Biography Badge 2005 John Lennon by Tyger's Den Kitties Dates:   Oct. 9, 1940 to Dec. 8, 1980 Nationality:   English Best Known for:   Oh, my, gosh! Mew don't know who he is?!? Seriously, known for his contributions to music as part of the Beatles and as an individual musician following the breakup of The Beatles in 1970. Also known for things like his events to promote peace: Give Peace A Chance, War Is Over If You Want It, Imagine, All You Need Is Love, bed-ins for peace, etc. along with his wife, Yoko Ono. Details:   There are many web sites dedicated to John Lennon. Here's one. Agatha Christie by Dwnn Dates:   1891-1976 Nationality:   English Best Known for:   "Cozy" murder mysteries with vivid characters and detailed plot twists. Details:   Created Hercule Poirot who used his "little grey cells" to solve mysteries and spinster Miss Marple who drew on human behavior observed in an English village to find the culprits. Christie wrote 68 novels, 17 plays, and over 100 short stories. Her works have been published in over 100 languages and continue to sell many copies during the thirty years since her death. The Mouse Trap opened at the Ambassador Theater in London in 1952 and is the longest running theatrical production. Her play Witness for the Prosecution won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. Queen Elizabeth II appointed her a Dame of the British Empire in 1971. There are many web sites dedicated to Agatha Christie. Here's one. Jacques-Yves Cousteau by Taliesin Dates:   1910-1997 Nationality:   French Best Known for:   Co-inventor, with Emile Gagnon, of the aqualung and with Malavard and Charrier of the turbosail system in 1985. Leader of numerous scientific explorations. Pioneer as ecologically minded documentary filmmaker. Details:   I feel a special bond with Cousteau since, as a kitten, I used to get into the bathtub with Meowmie and paddle around looking fur giant squid and other monsfurs of the deep. MOL MOL Cousteau founded several oceanographical research organizations and led a number of scientific cruises including the one in 1967 that led to the tv series The Undersea World of Jacques-Yves Cousteau. He also made a number of undersea films that won prizes at Cannes as well as Oscars. He also wrote a number of books on the theme of preserving the world's undersea ecosystems. There are many web sites dedicated to Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Here's one. Marie Sklodowska Curie by Hadarah Dates:   1867-1934 Nationality:   Born in Poland. Studied and worked in France. Best Known for:   First woman to win two Nobel Prizes: physics (shared)in 1903 and chemistry in 1911. Her daughter also shared the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1935 Invented a way to measure radioactivity. Developed theory that radioactive wasn't a chemical property resulting from reactions between atoms but a property of the atom itself. Her husband Pierre stopped his research to assit her. They identified elements radium and polonium (named after Poland). For this they shared the 1903 Nobel Prize with Henri Bequerel for discoveries in radioactivity After Pierre was killed in a street accident, Marie took over his lectures and became first woman teacher at Sorbonne. In 1911 she received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for her discovery of polonium and radium. She died of leukemia caused by exposure to radiation. Details:   There are many web sites dedicated to Marie Curie. Here's one. Ansel Adams by Fern and Maddie Dates:   1902-1984 Nationality:   American Best Known for:   Landscape Photography Details:   Ansel Adams was more than a photographer. He was a visionary who was dedicated to the preservation of the wilderness. A member of the Sierra Club, Ansel Adams' first photographs and writings were published in the Sierra Club Bulletin. Adams, who was also involved politically in the club, became known as both an artist and a defender of Yosemite. His pictures were used to influence the President in establishing the Kings Canyon National Park. In 1968 Adams was awarded the Conservation Service Award, the Interior Department's highest civilian honor. There are many web sites dedicated to Ansel Adams. Here's one at PBS. Paul McCartney by Shamus Blue Dates:   born June 18, 1942 Nationality:   English Best Known for:   His contribution to the Beatles Details:   Born, James Paul McCartney in Liverpool England. Father James McCartney , mother Mary Mohan. He has a younger brother Michael McCartney. They grew up in the council houses in Liverpool, England. At age 14 his mother died of breast cancer and his father raised the boys. Also at age 14 he met John Lennon at a village Fete, while John and his band the "Quarrymen" played for the afternoon. Soon after, Paul became one of the members; after several different name changes and member changes in the band they became "The Silver Beatles" and then as all the world now knows them "The Beatles". After the Beatles broke up in 1970, the members went their separate ways. Paul married Linda Eastman from New York and they had 4 children, the oldest of which was Linda's daughter, Heather from a previous marrage. The children's names are Heather, Mary, Stella, and son James. Paul formed another band called Wings that was very successful. and toured through the 70s. As history repeated itself, Paul's wife Linda also died of breast cancer. Devastated, Paul retreated to his home in Scotland where did some painting and spent time with his children. After about a year, Paul met and married Heather Mills, and they have a daughter named Beatrice Milly McCartney. Heather is an amputee, she lost her leg when she was hit by a car. She and Paul both support disarming landmines and helping other amputees. Paul continues to tour at the age of 63. He co-wrote the Beatle songs with John Lennon, and some of his own were the famous, Yesterday, and Blackbird, Mother Nature's Son, Eleanor Rigby, as well as many others. He also wrote When I'm 64 — which he will be next June. There are many web sites dedicated to Paul McCartney. Here's one. Colette by Phelicity Name:   Born Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, she married 3 times until she got it right, making her full name Sidonie Gabrielle Claudine Colette Gauthier-Villars de Jouvanel Goudeket. What a remarkable name! It might even be longer than Elizabeth Taylor's. Dates:   1873-1954 Nationality:   French of course, oooh la la! Best Known for:   Colette was a famous and prolific French novelist. Her best known works are her book about her cat (a French Chartreux named Franchette, who was called "Saha" in the book), La Chatte, published in 1933 when she was 60 years old, and her most popular novel, Gigi" which she wrote at the age of 72. It was made into a Broadway play and a very successful movie, starring a young dancer named Leslie Caron as Gigi. Details:   Her earliest books had to be published under her first husband's name. She divorced that one and worked in the music halls of Paris, until she married a newspaper editor in 1912. During World War I she was a freelance journalist, and after the war her writing career bloomed. She wrote about 50 novels. When she died in Paris in 1954, Colette was only the second woman to ever become a Grand Officier of the Legion of Honor, and she was given a state funeral, although she was refused church rites because of her lifestyle, which was quite daring for her time. She was a lifelong cat-lover, and one of her most famous quotes is "There are no ordinary cats". There are many web sites dedicated to Colette. Here's one. Rudyard Kipling by Mewsette Dates:   1865-1936 Nationality:   British; born in Bombay, India to British diplomat parents, educated in England. Best Known for:   His novels most loved by children, The Jungle Book, The Just-So Stories, and Kim, but he was primarily a poet, writing a huge volume of dramatic and masterful poetry all his life. In 1907 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, still its youngest-ever recipient to date. He was offered a Knighthood and the post of British Poet Laureate, but he turned them down. Details:   Kipling returned to India, where he was always the most at home, as a youth of 17. There he achieved fame quickly as a journalist and poet. As his works were published and acclaimed in England and around the world, he became most revered as the Poet of the British Empire. He enjoyed writing for children, as he adored his own, and he also felt great empathy with the common British soldiers of the time and wrote one of his most famous works of poetry, Barrack Room Ballads for and about them. He traveled widely, lived in America briefly, and spent his older years back in England. His body of poetry is so huge it's staggering, and so wonderful it takes my breath away, and most can still be found in print today. To me, Kipling is the greatest poet who ever lived. There are many web sites dedicated to Rudyard Kipling. Here's one at the Kipling Society. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis by Maggie and Levi Dates:   July 28, 1929 - May 19, 1994 Nationality:   American Best Known for:   First lady 1960-1963. (Married to John F. Kennedy). Details:   She was the wife of the 35th president of the United States. She is the mother to the late John F. Kennedy, Jr., and Caroline Kennedy (Schlossberg). She is known for her fashion sense and her redecoration of the White House. After the assassination of her husband in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, she was honored for her dignity in her time of grief. She was an editor after she was widowed for the second time with Aristotle Onassis. Some of her famous quotations are Even thought people may be well known, they hold in their hearts the emotions of a simple person for the moments that are the most important of those we know on earth: birth, marriage and death. I want to live my life, not record it. There are so many more. She did so much in her life. Makes meowmie proud to be a woman. There are many web sites dedicated to Jackie Kennedy Onassis. Here's one at the JKF Library site. Visit the 20th Century Guild: |Guild Home|   |Current Activities|   |Badges Gallery|   |Sound Off Archives|   |Members Gallery|   |Roster & Points|   |Guild Leaders|   |Earn Points|   |Join Guild|   |Have Fun|   Credits: Backgrounds courtesy of Gramma Hugs. Graphic images in badges courtesy Clip Art Connection. 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