George Washington

George Washington (February 22, 1732 [O.S. February 11, 1731]^[b][c] – December 14, 1799) was the first President of the United States (1789–97), the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and one of theFounding Fathers of the United States. He presided over the convention that drafted the current United States Constitution and during his lifetime was called the "father of his country".^[2]

Widely admired for his strong leadership qualities, Washington was unanimously elected president in the first two national elections. He oversaw the creation of a strong, well-financed national government that maintained neutrality in the French Revolutionary Wars, suppressed the Whiskey Rebellion, and won acceptance among Americans of all types.^[3] Washington's incumbency established many precedents, still in use today, such as the cabinet system, the inaugural address, and the title Mr. President.^[4][5] His retirement from office after two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term. The 22nd Amendment (1951) now limits the president to two elected terms. Born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia, his family were wealthy planters who owned tobacco plantations and slaves which he inherited. He owned hundreds of slaves throughout his lifetime, but his views on slavery evolved to support abolition.^[6] In his youth he became a senior British officer in the colonial militia during the first stages of the French and Indian War. In 1775 the Second Continental Congress commissioned Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution. In that command, Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776, but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter, he defeated the British in two battles (Trenton and Princeton), retook New Jersey and restored momentum to the Patriot cause.

General of the Armies George Washington
George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, 1797
1st President of the United States
In office April 30, 1789[a] – March 4, 1797
Vice President	John Adams
Preceded by	Inaugural holder
Succeeded by	John Adams
Senior Officer of the Army
In office July 13, 1798 – December 14, 1799
Appointed by	John Adams
Preceded by	James Wilkinson
Succeeded by	Alexander Hamilton
Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army
In office June 15, 1775 – December 23, 1783
Appointed by	Continental Congress
Preceded by	Inaugural holder
Succeeded by	Henry Knox (Senior Officer of the Army)
Delegate to the Second Continental Congress from Virginia
In office May 10, 1775 – June 15, 1775
Preceded by	Inaugural holder
Succeeded by	Thomas Jefferson
Delegate to the First Continental Congress from Virginia
In office September 5, 1774 – October 26, 1774
Preceded by	Inaugural holder
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	February 22, 1732 Westmoreland County,Virginia, British America
Died	December 14, 1799 (aged 67) Mount Vernon, Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Washington Family Tomb Mount Vernon, Virginia
Political party	None
Spouse(s)	Martha Dandridge (m. 1759)
Religion	Christian, Episcopal Church[1]
Awards	Congressional Gold Medal Thanks of Congress
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Great Britain  United States
Service/branch	Colonial Militia  Continental Army  United States Army
Years of service	1752–58 (British Militia) 1775–83 (Continental Army) 1798–99 (U.S. Army)
Rank	Colonel (Great Britain)  Lieutenant General(United States)  General of the Armies(promoted posthumously: 1976, by an Act of Congress)
Commands	Virginia Colony's regiment Continental Army United States Army
Battles/wars	See battles

His strategy enabled Continental forces to capture two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. Historians laud Washington for the selection and supervision of his generals, preservation and command of the army, coordination with the Congress, state governors and their militia, and attention to supplies, logistics, and training. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies. After victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism.^[7] Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which devised a new form of federal governmentfor the United States. Following unanimous election as president in 1789, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation. He supported Alexander Hamilton's programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state, established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank.^[8] In avoiding war with Great Britain, he guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795, despite intense opposition from the Jeffersonians. Although he remained nonpartisan, never joining the Federalist Party, he largely supported its policies. Washington's Farewell Address was an influential primer on civic virtue, warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars. He retired from the presidency in 1797, returning to his home and plantation at Mount Vernon.

While in power, his use of national authority pursued many ends, especially the preservation of liberty, reduction of regional tensions, and promotion of a spirit of American nationalism.^[9] Upon his death, Washington was eulogized as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen" by Henry Lee.^[10] Revered in life and in death, scholarly and public polling consistently rankshim among the top three presidents in American history; he has been depicted and remembered in monuments, currency, and other dedications through the present day.

Charlie Chaplin

Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the silent era. Chaplin became a worldwide icon through his screen persona "the Tramp" and is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the film industry.^[1] His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death in 1977, and encompassed both adulation and controversy.

Chaplin's childhood in London was one of poverty and hardship. As his father was absent and his mother struggled financially, he was sent to a workhouse twice before the age of nine. When he was 14, his mother was committed to a mental asylum. Chaplin began performing at an early age, touring music halls and later working as a stage actor and comedian. At 19 he was signed to the prestigious Fred Karno company, which took him to America. Chaplin was scouted for the film industry, and began appearing in 1914 for Keystone Studios. He soon developed the Tramp persona and formed a large fan base. Chaplin directed his own films from an early stage, and continued to hone his craft as he moved to the Essanay, Mutual, and First National corporations. By 1918, he was one of the best known figures in the world.

In 1919, Chaplin co-founded the distribution company United Artists, which gave him complete control over his films. His first feature-length was The Kid (1921), followed by A Woman of Paris (1923), The Gold Rush (1925), and The Circus (1928). He refused to move to sound films in the 1930s, instead producing City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936) without dialogue. Chaplin became increasingly political, and his next film, The Great Dictator (1940), satirised Adolf Hitler. The 1940s were a decade marked with controversy for Chaplin, and his popularity declined rapidly. He was accused of communist sympathies, while his involvement in apaternity suit and marriages to much younger women caused scandal. An FBI investigation was opened, and Chaplin was forced to leave the United States and settle in Switzerland. He abandoned the Tramp in his later films, which include Monsieur Verdoux(1947), Limelight (1952), A King in New York (1957), and A Countess from Hong Kong (1967).

Sir Charles Chaplin KBE
Publicity portrait, c. 1920
Born	Charles Spencer Chaplin 16 April 1889 London, England (unverified)
Died	25 December 1977 (aged 88) Corsier-sur-Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland
Occupation	Actor director composer screenwriter producer editor
Years active	1899–1976
Spouse(s)	Mildred Harris (m. 1918;div. 1920) Lita Grey (m. 1924; div. 1927) Paulette Goddard (m. 1936;div. 1942) Oona O'Neill (m. 1943)
Children	11
Relatives	See Chaplin family
Website	charliechaplin.com
Signature

Chaplin wrote, directed, produced, edited, starred in, and composed the music for most of his films. He was a perfectionist, and his financial independence enabled him to spend years on the development and production of a picture. His films are characterised byslapstick combined with pathos, typified in the Tramp's struggles against adversity. Many contain social and political themes, as well as autobiographical elements. In 1972, as part of a renewed appreciation for his work, Chaplin received an Honorary Academy Award for "the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century". He continues to be held in high regard, with The Gold Rush, City Lights, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator often ranked on industry lists of the greatest films of all time.

Karl Landsteiner

Karl Landsteiner, ForMemRS^[1] (June 14, 1868 – June 26, 1943), was an Austrian and American biologist and physician.^[2] He is noted for having distinguished the main blood groups in 1900, having developed the modern system of classification of blood groups from his identification of the presence of agglutinins in the blood, and having identified, with Alexander S. Wiener, the Rhesus factor, in 1937, thus enabling physicians to transfuse blood without endangering the patient′s life. With Constantin Levaditi and Erwin Popper, he discovered the polio virus in 1909. He received the Aronson Prize in 1926. In 1930, he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He was awarded with Lasker Award in 1946 posthumously, and is recognized as the father of transfusion medicine.^[3]

Start of an academic career[edit]

Landsteiner’s father, Leopold (1818–1875), a renowned Viennese journalist who was editor-in-chief of Die Presse, died at age 56, when Karl was only 6. This led to a close relationship between him and his mother Fanny (née Hess; 1837–1908). After graduating with the Matura exam from a Vienna secondary school, he took up the study of medicine at the University of Vienna and wrote his doctoral thesis in 1891. While still a student he published an essay on the influence of diets on the composition of blood.

From 1891 to 1893, Landsteiner studied chemistry in Würzburg under Hermann Emil Fischer, in München under Eugen Bambergerand in Zürich under Arthur Rudolf Hantzsch. A number of publications from that period, some of them in co-operation with his professors, show that he did not restrict himself to attending lectures.^[4]

Research work in Vienna – Discovery of the polio virus[edit]

After returning to Vienna he became an assistant to Max von Gruber at the Hygienic Institute. In his studies he concentrated on the mechanism of immunity and the nature of antibodies. From November 1897 to 1908 Landsteiner was an assistant at the pathological-anatomical institute of the University of Vienna under Anton Weichselbaum, where he published 75 papers, dealing with issues in serology, bacteriology, virology and pathological anatomy. In addition he did some 3,600 autopsies in those ten years. Weichselbaum was Landsteiner’s tutor for his postdoctoral lecture qualification in 1903.^[5] From 1908 to 1920 Landsteiner was prosector at the Wilhelminenspital in Vienna and in 1911 he was sworn in as an associate professor of pathological anatomy. During that time he discovered – in co-operation with Erwin Popper – the infectious character of poliomyelitis and isolated the polio virus.^[6] In recognition of this groundbreaking discovery, which proved to be the basis for the fight against polio, he was posthumously inducted into the Polio Hall of Fame at Warm Springs, Georgia, which was dedicated in January 1958.

Discovery of the blood groups[edit]

Karl Landsteiner working in his lab in Vienna, (reverse of 1,000-schilling bank note, 1997)

In 1900 Karl Landsteiner found out that the blood of two people under contact agglutinates, and in 1901 he found that this effect was due to contact of blood with blood serum. As a result, he succeeded in identifying the three blood groups A, B and O, which he labelled C, of human blood. Landsteiner also found out that blood transfusion between persons with the same blood group did not lead to the destruction of blood cells, whereas this occurred between persons of different blood groups.^[7] Based on his findings, the first^[8] successful blood transfusion was performed by Reuben Ottenberg at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York in 1907.

Today it is well known that persons with blood group AB can accept donations of the other blood groups, and that persons with blood group O can donate to all other groups. Individuals with blood group AB are referred to as universal recipients and those with blood group O are known as universal donors. These donor-recipient relationships arise due to the fact that type O blood possesses neither antigens of blood group A nor of blood group B. Therefore the immune systems of persons with blood group A, B or AB do not refuse the donation. Further, because persons with blood group AB do not form antibodies against either the antigens of blood group A or B, they can accept blood from persons with these blood groups, besides from persons with blood group O.

In today’s blood transfusions only concentrates of red blood cells without serum are transmitted, which is of great importance in surgical practice. In 1930 Landsteiner was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in recognition of these achievements. For his pioneering work, he is recognized as the father of transfusion medicine.^[9]

Research work in The Netherlands and the United States[edit]

Landsteiner bronze bust at Warm Springs

After World War I, Vienna and the new republic of Austria as a whole was in a desolate economic state, a situation in which Landsteiner did not see any possibilities to carry on with his research work. He decided to move to The Netherlands and accepted a post as prosector in the small CatholicSt. Joannes de Deo hospital (now MCH Westeinde) in The Hague ^[10] and, in order to improve his financial situation also took a job in a small factory, producing old tuberculin (tuberculinum prestinum).^[11] He also published a number of papers, five of them being published in Dutch by the Royal Academy of Sciences. Yet working conditions proved to be not much better than in post-war Vienna. So Landsteiner accepted the invitation that reached him from New York, initiated by Simon Flexner, who was familiar with Landsteiner's work, to work for the Rockefeller Institute. He arrived there with his family in the spring of 1923. Throughout the 1920s Landsteiner worked on the problems of immunity and allergy. In 1927 he discovered new blood groups: M, N and P, refining the work he had begun 20 years before. Soon after Landsteiner and his collaborator, Philip Levine, published the work and in 1927, the types began to be used in paternity suits.

Awards and honours[edit]

Landsteiner was posthumously awarded the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award in 1946 and elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1941.^[1]

Personal life[edit]

Landsteiner converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism in 1890.^[12] In 1916 he married Leopoldine Helene Wlasto, a Greek Orthodox who converted to her husband's Roman Catholic faith. In 1937 Landsteiner took legal action against an American publisher who had included him in the book Who's Who in American Jewry, stating that "it will be detrimental to me to emphasize publicly the religion of my ancestors."^[13]

Karl Landsteiner
Born	June 14, 1868 Baden bei Wien (near Vienna),Austria-Hungary
Died	June 26, 1943 (aged 75) New York City, New York, U.S.
Residence	Austria United States of America
Citizenship	Austrian - American
Nationality	Austrian
Fields	Medicine, virology
Institutions	University of Vienna Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York
Alma mater	University of Vienna
Known for	Development of blood group system, discovery of Rh factor, discovery of poliovirus
Notable awards	Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1930) Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award (1946 posthumously) ForMemRS (1941)[1]

Subhas Chandra Bose

Subhas Chandra Bose (Bengali: [Subhas Chandra Bose] ( listen); 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945^[1][a]), was an Indian nationalist whose defiant patriotism made him a hero in India, but whose attempt during World War II to rid India of British rule with the help of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan left a troubled legacy.^{[4][b][5][c][6][d]} The honorific Netaji (Hindustani: "Respected Leader"), first applied in early 1942 to Bose in Germany by the Indian soldiers of the Indische Legion and by the German and Indian officials in the Special Bureau for India in Berlin, was later used throughout India.^[7][e]

Earlier, Bose had been a leader of the younger, radical, wing of the Indian National Congress in the late 1920s and 1930s, rising to become Congress President in 1938 and 1939.^[8][f] However, he was ousted from Congress leadership positions in 1939 following differences with Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress high command.^[9] He was subsequently placed under house arrest by the British before escaping from India in 1940.^[10]

Bose arrived in Germany in April 1941, where the leadership offered unexpected, if sometimes ambivalent, sympathy for the cause of India's independence, contrasting starkly with its attitudes towards other colonised peoples and ethnic communities.^[11][12] In November 1941, with German funds, a Free India Centre was set up in Berlin, and soon a Free India Radio, on which Bose broadcast nightly. A 3,000-strong Free India Legion, comprising Indians captured by Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps, was also formed to aid in a possible future German land invasion of India.^[13] By spring 1942, in light of Japanese victories in southeast Asia and changing German priorities, a German invasion of India became untenable, and Bose became keen to move to southeast Asia.^[14]Adolf Hitler, during his only meeting with Bose in late May 1942, suggested the same, and offered to arrange for a submarine.^[15]During this time Bose also became a father; his wife, ^[3] or companion,^[2][g] Emilie Schenkl, whom he had met in 1934, gave birth to a baby girl in November 1942.^[3][11] Identifying strongly with the Axis powers, and no longer apologetically, Bose boarded a German submarine in February 1943.^[16][17] In Madagascar, he was transferred to a Japanese submarine from which he disembarked inJapanese-held Sumatra in May 1943.^[16]

With Japanese support, Bose revamped the Indian National Army (INA), then composed of Indian soldiers of the British Indian army who had been captured in the Battle of Singapore.^[18] To these, after Bose's arrival, were added enlisting Indian civilians in Malaya and Singapore. The Japanese had come to support a number of puppet and provisional governments in the captured regions, such as those in Burma, the Philippines and Manchukuo. Before long the Provisional Government of Free India, presided by Bose, was formed in the Japanese-occupied Andaman and Nicobar Islands.^[18][19][h] Bose had great drive and charisma—creating popular Indian slogans, such as "Jai Hind,"—and the INA under Bose was a model of diversity by region, ethnicity, religion, and even gender. However, Bose was regarded by the Japanese as being militarily unskilled,^[20][i] and his military effort was short lived. In late 1944 and early 1945 the British Indian Army first halted and then devastatingly reversed the Japanese attack on India. Almost half the Japanese forces and fully half the participating INA contingent were killed.^[21][j] The INA was driven down the Malay Peninsula, and surrendered with the recapture of Singapore. Bose had earlier chosen not to surrender with his forces or with the Japanese, but rather to escape to Manchuria with a view to seeking a future in the Soviet Union which he believed to be turning anti-British. He died from third degree burns received when his plane crashed in Taiwan.^[22][k] Some Indians, however, did not believe that the crash had occurred,^[23][l] with many among them, especially in Bengal, believing that Bose would return to gain India's independence.^{[24][m][25][n]}

Subhas Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose
Native name	সুভাষচন্দ্র বসু
Born	Subash Chandra Bose 23 January 1897 Cuttack, Orissa Division, Bengal Province, British India
Died	18 August 1945 (aged 48)[1] Taipei (Taihoku), Japanese Taiwan[1]
Nationality	Indian
Ethnicity	Bengali
Education	Ravenshaw Collegiate School, Cuttack
Alma mater	University of Calcutta University of Cambridge
Known for	Figure of Indian independence movement
Title	President of Indian National Congress (1938) Head of State, Prime Minister, Minister of War and Foreign Affairs of Provisional Government of Free India based in the Japanese-occupiedAndaman and Nicobar Islands(1943–1945)
Political party	Indian National Congress 1921–1940, Forward Bloc faction within the Indian National Congress, 1939–1940
Religion	Hinduism
Spouse(s)	or companion,[2] Emilie Schenkl (secretly married without ceremony or witnesses in 1937, unacknowledged publicly by Bose.[3])
Children	Anita Bose Pfaff
Parent(s)	Janakinath Bose (father) Prabhavati Devi (mother)
Relatives	Bose family
Signature

Indian National Congress, the main instrument of Indian nationalism, praised Bose's patriotism but distanced itself from his tactics and ideology, especially his collaboration with Fascism.^[26] The British Raj, though never seriously threatened by the INA,^{[27][o][28][p]}charged 300 INA officers with treason in the INA trials, but eventually backtracked in the face both of popular sentiment and of its own end