Download FAMOUS PEOPLE ON STAMPS

FAMOUS PEOPLE ON STAMPS
Albert Einstein was born in 1879. He was German Jew.
Einstein found it hard to learn to talk but was very good and maths and science.
In 1914 Einstein he went to work at a university. He was a maths professor in
Berlin, Germany.
In 1933 Einstein had to leave Germany because of Hitler. He went to England and
then to America.
Einstein's work helped us learn about time, space and light. In 1921 he won a Nobel
prize for his work on light.
Einstein died in 1955.
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Germany in 1770. He played the piano and
he was a composer. A composer writes music.
When he was about 20 he lived in Vienna. Vienna is in Austria. His music teacher in
Vienna was called Haydn.
Beethoven had to stop playing the piano because he went deaf. When he was 52 he
was profoundly deaf but he still wrote music.
He died in 1827.
Mohandas Gandhi lived in India. He was born in 1869. He was a lawyer. People
called him 'Mahatma Gandhi'. This means 'wise man'.
Britain had ruled India for 200 years. Gandhi wanted India to be free.
Gandhi was a Hindu and didn't believe in violence. He broke unfair laws so people
would know what he wanted. He also tried to help Indians living in South Africa.
Britain left India in 1947.
Gandhi was killed one year later in 1948.
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-on-Avon, England.
He married a lady called Anne Hathaway. They had 3 children.
Shakespeare went to London in 1587. He worked as an actor and writer. He went
back to Stratford in 1597.
He wrote many poems and 35 plays. Some of his plays are comedies (funny plays)
like Twelfth Night. Others are histories like Richard III and Henry V. Some are tragedies (sad plays)
like Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear. In Shakespeare's time women were not allowed to be in plays.
All the parts (men and women) were played by men.
Shakespeare died in 1616 but we can still see his plays in nearly every country in the world today.
Adolf Hitler was born in 1889 in Austria. In 1912 he went to live in Germany.
He fought in World War I. Germany lost the war. Hitler became the leader of a new
group in Germany. The group was called the National Socialists or Nazis.
Nazis wanted everyone to be pure German. Nazis hated Jews and other people who
were not 'pure' German. They killed millions of people. Others were sent to special
prisons called concentration camps.
Germany invaded many countries. Hitler ruled Austria and Czechoslovakia. In 1939
Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France fought Germany. In 1941 Hitler
invaded Russia. Germany lost the war. It finished in 1945. Hitler died in 1945. People think he killed
himself.
Winston Churchill was born in 1874.
He was a soldier, historian, writer, painter and politician.
In 1940 the war was going badly for Britain. Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940
and again in 1951.
He was a good leader for war time. His speeches gave people hope.
He won the Nobel prize for his writing in 1953. He died in 1965.
Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452. His father was a lawyer. They lived in
Florence in Italy.
Leonardo da Vinci was a painter. He was left handed and wrote and drew with his
left hand. His most famous pictures are 'The Mona Lisa' and 'The Last Supper'.He was
also a scientist. He wanted to know how things worked. He drew lots of sketches
and diagrams. He died in 1519.
James Cook was born in England in 1728.
He was an explorer. He made 3 journeys.
Cook showed that New Zealand has 2 islands. He went to Australia and explored the
eastern parts. He called in New South Wales. This part of Australia was green and
beautiful. He thought British people should move to live there. He saw a kangeroo
for the first time.
Cook also found new islands in the Pacific. These islands were called the Society Islands, New
Caledonia and the Sandwich Islands. (The Sandwich Islands are called Hawaii now.) Cook was killed
by people from Hawaii in 1779.
Rembrant van Rijn was born in 1606. He lived in Holland. His father was a miller.
A miller makes flour.
He painted lots portraits. (Portraits are pictures of people.)
His most famous picture is 'The Night Watch'.
He made a lot of money when he was young. Then people stopped liking his
pictures. He was poor when he died in 1669.
He painted over 400 pictures using oils. 60 of these pictures were of himself. He also
did 2000 drawings.
Francis Drake was born in 1540.
England and Spain were not friends. Queen Elizabeth told Drake to go and find gold
and spices.
He left England in 1577. He went with 165 men on 5 ships. He took gold and food
from Spanish ships.
In 1579 Drake arrived in America.
One year later he arrived back in England. His boat was called the Golden Hind.
Drake was the first Englishman to sail round the world. When he came back to England Queen
Elizabeth knighted him. He was then called Sir Francis Drake.
In 1588 Drake fought the Spanish Armada.
Sir Francis Drake died in 1596.
Alexander Graham Bell was born in 1847. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland
but moved to Canada. Later he lived in America.
Bell's wife was deaf.
In 1876 he invented the first telephone. He died in 1922.