PEOPLE

POLITICIAN & REVOLUTIONARIES
Ho Chi Minh
Born in a village in central Vietnam (1890) – indirectly ruled by the French under puppet emperor
Founder and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
A passionate nationalist obsessed by a single goal: independence for Vietnam
During Japanese invasion, he urged his followers to fight both Japanese and French
Crush French’s attempt to retrieve its empire Indochina
Undermined U.S effort to prevent communism in Vietnam – longest war for US, and their first defeat in their history- drastically change the way they perceived their role in the world
Remain committed to Vietnam’s independence even if the war was destroying his country

Martin Luther King Jr.
Well known for his “I have a dream” speech
Led Civil Rights Movement in USA
King organized and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labor rights and other basic civil rights. Most of these rights were successfully enacted into United States law with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Pope John Paul II
Papacy lasted for 26 years (2nd longest)
Often credited as one of the major forces which contributed to collapse of communism in Eastern Europe
Notable for speaking against war, fascism, dictatorship, abortion, materialism
Well-versed in numerous languages and one of the most-traveled world leaders in history
§ In February 2004 Pope John Paul II was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize honoring his life's work in opposing Communist oppression and helping to reshape the world.
Constantly attempts to unite the world’s religions through his meetings with leaders of other faiths
e.g with Islam: in 2001, he became the first Catholic pope to enter and pray in an Islamic mosque in Syria. He also famously kissed the Quran there, an act which made him popular amongst Muslims



Slobodan Milosevic
1st president of the republic of Serbia (1989 – 1997), 3rd president of the federal republic of Yugoslavia (1997 – 2000)
personally responsible for the most destructive conflict, and the most terrible atrocities, recorded in Europe since World War II.
indicted in May 1999, during the Kosovo War, by the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for crimes against humanity in Kosovo (murder of 900 Kosovo-Albanians and the deportation of 740,000 more). He is the first head of state ever be brought before an international war crimes court.
responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims in 1990s
found dead in his cell at The Hague – heart attack

Albert Arnold Gore (Al-Gore)
45th vice president of USA (under Bill Clinton)
Environmentalist - in 2006 starred in the Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, discussing global warming and the environment. Under his leadership, one of Gore's organizations, Save Our Selves, organized the benefit concert Live Earth in an effort to raise awareness about climate change.

Pope Benedict XVI
Successor of Pope John Paul II
Controversial issue with Islam arose from a lecture delivered in Dec 2006 by him at the University of Regensburg in Germany
Touched on the issue of jihad or holy war and argued that spreading religion through violence was “contrary to God’s nature”.
Quoted 14th century Byzantine Emperor to make this point: “ Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”
Sparked Muslim criticisms and protests around the world
Mended relations after a visit to Turkey, where he prayed in the Blue Mosque alongside Mufti of Istanbul and the Imam of the Blue Mosque

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Current president of Liberia
Africa’s first elected female head of state
Challenges include putting a country torn by 14 years of civil war back onto its feet
For essays on gender, examples:
Angela Merkel, Condoleezza Rice and Wu Yi, ranked 1st to 3rd respectively in Forbes Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2006
Others: Margaret Whitman – president Ebay, Ho Ching – Chief Executive Temasek Holdings, Queen Elizabeth II, Aung San Suu Kyi (myanmar) – Nobel Peace Laureate
SPORTS

Floyd Landis
American cyclist
1st in 2006 Tour de France
Failed a drug test which indicated high levels of synthetic testosterone
Claimed to be innocent
Final results still pending, could lose his title if proven guilty of doping

Muhammad Ali
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay
Named “Sportsman of the Century”
Retired American boxer and former three-time World Heavyweight Champion and winner of an Olympic light-heavyweight gold medal
Changed his name after converting to Islam
Barely graduated from his high school, often travel to fight on weekends
Refused to join the US army during the Vietnam war, as a result, he was stripped of his title
Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease
Devoted himself to humanitarian endeavours around the world since retirement

Zinedine Yazid Zidane
French-born Algerian football player, former captain of French national team
Led france to win 1998 FIFA world cup final
Sent off for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the 110th minute of 2006 world cup final against Italy – Materazzi said to have insulted him (but no one knows of course)
Despite this, he was still awarded the Golden Ball as Best Player in the 2006 World Cup
Sponsorship deals with Adidas, Christian Dior etc earn him E8.6 million in 2005 – 06 season

Pele
Just need to know that’s just his nickname
Former Brazilian football player, officially declared as the football ambassador of the world by FIFA and national treasure of Brazilian government
Born across the mountains from great coastal cities of brazil, in impoverished town of Tres Coracoes
Shined shoes until age of 11 until one of brazil’s soccer players discovered him and brought him to Sao Paolo
Been known to stop wars: both sides in Nigeria’s civil war called a 48-hour cease-fire in 1967 so Pele could play in an exhibition match in Lagos

SCIENTISTS

Marie Curie
Born in 1867
First woman to win a Nobel Prize (in Physics) in 1903
The only woman who have won 2 Nobel Prizes (Chemistry and Physics)
Discovered an unknown radioactive substance, radium and polonium which was an unknown chemical element
Died in 1934, her death was partly due to excessive exposure to radiation in her years of research

CELEBRITIES

Angelina Jolie
American actress
Poor family background, separation of parents
and her acting ability (won awards like the Golden Globe Award, the Screen Actors Guild Awards and an Academy Award)
Became internationally known when she acted in the movie ‘Lara Croft Tomb Raider’
Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency
promoted humanitarian causes throughout the world, and is noted for her work with refugees through UNHCR.

Bono (Paul David Hewson)
lead singer and principal lyrist for band U2
songs he wrote were often rich in social and political themes
lyrics allude to a religious connection or meaning( ‘Gloria’, ‘I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.’)
Humanitarian efforts
performed in band aid and live aid projects
involved in campaigning for third-world debt relief and raising awareness of the plight of Africa including the AIDS pandemic

Oprah Winfrey
Multiple winning-Emmy Award host of the The Oprah Winfrey Show
known as one of the most influential woman in the world
ranked richest African American of the 20th Century
lived in poverty and had dysfunctional home life
weight problems, tumultuous love life, and sexual abuse in her earlier years
despite that, she managed to achieve her dream as an actress
initiated “Oprah’s Child Predator Watch List,” through her show and website, to help track down accused child molesters. Within the first 48 hours, two of the featured men were captured
Oprah’s Angel Network is a charity aimed at encouraging people around the world to make a difference in the lives of the less privileged.
invested US$40 million establishing in Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls outside Johannesburg for 152 poor South African girls whose families have household income of less than E400 a month – theatres, beauty salons, yoga classroom
criticisms: the $40 million spent might have benefited a far greater number of students had the money been spent with less emphasis on luxurious surroundings and more emphasis on practicality – idea of quality education?

BUSINESSMAN / ENTREPRENEURS

Bill Gates
ranked as the richest person in the world since 1995 until recently
with recent estimates putting his net worth near $56 billion
one of the founders of the Microsoft Company
success of Microsoft and the software industry
Microsoft had revenues of US$44.28 billion for the fiscal year ending June 2006, and employs more than 71,000 people in 103 countries and regions
endowed a foundation with more than $28.8 billion (as of January 2005) to support philanthropic initiatives in the areas of global health and learning
according to a 2004 Forbes Magazine Article, Gates gave away over $29 billion to charities from 2000 onwards

Muhammad Yunus
Bangladeshi banker and economist
famous for his successful application of the concept of microcredit(microfinance)
founding board member of Grameen Foundation
The Grameen model of micro financing has been emulated in 23 countries
awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Grameen Bank, for their efforts to create economic and social development

Thambirajah Tharmadurai (T.T Durai)
former Chief Executive Officer of the National Kidney Foundation Singapore (NKF)
Durai worked full-time as CEO of the NKF, he was also a director of a number of other companies
paid a total of nearly 1.8 million Singapore dollars in 3 years from 2002 to 2004
found guilty of charges of misleading the charitable organisation with a falsified invoices between 2003-2004
to make claims for various consultancy services which were never rendered

Nanz Chong
founder of former one.99 chain of retail stores
named “Woman entrepreneur of the Year” in 2000
owned 14 one.99 stores
at the height of business in 2001, turnover was $14 million
declared bankrupt in 2003
moved on to become successful author, hold motivational talks and counsels ailing businesses
example of someone who have learnt from failure, to emerge even stronger and more successful

OTHERS
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie
British-Indian novelist very much known for one of his novels, The Satanic Verses
Provoked violent reactions from Muslims, because of what was perceived as an irreverent depiction of the prophet Muhammad
Faced with death threats and a fatwa, issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Supreme Leader of Iran, which called for him to be killed
Knighthood in 2007 for literature – sparked disapproval, some Muslims see it as insult to Islam
A group of hardline Pakistani Muslim clerics bestowed the title of “Saifullah” or sword of Allah on Osama bin Laden, in response to Rushdie’s knighthood
Been in hiding since the fatwa was issued

Rosa Parks
Her simple decision to remain seated in the bus lead to disintegration of institutionalized segregation – ushering in new era of civil rights movement
Under Jim Crow laws, black and white were separated in every aspect of daily life, including public transport
Her act led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott – which lasted for 382 days
Severely damage bus company’s finances
Played an important part in internationalizing the awareness of the plight of African Americans and civil rights struggle

junhui, royce (:

just some of the few people who might be relevant for us to use in our essays, there're a lot more excellent examples of course but these are the significant ones i suppose. try TIMES 100 people of the century, not all of the information is particularly relevant, but they do have interesting insights of these people who've pretty much changed our world.