ELVIS PRESLEY

Elvis Aaron Presley was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a tworoom house in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jessie only child. He and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1948, and Elvis graduated from

Elvis’ musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, the gospel music he heard in church and at the allhe frequently attended, and the black R&B he absorbed on historic Beale Street as a Memphis teenager

ELVIS PRESLEY

Elvis Aaron Presley was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jessie Garon, was stillborn, leaving Elvis to grow up as an only child. He and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1948, and Elvis graduated from Humes High School there in 1953.

Elvis’ musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, the gospel music he heard in church and at the all-night gospel sings he frequently attended, and the black R&B he absorbed on historic Beale Street as a Memphis teenager.

In 1954, Elvis began his singing career with the legendary Sun Records label in Memphis. In late 1955, his recording contract was sold to RCA Victor. By 1956, he was an international sensation. With a sound and style that uniquely combined his diverse musical influences and blurred and challenged the social and racial barriers of the time, he ushered in a whole new era of American music and popular culture. He starred in 33 successful films, made history with his television appearances and specials, and knew great acclaim through his many, often record-breaking, live concert performances on tour and in Las Vegas. Globally, he has sold over one billion records, more than any other artist. His American sales have earned him gold, platinum or multi-platinum awards. Among his many awards and accolades were 14 Grammy nominations (3 wins) from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award which he received at age 36, and his being named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees. Without any of the special privileges, his celebrity status might have afforded him, he honorably served his country in the U.S. Army. His talent, good looks, sensuality, charisma, and good humor endeared him to millions, as did the humility and human kindness he demonstrated throughout his life. Known the world over by his first name, he is regarded as one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture. Elvis died at his Memphis home, Graceland, on August 16, 1977.

CLEOPATRAWHY IS CLEOPATRA A MYTH?

WHY DID SHE BECOME A CELEBRITY?

WHAT DID SHE DO TO BE ADMIRED EVERYWHERE?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HER LIFE?

IS THERE ANY ANECDOTE YOU CAN SHARE?

As queen of ancient Egypt, Cleopatra is one of the famous female rulers in history. Her family had ruled Egypt for more than 100 years before she was born around 69 BC. The stories and myths surrounding Cleopatra's tragic life inspired a number of books, movies, and plays, including Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare. Cleopatra has become one of the most well-known ancient Egyptians.(born 70/69 —died August of 30 , Alexandria) Egyptian queen, famous in history and drama as the lover of Julius Caesar and later the wife of Marc Antony. She became queen on the death of her father, Ptolemy XII, in 51 and ruled successively with her two brothers Ptolemy XIII (51–47) and Ptolemy XIV (47–44) and her son Ptolemy XV Caesar (44–30). After the Roman armies of Octavian (the future emperor Augustus) defeated their combined forces, Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide, and Egypt fell under Roman domination. Cleopatra actively influenced Roman politics at a crucial period, and she came to represent, as did no other woman of antiquity, the prototype of the romantic femme fatale.

CLEOPATRA’S PROFILE:

Cleopatra realized that she needed Roman support, or, more specifically, Caesar's support, if she was to regain her throne. Each was determined to use the other. Caesar sought money for repayment of the debts incurred by Cleopatra's father, Auletes, as he struggled to retain his throne. Cleopatra was determined to keep her throne and, if possible, to restore the glories of the first Ptolemies and recover as much as possible of their dominions, which had included southern Syria and Palestine. Caesar and Cleopatra became lovers and spent the winter besieged in Alexandria.

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JAMES DEANWHY IS JAMES DEAN A MYTH?

WHY DID HE BECOME A CELEBRITY?

WHAT DID HE DO TO BE ADORED BY HIS FANS?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HIS LIFE?

IS THERE ANY ANECDOTE YOU CAN SHARE?

JEAMES DEAN’S PROFILE:

James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were as loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955), and as the surly ranch hand, Jett Rink, in Giant (1956). Dean's enduring fame and popularity rests on his performances in only these three films, all leading roles. His premature death in a car crash cemented his legendary status.Dean was the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Dean the 18th best male movie star on their AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list.

A MOVIE ICON

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JEANNE D’ARC

WHY DID SHE BECOME A CELEBRITY?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HER LIFE?

IS THERE ANY ANECDOTE YOU CAN SHARE?

WHAT DID SHE DO TO BE ADMIRED IN FRANCE?

WHY IS JEANNE D’ARC A MYTH?

JEANNE D’ARC’S PROFILE:

Legend says that she was born to auspicious signs held to be a forecast of national triumph. However, what is more certain is that her family were poor and her region had suffered from the long conflict between England and France.

Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans“ (1412 in Domremy, France– 30 May 1431), is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in what is now eastern France, who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII. She was captured by the Burgundians, transferred to the English in exchange for money, put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais for charges of "insubordination and heterodoxy,” and burned at the stake as a heretic when she was 19 years old.

JOAN of ARC

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Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (1043 – July 10, 1099), known as El Cid Campeador (Spanish "The lord-master of military arts"), was a Castilian nobleman, military leader, and diplomat. Exiled from the court of the Spanish Emperor Alfonso VI of León and Castile, El Cid went on to command a Moorish force consisting of Muladis, Berbers, Arabs and Malians, under Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud, Moorish king of the northeast Al-Andalus city of Zaragoza, and his successor, Al-Mustein II.After the Christian defeat at the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086, El Cid was recalled to service by Alfonso VI, and commanded a combined Christian and Moorish army, which he used to create his own fiefdom in the Moorish Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia.Rodrigo Díaz was educated in the royal court of Castile and became the alférez, the chief general, of Alfonso VI, and his most valuable asset in the fight against the Moors.

EL CID CAMPEADORWHY IS ‘EL CID’ A MYTH?

WHY DID HE BECOME A CELEBRITY?

WHAT DID HE DO TO BE HATED BY MUSLIMS?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HIS LIFE?

IS THERE ANY ANECDOTE YOU CAN SHARE?

EL CID’S PROFILE:

A WAR ICON

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AMAZONS

WHY DID THEY BECOME A CELEBRITY?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HEIR LIFE?

IS THERE ANY ANECDOTE YOU CAN SHARE?

WHY ARE AMAZONS A MYTH?

AMAZONS’S PROFILE:

The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity.

Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia (modern territory of Ukraine).

Other historiographers place them in Asia Minor, or Libya.

Notable queens of the Amazons are Penthesilea, who participated in the Trojan War, and her

sister Hippolyta, whose magical girdle, given to her by her father Ares, was the object of one of

the labours of Hercules. Amazonian raiders were often depicted in battle with Greek warriors in

amazonomachies in classical art.

The Amazons have become associated with various historical peoples throughout the Roman

Empire period and Late Antiquity. In Roman historiography, there are various accounts of

Amazon raids in Asia Minor. From the Early Modern period, their name has become a term for

woman warriors in general.

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Abraham LINCOLNWHY IS LINCOLN A MYTH?

WHY DID HE BECOME A CELEBRITY?

WHAT DID HE DO TO BE ADORED BY AMERICAN PEOPLE?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HIS LIFE?

IS THERE ANY ANECDOTE YOU CAN SHARE?

LINCOLN’S PROFILE:

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the UnitedStates, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully ledhis country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American CivilWar – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and promoting economic and financialmodernization. Reared in a poor family on the western frontier, Lincoln was mostly self-educated. He became a country lawyer, a Whig Party, Illinois state legislator in the 1830s, aone-term member of the United States House of Representatives in the 1840s, but hefailed in two attempts to be elected to the United States Senate in the 1850s. Afteropposing the expansion of slavery in the United States in his campaign debates andspeeches,[1] Lincoln secured the Republican Party nomination and was elected president in1860.

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WHY IS VIRIATO A MYTH?

WHY DID HE BECOME A CELEBRITY?

WHAT DID HE DO TO BE RESPECTED BY ROMANS?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HIS LIFE?

IS THERE ANY ANECDOTE YOU CAN SHARE?

VIRIATO’S PROFILE:

VIRIATO

Viriathus (Viriato in Spanish) (died 138 BC)

was the most important leader of the Lusitanian

people that resisted Roman expansion into the

regions of Western Hispania (as the Romans

would call it), where the Roman province of

Lusitania would be established (in the areas

comprising most of Portugal, Extremadura and

south of the Douro river in Spain). Viriathus led the Lusitanians to several victories

over the Romans between 147 BC and 139 BC

before he was betrayed to the Romans and killed.

"It seemed as if, in that thoroughly prosaic age, one

of the Homeric heroes had reappeared."

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Pocahontas was born in Gloucester County, Virginia, in March 1595. Her real

Native American name, given by her father, Chief Powhatan, was Matoaka. Her

pet name was Pocahontas, meaning "my favorite daughter" and "frolicsome." In

1607, settlers came to the Chesapeake Bay area and a man named John Smith,

the military leader of Jamestown, was taken prisoner by her people some years

later. Pocahontas was the one who saved John Smith's life, possibly having flung

herself over him as he was about to be clubbed to death, but this has not been

proven true. After saving him, she urged her Native American people that he be

returned to Jamestown and her father, Chief Powhatan, honored her request.

POCAHONTAS

WHY DID SHE BECOME A CELEBRITY?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HER LIFE?

IS THERE ANY ANECDOTE YOU CAN SHARE?

WHY IS POCAHONTAS A MYTH?

POCAHONTAS’S PROFILE:

WHAT DID HE DO TO BE RESPECTED BY PEOPLE?

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RASPUTINWHY IS RASPUTIN A MYTH?

WHY DID HE BECOME A CELEBRITY?

WHAT DID HE DO TO BE ADMIRED EVERYWHERE?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HIS LIFE?

IS THERE ANY ANECDOTE YOU CAN SHARE?

RASPUTIN’S PROFILE:

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (22 January 1869 – 29 December 1916) was a Russian Orthodox

Christian and mystic who is perceived as having influenced the latter days of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their only son Alexei. Some people called Rasputin the "Mad Monk“, while others considered him a "strannik" (or religious pilgrim) and even a starets ("elder", a title usually reserved for monk-confessors), believing him to be a psychic and faith healer.It has been argued that Rasputin helped to discredit the tsarist government, leading to the fall of the Romanov dynasty in 1917. Contemporary opinions saw Rasputin variously as a saintly mystic, visionary, healer and prophet or, on the contrary, as a debauched religious charlatan. There has been much uncertainty over Rasputin's life and influence as accounts of his life have often been based on dubious memoirs, hearsay and legend.

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WHY IS MARILYN A MYTH?

MARILYN MONROE

WHY DID SHE BECOME A CELEBRITY?

WHAT DID SHE DO TO BE ADORED BY HER FANS?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HER LIFE?

IS THERE ANY ANECDOTE YOU CAN SHARE?

MARILYN MONROE’S PROFILE:

Norma Jeane Mortensen Baker (June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962), professionally recognized as Marilyn

Monroe, was an American actress, model, and singer, who became a major sex symbol, starring in a

number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s and early 1960s.

After spending much of her childhood in foster homes, Monroe began a career as a model, which led to a

film contract in 1946 with Twentieth Century-Fox. Her early film appearances were minor, but her

performances in The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve (both 1950) drew attention to her. By 1953, Monroe

had progressed to a leading role in Niagara (1953), a melodramatic film noir that dwelt on her

seductiveness. Her "dumb blonde" persona was used to comic effect in subsequent films such as

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and The Seven Year Itch (1955).

Limited by typecasting, Monroe studied at the Actors Studio to broaden her range. She has often been

cited as both a pop and a cultural icon as well as the quintessential American sex symbol.

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DRAKULWHY IS DRACULA A MYTH?

WHY DID HE BECOME A CELEBRITY?

WHAT DID HE DO TO ATTRACT PEOPLE?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HIS LIFE?

IS THERE ANY ANECDOTE YOU CAN SHARE?

DRAKUL’S PROFILE:Count Dracula, a fictional character in the Dracula novel, was

inspired by one of the best-known figures of Romanian history,

Vlad Dracula, nicknamed Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler), who was

the ruler of Walachia at various times from 1456-1462. Born in

1431 in Sighisoara, he resided all his adult life in Walachia, except

for periods of imprisonment at Pest and Visegrad (in Hungary).

DRACULA

Some say that Transylvania sits on one of Earth's strongest

magnetic fields and its people have extra-sensory perception.

Vampires are believed to hang around crossroads.

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