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Awesome people from the past

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AnnaMayZing
Chasing Dragons
Those of you who know me will know of my love of history and fantasy.
So, which REAL person do you most admire and why.
It doesn't matter from how long ago or whether they are alive or dead, just write a name and a brief resume.

I will begin with Captain William Bligh of HMS Bounty.

Although very strict he commanded his men in a way that he saw as fair and reasonable.
Even though he finally lost his ship he managed to navigate an open boat some 3000 miles and saved the lives of most of those who remained loyal to him.



"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana
rolandlytle
Active Ink Slinger
Albert Einstein.

His heart and desire for ethics as well as his genius have always inspired me.
You can't get there from here, because when you get there you're still here and here is now there.
AnnaMayZing
Chasing Dragons
Kapitän zur See Hans Langsdorff, Captain of the warship, Admiral Graf Spee.

"Langsdorff and Admiral Graf Spee were extremely successful, stopping and sinking nine British merchant ships, totalling over 50,000 tons. Langsdorff adhered to the Hague Conventions and avoided killing anyone; his humane treatment won the respect of the ships' officers detained as his prisoners."



"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana
Mendalla
Crazy old ape
Edmond Halley



What did he do?

Paid for the publication of Sir Isaac Newton's Principia, in which Newton's laws of motion and gravity appeared

Used Newton's work on gravity to become the first astronomer to calculate the orbit of a comet (which now bears his name)

Invented the diving bell

Developed an early magnetic, liquid-filled compass

Sailed extensively to make observations about the Earth's magnetic field and its effect on compasses and even became a sea captain

Was Britain's second Astronomer Royal (ironically, the first was an enemy of Halley's)

IOW, while he's not as well known as his friend and contemporary Isaac Newton, Halley is quite an impressive figure in the history of science in his own right.

The old bookshop owner had something special for Dave.

Dash - Writer's Block competition entry

Survivor
Primus Omnium


I find a lot to admire in J. K. (Joanne) Rowling. I believe her first Harry Potter book was rejected by twelve publishers before being accepted.
That takes lots of moxie to keep going.

I love the way she is continually tweeting to put certain people in their place. Quite intelligent and witty.

From what I have read she is the first person to drop off of the billionaires' list because she donated so much to charities and good causes.
Mendalla
Crazy old ape
Quote by LarryFNigh


I love the way she is continually tweeting to put certain people in their place. Quite intelligent and witty..


I'm not her biggest fan as a writer (she's good but far from the best out there) but she is the master (mistress?) of the "sick burn" as my son calls it and I love seeing her take down some arsehole troll or idiot politician who dares to take her on.

The old bookshop owner had something special for Dave.

Dash - Writer's Block competition entry

Survivor
Primus Omnium
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Pilot, Writer(1900–1944)



I have always admired the writings of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I can't say I read the original French,
except for The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) and that was for a French class in college.

I've read several other books of his, including Wind, Sand and Stars, and never been disappointed.

It is generally assumed he lost his life after being shot down over occupied France while flying a reconnaissance mission in July 1944.
His plane was later found in the sea off the coast of Marseille.
Ghostreader
Active Ink Slinger
H. P. Lovecraft

He kept on writing thou providence and hard times.
Mendalla
Crazy old ape
Quote by Ghostreader
H. P. Lovecraft

He kept on writing thou providence and hard times.





A fantastic imagination and I will always love his fiction. But as a human being, he was a bit of a racist s**t.

The old bookshop owner had something special for Dave.

Dash - Writer's Block competition entry

Regnadkcin
Advanced Wordsmith
Harriet Tubman

Worked on the underground railroad. During the Civil War, she was a spy for the Union and led a raid freeing many slaves. After the war, she worked for women's sufferage. A remarkable woman.
Guest
Lurker
Etta James

She was a phenomenal woman and singer. Wrote as well, was underappreciated, IMO. (As a singer) She went through a lot.

Patsy Cline too. No voice is purer.
AnnaMayZing
Chasing Dragons
Odette Sansom Hallowes GC, MBE (28 April 1912 – 13 March 1995)

Member of the Special Operations Executive and captured by the Germans in 1943.
Despite being brutally tortured and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp, she never gave away any information or betrayed any other operatives and survived the war to testify against the camp guards.



"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana
LauraDanielle
Active Ink Slinger


Anne of Cleves. I want to ask how she managed to survive Henry VIII and come out of it rather well.
gillianleeza
Story Moderator


I owe my newfound respect and knowledge for this woman from a thread on the other site I had only known about and admired her daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. I am glad I know more about her mother now.

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) English author, Wollstonecraft wrote the most significant book in the early feminist movement. Her pamphlet “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” laid down a moral and practical basis for extending human and political rights to women. She was a pioneer in the struggle for female suffrage.
Fritz2011
Rookie Scribe
Quote by LauraDanielle


Anne of Cleves. I want to ask how she managed to survive Henry VIII and come out of it rather well.

Great choice, I am enthused over all the choices I see here!

Although he is distinctly unpopular right now, I would vote gor Robert E. Lee either before or after the war. Especially after, when he srrved as a college president and did much to improve the ideals and gosks of education in the country. If I could take the burden off his hratt by serving as his secretary, I would be glad to.

And as an alternative, any of the Tudors.
Fritz2011
Rookie Scribe
Quote by LauraDanielle


Anne of Cleves. I want to ask how she managed to survive Henry VIII and come out of it rather well.

Great choice, I am enthused over all the choices I see here!

Although he is distinctly unpopular right now, I would vote for Robert E. Lee either before or after the war. Especially after, when he served as a college president and did much to improve the ideals and goals of education in the country. If I could take the burden off his heart by serving as his secretary, I would be glad to.

And as an alternative, any of the Tudors.
Regnadkcin
Advanced Wordsmith
James Clerk Maxwell

Possibly the smartest person who ever lived. It was said that his intellect was oppressive to others. Even the highly intelligent and educated.
AnnaMayZing
Chasing Dragons
Florence Nightingale, OM, RRC, DStJ (12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing.



Recent commentators have asserted Nightingale's Crimean War achievements were exaggerated by media at the time, but critics agree on the importance of her later work in professionalising nursing roles for women. In 1860, Nightingale laid the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment of her nursing school at St Thomas' Hospital in London.



"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana
DenimAngel
👑Magic Cookie FAIRY 🍪
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (German: [ʔanəliːs maˈʁiː ˈʔanə ˈfʁaŋk]; Dutch: [ʔɑnəˈlis maˈri ˈʔɑnə ˈfrɑŋk]; 12 June 1929 – February or March 1945) was a German-born diarist. One of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust, she gained fame posthumously with the publication of The Diary of a Young Girl (originally Het Achterhuis in Dutch; English: The Secret Annex), in which she documents her life in hiding from 1942 to 1944, during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. It is one of the world's most widely known books and has been the basis for several plays and films.




it was hard picking just one person I love history so for today I'll go with this pick

My Competition Story : 💜 Milly's Adventure https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/childrens/millys-adventure-2
AnnaMayZing
Chasing Dragons
Father Rupert Mayer



In January 1933, when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, he showed his true face and began to close church-affiliated schools and started a campaign to defame the religious orders in Germany. Mayer spoke out against this persecution from the pulpit of St. Michael's in downtown Munich and because he was a powerful influence in the city, the Nazis could not tolerate such a force to oppose them. On 16 May 1937, the Gestapo ordered Mayer to stop speaking in public which he obeyed, but he continued to preach in church.

Mayer spoke out against anti-Catholic baiting campaigns and fought against Nazi church policy. He preached that Man must obey God more than men. His protests against the Nazis landed him several times in Landsberg prison (the same jail in which Hitler spent almost six months following the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923), and in Sachsenhausen concentration camp under the Kanzelparagraphen, a series of 19th-century laws that forbade the clergy to make political statements.

From late 1940, he was interned in Ettal Monastery, mainly because the Nazis were afraid that he would die in the concentration camp, and thus become a martyr. Mayer resolutely spoke out against the Nazi régime's evil in his lectures and sermons. Before the Sondergericht – one of Hitler's "special courts" – he declared Despite the speaking ban imposed on me, I shall preach further, even if the state authorities deem my pulpit speeches to be punishable acts and a misuse of the pulpit.

Fr. Mayer died on his feet on 1 November 1945 of a stroke, while he was celebrating 8:00 AM Mass, on the feast of All Saints' Day in St. Michael's in Munich.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Mayer



"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana
Mendalla
Crazy old ape
This guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_von_Ungern-Sternberg



Was a hoot. I read a bio of him that, oddly, isn't listed in the references on his Wiki. I know the author through another board I used to be on. S-F writer Charles Stross used him in a novel that I read around the same time (The Fuller Memorandum, part of Stross' Laundry Files series). Anyhow, if you want the full story, the Baron's Wiki article covers the basics well.

The old bookshop owner had something special for Dave.

Dash - Writer's Block competition entry

Dark_Apollo
Active Ink Slinger
Louis Pasteur, a chemist who was one of the fathers of microbiology. He made a study of alcoholic fermentation which he showed was caused by the action of a yeast - a microorganism. He then went on to show that spoiling of liquids such as wine was cause by other microorganisms and in the basis of his observations proposed that disease in man and animals was caused by microorganisms. He demonstrated that microorganisms could be destroyed in liquids by heating to between 60 and 100C without changing their flavour or properties. Later in life he was the first scientist to make a proper study of the action and production of vaccines.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Pasteur
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews 4:12
Dark_Apollo
Active Ink Slinger
Sir Joseph Lister was a surgeon who is widely regarded as the father of modern surgery because of his pioneering work on antiseptics and his demonstration that their use in surgery dramatically reduced post operative wound infections.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Lister
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews 4:12
Dark_Apollo
Active Ink Slinger
Robert Koch, a German physician and rival of Louis Pasteur who was the founder of modern bacteriology. He identified the specific causative agents of tuberculosis, cholera, and anthrax and gave experimental support for the concept of infectious disease, which included experiments on humans and animals. Koch created and improved laboratory technologies and techniques in the field of microbiology, and made key discoveries in public health. His research led to the creation of Koch's postulates, a series of four generalized principles linking specific microorganisms to specific diseases that remain today the "gold standard" in medical microbiology

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Koch
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews 4:12
AnnaMayZing
Chasing Dragons
Grace Horsley Darling (24 November 1815 – 20 October 1842)



Grace Darling was born on 24 November 1815 at her grandfather's cottage in Bamburgh in Northumberland. She was the seventh of nine children (four brothers and four sisters) born to William and Thomasin Darling, and when only a few weeks old she was taken to live on Brownsman Island, one of the Farne Islands, in a small cottage attached to the lighthouse

In the early hours of 7 September 1838, Darling, looking from an upstairs window [of the lighthouse], spotted the wreck and survivors of the Forfarshire on Big Harcar, a nearby low rocky island. The Forfarshire had foundered on the rocks and broken in half: one of the halves had sunk during the night.

She and her father William determined that the weather was too rough for the lifeboat to put out from Seahouses (then North Sunderland), so they took a rowing boat (a 21 ft, 4-man Northumberland coble) across to the survivors, taking a long route that kept to the lee side of the islands, a distance of nearly a mile. Darling kept the coble steady in the water while her father helped four men and the lone surviving woman, Mrs. Dawson, into the boat. Although she survived the sinking, Mrs Dawson had lost her two young children during the night. William and three of the rescued men then rowed the boat back to the lighthouse. Darling then remained at the lighthouse while William and three of the rescued crew members rowed back and recovered four more survivors.

In 1842, Grace fell ill while visiting the mainland and was in convalescence with her cousins, the MacFarlanes, in their house in Narrowgate, Alnwick. The Duchess of Northumberland heard of her situation, arranged for her to be moved to better accommodation close to Alnwick Castle, and tended to the ailing heroine in person as well as providing Grace with the services of the ducal family physician.
Grace's condition declined, however, and in the final stages of her illness she was conveyed to the place of her birth, in Bamburgh. Grace Darling died of tuberculosis in October 1842, aged 26.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Darling



"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana