catch and how to switch to his glove back to his hand so he could throw the ball. He instantly fell in love with the sport. He practiced and practiced every day to get better. Although he was trying to get better, in school was hard for Jim because everybody thought that he couldn’t get better because of his disability or people made fun of him because of his disability. They called him names like “Captain Hook” or “Crab”(Pinkerton).

    Sophie Scholl’s childhood was mostly ordinary and gave almost no hint to the fact that she one day would be famous. Sophia Magdalena Scholl was born on May 9th, 1921, in Forchtenberg, Germany, to hard working parents. Her father was a mayor and her mother was nurse (Encyclopedia of World Biographies). Scholl’s family moved around Germany during her childhood due to the fact that her father was a mayor and needed a job (Encyclopedia of World Biographies). As a young teenager, she joined the “Hitler Youth” programs, not knowing anything about Hitler’s actions (she later realized how inhumane his practices were) (UXL Biographies). Many other naive teenagers did the same as they were all“...caught up in the thrill of the movement” (Encyclopedia of World Biographies). Sophie’s childhood was mostly typical of that time and she did not show many signs that would make others assume she would grow up to be famous.

    Even though her childhood was mostly normal, she engaged in a few extremely courageous acts. When Sophie was attending university in Munich, Germany, she and her brother joined a group was against Hitler called White Rose (UXL Biographies). Doing this was very dangerous and extremely courageous because Sophie knew she could be killed if she was caught (Explora). In this group Sophie and her brother wrote leaflets that spoke out against the Nazis. Sophie and her brother also distributed the leaflets throughout the university and surrounding cities. They were, unfortunately, caught while distributing the leaflets at their university. They were taken into custody and had a trial. The judge found them guilty of the highest treason and they were sentenced to death by beheading. Sophie’s actions in her attempt to speak out against the Nazis were very courageous.

    

    

    

    Mae Carol Jemison was born into a typical family and always had a dream to become a scientist. She was born in Decatur, Alabama, and moved to Chicago when she was three months old (Good). Her father (Charles Jemsion) was a roofer and carpenter, and her mother (Dorothy Green) was a elementry school teacher (Mae. C. Jemison Biography). Mae Carol Jemson is the youngest of three kids, she has a brother named Ricky and a sister named Ada. She was born on October 7, 1956, and is still living today. In Chicago Mae Carol Jemison expirenced lots of crime and riots. Since kindergarten Mae Jemison wanted to be a scientist, but many of her teachers did not believe in her.  However she never let go of her dream, and went on to go to a medical college (Good). Mae Jemison went to Cornell University Medical College, and got her medical degree in 1981(Good).

     Once Mae Jemison graduated, she began working for NASA. She started her career with NASA in 1987, and she began to prepare for a space mission.  In 1992, Mae Jemison took off for space, and  was named the first African American women in space. She spent over 190 hours in space. She expiremented with with weightlessness and motion sickness. She even tested things in her own self. And some of the expirments could have really damaged her body. She stopped working for NASA in 1993.

      

Mandela’s early years were similar to many others living in South Africa. Mandela grew up with his father, the chief of the Tembu people, and didn't feel strongly about following his father's line of work. Instead he chose to pursue law. Nelson studied at the South African Native College. He then opened the first black law business in South Africa. In 1944 mandela joined the ANC, the African National Congress. he did this to help spread his ideals of racial equality (WBO Student). 

After joining the ANC Mandela began to protest for the end of apartheid in 1956 mandela and colleagues were charged with treason, but found not guilty in 1961. By that time the government had discontinued the ANC just one year prior. Mandela was arrested again in 1962. The reason being was presented in 1964 as

         Think about having to live your life without hearing or seeing anything. Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to earn their bachelor’s degree. Still now that would be a big accomplishment, but especially back in the early 1900’s since she was a woman.  Keller’s life shows many different stories and accomplishments but especially that anyone can do anything that they set their mind towards. 

As a child Keller had it tough due to not being able to see or hear so she was not able to speak as well. Around nineteen months is when Keller started to go deaf and blind. At this time no one knew what was causing these diseases. Keller would often though tantrums because she was not able to communicate any other way. 

          Around the age of seven Keller started to learn with a teacher.

Emmeline Pankhurst was born into a wealthy family, and she had an ordinary childhood for her class. Even though both of her parents were involved with Manchester Women’s Suffrage Committee, nobody knew she would be the one to finally convince parliament to give women the right to vote. Even though she graduated from her boarding school and sent to a highly respected finishing school in Paris, it is said that her lessons outside of school helped her acquire the skills she needed to fight injustices in politics (Moore).  

Emmeline Pankhurst was able to show true strength as she worked alongside men which was rare at the time, and she pushed her way into the political realm was also unheard of at this time period. In 1894 she became a part of Women’s Franchise Committee. She then went on to create her own committee to help the poor. She created a subcommittee that provided help for women and children in need (UXL Biographies). In 1903 Emmeline and her daughter Christabel established the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union). They went all around the country to spread word about their battles for women in hopes of gaining more support. Their message started to spread in Yorkshire and Lancaster. But despite their countless efforts, Parliament still wouldn’t even so much as debate the issue. (Moore)

  Parliament’s lack of interest let the WSPU know that they had to take even more action even if it meant breaking the law. Emmeline’s daughter Christabel and a woman named Annie Keeney were arrested for loudly questioning and holding a banner that read “Votes for Women”. After them there was a stream of women getting arrested for protesting. Their arrests were not in vain. The more arrests, the more attention was gained from the media.