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From adam to zeus ...through all men and gods.

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Visalakshi Ramani said:
A child star of the yesteryear has earned a million dollars

for posing in her birthday suit and dressed in her shoes!

Should we blame her for this :decision:

or those who paid this kind of money and made her do this???
Click to expand...

We should give those who made her do this a good dressing down!!!
 
#27. John Milton.


John Milton (9th December 1608-8th November 1674) was an English poet, an author and a civil servant for the Common Wealth of England. He is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost which earned him the praise as the greatest English author and poet!

This Magnum Opus of blank verses was composed by Milton-after he had become blind! He composed this great piece of work through dictations to a series of aids in his employment.

This is a feat by any standard, considering his blindness! He would compose the verses in his head all night and dictate them to his aides the next morning.He became blind in 1652 but went on writing despite his problems.

His prose as well as poetry reflect his deep convictions. He wrote on the contemporary issues as well. He could write in Latin and Italian as well as he did in English! He had earned an international reputation during his life time-to become a living legend!

Once Paradise Lost was published, Milton was recognized as a great epic poet. His influence continued to linger on the poets living in the 18th and 19th centuries!

He is considered to be greater than even William Shakespeare! All this was achieved despite his loss of eye sight and dependency on the others around him!

Visalakshi Ramani
Source: my blog of 200 English articles in <visalakshiramani.wordpress.com>
 
#28. Leonhard Euler.


Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) was a Swiss mathematician and Physicist. He is famous for his work in Mechanics, Fluid Dynamics, Optics and Astronomy.

Euler had worked in almost all the areas of mathematics namely Geometry, Calculus, Trigonometry, Algebra and Number Theory. His works in Continuum Physics and Lunar Theory are famous.

Euler’s eye sight worsened through out mathematical career! He suffered from a near fatal fever in 1735. After three years he became blind in the right eye. Later he suffered cataract in his left eye and became totally blind in 1766.

But his physical conditions hardly affected his productivity. His skill for mental calculations and his photographic memory more than compensated his visual impairment.

With the aid of his scribes, his productivity actually increased! In 1775, he was producing one mathematical paper ever week, on an average!

Euler has been honored by several countries for his contributions to the world of Mathematics and Physics.

Old Swiss 10 Franc notes bear his picture. Former Soviet Union released a stamp in 1957, commemorating his 250th birthday. Former German Democratic Republic released a stamp on Euler’s 200th death anniversary.

Visalakshi Ramani
from <visalakshiramani.wordpress.com>
 
# 29. Beethoven.



Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is considered to be the most influential composers of all time!

Beethoven’s hearing began to deteriorate when he was at the pinnacle of his success. Yet he continued to compose, perform and conduct concerts even after he became totally deaf!

Beethoven was baptized on 17 December 1770, in Bonn. His father was his first music teacher. He also learned from the other local teachers. His talent was promising even when he was a mere child. He gave his first public performance in March 1778, when he was a mere child seven years old!

When his mother died in 1787, he had to take care of his two younger brothers and alcoholic father. However he continued to write several compositions with growing maturity and style. His works were not published then!

In his early twenties he moved to Vienna, settled there and studied to become a virtuoso pianist. He did not set out to establish himself as a composer right away. He studied under Haydn and also took violin lessons from another master.

Beethoven’s first performance in Vienna was in March 1795. It was then that he published his first composition “Piano trios Opus”.

His compositions of First six string quartets, The First and The Second Symphonies made him the most famous composer after Haydn and Mozart.

Around 1796, he began to lose his hearing. He suffered from “Tinnitus”, a ringing sound in his ears. He could no longer appreciate music nor can he take part in conversations.The cause of his deafness was not known.

By the time he wrote his Ninth Symphony, he was completely deaf! However he continued to compose music and play piano!

His determination to succeed was so great that it overcame all the physical obstacles. Indomitable Spirit always overcomes physical challenges and succeeds!

Visalakshi Ramani

source: <visalakshiramani.wordpress.com>
 
zebra16 said:
At least two alphabets appear at least twice.
Click to expand...

Except the first letter of each word, the rest of the letters form mirror images.

So the first letter can be put in the beginning and read as usual
or it may be put at the end and read in the reverse to get the same word!

Isn't it really cool??? Reminds me of some worms and snakes which seem have heads at both ends of their bodies! :)
 
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[h=1]# 30. Braille.[/h]
Louis Braille (1809-1852) was a blind Frenchman who devised The Braille System, used by the blind people to read and write! Each Braille character consists of six dot positions in two columns of three dots in each.

Braille system was based on the silent mode of communication in the dark, called the Night Writing. It was developed by Charles Barbier to meet Napoleon’s demand for military use.

Barbier’s system had 12 raised dots and a number of dashes in addition. The soldiers found it so complicated to learn that it was eventually rejected by the military.

Braille could identify the defects in Barbier’s system and set them right. Braille reduced the number of dots from 12 to 6.

This made the system easier and faster to read. An alphabet can be read by the touch of a finger tip, without having to move it along.

This revolutionized the written communication for all the blind! Braille system has been adapted for every known language.

Braille became blind at the age of three when he accidentally poked his eye with a stitching awl, one of tools used by his father-who was a saddle maker. The injury got infected and went blind. The other eye also went blind because of sympathetic ophthalmia.

At the age 10, Braille earned a scholarship to the National Institute for the Blind in Paris. He was a bright and creative student and became a talented Cellist and an Organist, while at school.

Braille was well respected by his pupils. However his writing system was not taught in his own Institute during his life time. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 43.

Braille’s system of writing was officially recognized only in 1854, two years after his death! Sadly very few persons are lucky enough to get recognition in their own life time!

Mastering Braille requires professional training and relentless practice. Designer Hyung Jin Lim has developed the Braille Interpreter. It consists of a single finger glove, a Blue tooth headphone and an interpreting software.

User may wear the finger glove and move his finger over the Braille alphabets.The reading material is transferred to the head phone as voice date through the Blue tooth.

Visalakshi Ramani

Source <visalakshiramani.wordpress.com>
 
[h=1]#31. Thomas Alva Edison.[/h]
Edison (February 1847- October 1931) was an American inventor, scientist and a businessman. His numerous inventions changed the face of the world and the living style of the people in it! He is one of the greatest inventors in human history. He holds 1093 U.S patents and many more in U.K, France and Germany.

According to Edison “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”. His life is a good example that proves his statement.

Edison was born as the seventh and last child of his parents in Milan, Ohio, in 1847. While at school, his mind used to wander! His teacher thought that his mind was “addled”-meaning that his mind was confused and mixed up. Soon his three months of official schooling came to an end!

Only his mother had unshakable faith and trust in his intelligence. She home schooled him! Edison used to recall later,”My mother was the making of me. She was so true and so sure of me and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint”.

Edison developed hearing problem at a very early age! The cause of his deafness was the scarlet fever he had suffered from and the recurring middle ear infections which were not treated properly.

His deafness did not interfere with his abilities and he went on inventing more and more things- which we just take for granted today!

Truly his 99% perspiration had overcome his all possible hurdles in his life!

Visalakshi Ramani
 
#32. Vincent Van Gogh.




Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter. His works are famous for their vivid colors and deep emotional impact. Yet he had suffered from deep anxiety and frequent bouts of mental illness, throughout his short life span of 37 years!

Van Gogh got very little appreciation for his works when he was alive. He became world famous only posthumously! Today he is considered as the one of the main contributors of Modern Art and one of the greatest painters of all time!

He started painting only in his late twenties! He had very little formal training and was in reality a self taught artist! His best paintings were produced in the last two years of his life. He had produced over 900 paintings and 1100 drawings and sketches!

His early works have only somber earth tones as opposed to the vivid colors used in his later works!

Van Gogh was born on 30 March in 1853, in Southern Netherlands. As a child he was very serious, silent and thoughtful. He suffered from recurring episodes of mental illness throughout his life but the episodes became more and more pronounced during the last few years of his life!

He was either unwilling to paint or unable to paint! This would make him greatly depressed. On 27 July 1890, he walked into a field and shot himself in the chest. He survived the bullet only to die two days later!

His works seem to reflect the state of his mind, at the time of painting them. Some are somber and sober. Others show optimism, hope and a desire to become normal. Some others are downright bleak, showing utter despair and hopelessness!

By mid 20th Century Van Gogh had been posthumously recognized as one of the greatest painters of the world!

Van Gogh has created 37 self portraits between 1886 and 1889! His self portrait without beard is one of the costliest paintings in the world. It was sold for an astronomical sum of 71.5 million $ in New York in 1998!

Whether his madness actually helped him to draw pictures with greater emotional impact or whether he would have been a greater artist minus his mental problems, is a subject fit for debate!

Visalakshi Ramani
 
Visalakshi Ramani said:
# 80. My two very young sons went to a shop in our colony

and came back home chanting,

"Hands up! Pants down!!"

What was that shop??? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I used to give my sons home hair cuts which were quite good for an amateur with nothing more than a pair of scissors and a comb.

One fine day I thought they were 'old enough' for a professional hair cut and sent to the barber shop.

When they came back with this very original and catchy slogan, the home hair cut was resumed!

Till today I do not know what they saw there and who coined this slogan.. the elder son or the younger son???
 
[h=1]#33. Helen Keller.[/h]
Helen Keller (1880-1968) was an American author, a political activist and a lecturer. What made this a great feat was the fact that she was both blind and deaf!

Helen was not born blind and deaf. When she was 19 months old, she contracted a disease which left her both blind and deaf. It could have been an attack of scarlet fever or meningitis!

She was able to communicate with Martha-the family cook’s six year old daughter. By the time Helen was seven years old, she had more than 60 signs to communicate with her family.

Twenty years old Anna Sullivan-herself a visually impaired person-became Helen’s instructor, governess, friend and companion for life!

Anna began to teach her to communicate by spelling a word in Helen’s palm and letting her touch the same object with her other hand!

In 1904, Helen became the first deaf and blind person to earn the degree of Bachelor of Art. She was 24 years old then.

Helen wrote and published several articles and twelve books. She traveled widely and spent much of her time in raising funds for the American Foundation for the Blind.

Helen was the most admired person of the 20th Century. On September 14, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom-one of the two highest civilian awards of U.S.A. In 1965, she was elected to the National Woman’s Hall of Fame at New York World Fair.

It is amazing how any blind and deaf person could overcome her physical challenges to rise to such a height-which even normal healthy people are unable to do!

Visalakshi Ramani
Source: my blog of 200 articles <visalakshiramani.wordpress.com>
 
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