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RIVERWORLD
HISTORICAL CHARACTERS


       [Fictional Character FYI only]
[Name] The Mysterious Stranger aka X.
[Short Description] I am a master of disguise.I can change everything about me but my husky physique. Undisguised, I have strong, irregular features, pale skin, green eyes and fox-red hair.
[Short Biography] I am an Ethical. A member of one of the many races that were responsible for resurrecting all humans who died on Earth before the age of five. I am a member of the Ethical Council of Twelve who oversee Riverworld and everything that is on it.
[Skills] Acting, compulsive lying, and anything else that I may need. I dislike violence, but I believe that the end justifies the means.
[Non-fictional historical character]
[Name] Phoebe Anne Oakley Moses aka Annie Oakley
[Short Description] 5 foot tall, brown hair.
[Short Biography] I was born Aug. 13, 1860. in Patterson Township, Darke County, Ohio. Parents farmers from Pennsylvania.

When I was 9 in 1866, my father died, so I began shooting game to support my family.

I quickly became a dead shot, and when I turned sixteen, I went to Cincinnati to enter a shooting contest with Frank E. Butler (1850-1926), an accomplished marksman who performed in vaudeville. I won the match, and also Frank's heart as well. Some time later we were married, and I became Frank's assistant in his traveling shooting act.

Later Frank relinquished the limelight to me, and he become my assistant and personal manager.

In 1885 we joined the legendary frontiersman Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show, where I was the star attraction for sixteen years.

In a train wreck in 1901, I suffered a spinal injury that required five operations and left me partially paralyzed for a while.

Although I recovered very well, I toured less frequently during the latter part of my career, but I continued to set records.

[Note] Annie Oakley died of pernicious anemia on Nov. 3, 1926, in Greenville, Ohio, at the age of sixty-six.
[Skills] Whether it be a pistol, rifle, or shotgun, the legendary markswoman Annie Oakley was masterful with them all. Dubbed "Little Sure Shot" by Chief Sitting Bull, her sharp shooting in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show won her many awards and captivated audiences far and wide.
[Name] Simon (IV) de Montfort Earl of Leicester
[Short Description] I'm 5'6" tall, Blond haired, Brown eyed, and fairly muscular.
[Short Biography] I was the son of Simon III de Montfort, and was born in 1208. In 1230, I tried my fortunes in England, where, in 1238, I secretly married Eleanor, sister of King Henry III of England. Eleanor had previously been married to William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, and had sworn a vow of chastity on his death, which she broke by marrying me. Once reconciled to the match, the king created me Earl of Leicester, but we frequently disagreed. Like my father, I was a hardened and ruthless soldier, as well as a capable administrator. The main cause of my dispute with the king was the latter's determination to ignore the swelling discontent within the country, caused by a combination of factors which included famine. In 1258, at Oxford, I was instrumental in calling a parliament.(Which is regarded as the forerunner of the modern institution.) The king's son, the future King Edward I of England was at first sympathetic to my cause, but we later they became enemies, and the Provisions of Oxford, which the king had sworn to uphold, were broken at the behest of the Pope in 1261. Civil war broke out, and soon my army met and defeated the royal forces at the Battle of Lewes in 1264. Prince Edward was taken prisoner, and the subsequent treaty set up a model parliament to agree to a constitution formulated by myself. [Note]However, Simon's many enemies turned his triumph into disaster, and he was defeated and killed by Edward's forces during the Baron's War in the Battle of Evesham in 1265. His body was mutilated, eviscerated and the remains scattered. His family were forced into exile in Simon's native France.
[Skills] Administration, sword, lance, shield, horsemanship, archery, tactics, strategy, catholic theology, statesmanship.
[Name]Benjamin Franklin
[Short Description]This is me.
[Short Biography] I was born in 1706 in Boston, but I lived most of his life in Philadelphia, London, and Paris. I was the 15th of 17 children, born of the second wife of my father who died at the age of 84 in 1790 of natural causes. My education consisted of two years of grammar school and lots of self-education, and experience. I was brought into my father's trade as a tallow chandler at age 10, but I left almost immediately to take work as a cutler. At age 13 I apprenticed to my brother James in the printing business. I delivered papers, ran the presses, and composed most of the text (printed anonymously). My writing was so liberally slanted, that I actually got my brother thrown in jail for a month. At the age of 17 I moved to Philadelphia and became acquainted with the governor of Pennsylvania, who persuaded me to go to London to establish a printing business. When I arrived, however, I did not receive the letters of recommendation promised to me by the governor, and I ended up working for two printing companies in London for two years before returning to Philadelphia, where I formed what would become the American Philosophical Society, purchased and revived the Pennsylvania Gazette, and then founded the first public library in America. I published Poor Richard's Almanack for many years, then became clerk and then deputy postmaster of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. I was married at the age of 24 to Deborah Reed and we had a son William, from whom I was later estranged, when William remained a loyalist and became royal governor of New Jersey. Around this time, I invented the Franklin stove, formed the first fire company in America, developed the first guidelines in America for street paving and lighting and fire prevention, and developed methods for improving paving and lighting. I formed the first anti-slavery organization in America as well. My research into electricity, in collaboration with an English friend, led to the theory that lightning was an electrical phenomenon, confirmed by others and later by myself using the famous kite experiment I proposed. I invented the lightning rod as well. In recognition of all this, I was granted honorary science degrees from both Oxford and St. Andrews, and became a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and was awarded its Copley medal. In 1749 I wrote a treatise on public education, leading to the founding in 1751 of what would become the University of Pennsylvania, which was notable in its time for emphasizing study of modern languages (including English), math, and science as well as the classics that most universities focused on at the time. I served 14 years in the Pennsylvania Assembly, and proposed the Albany Plan which foreshadowed the constitution, but was too radical for acceptance, though I thought that it might have prevented the revolution. During the French And Indian War I recruited equipment for the English, but travelled to England to give testimony that would lead to the repeat of the Stamp Act. I finally became resigned to the inevitability of war and returned to Pennsylvania (after becoming acquainted with many famous Englishmen of the time). I became a member of the Second Continental Congress and was one of the five men appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence. I travelled to Canada to try to persuade the Canadians to support America in the war, then I went to France to seek economic assistance. I encouraged and assisted privateers like John Paul Jones working against the British navy, then negotiated the treaty with France that turned the war around. was one of three Americans to work on the Treaty of Paris ending the war, and I became the first U.S. Ambassador to France. Living in France, I studied the works of Franz Mesmer under appointment from the king of France, and became a dignitary of a Freemason lodge, and using its connections, I encouraged liberalization of the French government (though not through violent means). I left France to work on the Constitution, then sent a petition to Congress as president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society encouraging an abolition of slavery.
[Note] When he died two months later, his autobiography was unfinished, yet is considered the basis for his literary reputation. Franklin was a great thinker, a very affable person liked by everyone, even his enemies, and by all accounts, a lecherous dirty old man. He was inventive, unafraid of flying in the face of convention, known for thinking on grand scales without losing sight of the practical and the here-and-now. He was a Renaissance man, a self-made man, and enterprising even among the colonial northerners he sprang from. He took great joy in learning and serious thought, but he also took great joy in less cerebral activities. His speech was peppered with jokes, witticisms, and some of the best one-liners of all time. He was known, in his later years, for falling asleep in the middle of anything, and for staying up all night reading or working on his latest project (these two may have something to do with one another!). He was known for his philanthropic principles as well.
[Skills] Scientific method,printing,ironworking, economic theory, politics, diplomacy, negotiation, writing, administration, tallow chandling, cutlering, invention.
[Name] Salomon August Andrée(known as August by close friends).
[Short Description] I am 5 Ft 11, have blonde hair and a slightly hawkish nose.
[Short Biography] I was born in Granna in Sweden on 18th October 1854 as the fifth of seven children. My father was a Pharmacist and member of the Cirst council. In 1870 after achieving high grades in my schooling I moved to Stockholm to attend the Technical Institute there with the goal of becoming an engineer where I met Georg Pauli (later to become a well known artist) and Carl Erik Svenoni (later to become a prominent theologian) who I maintained lifelong friendships with. Carl Erik and I clashed frequently as I am very strongly anti-religious. I graduate in 1874 in Engineering and am recognized as excellent in German, Swedish and Mathematics. My weaknesses are Physics, map making and singing. In 1876 I travel to America visiting New York and also the World fair in Philadelphia. Here I see for the first time a steam engine and balloon. It is while I am in America that Custer falls at Little Big Horn and I am disgusted by the treatment of the local Indians. I return to Sweden after six months and work in metal plating and in the Swedish Railroad Cooperation's repair shop before becoming a draughtsman and designer for Göransson's Mechanical Workshop in Stockholm. After 2 years there I carry out my military service. In 1878 I open my own Mechanical Workshop and Wire-Drawing Shop. The business soon fails. I then begin working at my old Technical Institute and also writing for scientific journals. In 1882-1883 I take part in an Nils Ekholm's expedition to Spitzbergen comprised of six scientists and as many workers. It is part of the Swedish Polar Year. My responsibility is for the technical equipment and to study drift snow and atmospheric electricity. In 1884 I become the manager of the technological department of the Royal Swedish Patent Registration Office. In 1886 I become the head teacher of Physics at the Technical Institute. Industry, technology and its development are very important parts of my world of ideas. I also form the Swedish Inventors Society. It's members (and my friends) include Alfred Nobel inventor of dynamite; Gustaf de Laval inventor of the separator; L M Ericsson inventor of the telephone; Jonas Wenström inventor of the three phase system; J P Johansson inventor of the adjustable spanner and many others. I travel widely in Europe on business including London, Berlin and Paris. I believe in and speak out for better education for women, but not in relation to technology for which I believe they have no aptitude. I enter politics suggesting shorter working hours for men and women. In 1893, I drop all other interests to concentrate on balloons with Nils Ekholm. We plan to fly our balloon the Örnen (Eagle) over the North Pole in 1896. The weather is poor and this plan is put off until 11th July 1897. Ekholm leaves the project claiming that the expedition hasn't been planned with adequate safety procedures. I am joined by my 25 year old research assistant Nils Strindberg and the engineer Knut Frænkel, 27. The balloon crashes on the ice 3 days later at latitude: 82º 58' N and longitude: 29º 52' E, 300 km from nearest land. We attempt to travel over the ice to Cape Flora in Frans Josef's Country, where a rich depot of supplies had been placed for use of the expedition. We do not reach solid land until 5th October 1897 when we arrive on White Island. There is scant driftwood available and we are suffering from advanced trichin-poisoning from eating raw Polar Bear. We make camp to await the Polar winter. Our last diary entry is 17th October 1897. Nils dies first. Knut and I bury him and then return to our tent. On 6th August 1930, the crew on the Norwegian whaler Bratvaag lands on White Island and discovers our remains. Our journal and the photographs that we have taken are published around the world.
[Skills] Physics, invention, draughtsman,design, mechanical engineering, construction, politics, writing, mathematics, linguistics (speaks Swedish, English, German, French), ballooning, administrator, meteorologist, explorer, survivalist, trained soldier.
[Name] H.G. Wells, Herbert George.
[Short Description]H.G. Wells
[Short Biography] Born in 1866 in Bromley, England. Died in 1946. A famous author of his time, H.G. Wells was also a humanist, concerned with the future of mankind and the threat of technology. An intelligent and sensitive man, Wells is independent, prideful and quick to take offence.
[Skills] writer, philosopher
[Name] Fred.
[Short Description] Fred is Simon750s grandfather.
[Short Biography] Born in Victorian times, he was one of those poor souls destined to be resolutely working class for the length of their natural life.
During the second world war, he was just that little bit too old to be drafted. However, he was one of the dust covered heroes of that war.
Coming home through blacked out streets after a hard night pulling his fellow men out of the rubble, he saw a great deal of suffering. He never complained, never wanted to talk about his time during the war, and never boasted about anything.
When he was dying he didn't want any fuss either. I never knew him that well myself, I was very young when he died of cancer.
[Skills] I do remember him cleaning the windows of the flat in Hackney, with my mum absolutely distraught at the prospect. It was the fourth floor, and he would just climb out on the ledge and get on with it. Not exactly Sir Richard Francis Burton, I admit, but he was quite a character in his own right. Given different circumstances, he might have been something quite different.
[Name] John Wesley Hardin was born May 26, 1853, in Bonham, Texas. Rumored to be so mean he once shot a man for snoring.
In the opinion of many, Texas outlaw John Wesley Hardin is the greatest of all gunfighters, and just about the deadliest.
Hardin was the epitome of the western gun fighter. In terms of speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness, there was probably no one better.
He led a life of hatred, murder, and constant fear of being captured. Throughout his 7 years of gunfighting, he is attributed with at least 41 killings. The first 31 killings did not concern most people because the kind of people that had been killed may have had it coming to them. That all changed when former Texas Ranger Charlie Webb was gunned down.
John's father, James G. Hardin, was a Methodist preacher, lawyer, schoolteacher and circuit rider. His mother was Elizabeth Hardin.
At age fourteen, John stabbed a schoolmate. At age fifteen, he shot a black man to death in Polk County. While fleeing from the law following that murder, he killed at least one, and possibly four Union soldiers who were attempting to apprehend him.
As a cowboy on the Chisolm Trail in 1871, Hardin killed seven people. He killed three more upon arriving in Abilene, Kansas.
Back in Texas, following a run-in with the State Police back in Gonzales County, Hardin got married, settled down and had three children. But he soon resumed his murder spree, killing 4 more times before surrendering to the Cherokee County sheriff in September 1872. A couple of weeks later however, he broke out of jail.
Hardin next killed Jack Helm, a former State Police captain, who led the fight against the anti-Reconstructionist forces of Jim Taylor in the Sutton-Taylor Feud. Hardin had become a supporter of Taylor's from 1873 to 1874.
In May 1874, Hardin killed a deputy sheriff in Brown County while visiting the town of Comanche. Deputy Charles Webb, who had been stalking him shot him from behind as he entered a Texas bar. Fleeing to Florida with his family, Hardin was captured by Texas Rangers in Pensacola on July 23, 1877. During that flight, he killed at least one, and perhaps as many as five more victims.
On the trail in Oklahoma and Kansas, he killed at least 7 men. In one dramatic gunfight, he took on 7 Mexicans along the Little Arkansas River, killing 5 of them.
Abilene, Kansas was no different than other places, and several more people died, one possibly for snoring too loud.
In his free time, he tracked down Wild Bill Hickok. Hickok spotted Hardin brandishing 2 pistols in clear violation of town ordinance. Hickok knew of Hardin's notoriety, and drew on him. Hardin held out his guns as if give them to Wild Bill, and Hickok holstered his pistols. In what would later be his signature move, the border roll, Hardin twisted around his guns and pointed them both at Hickok. Luckily for Wild Bill, he talked Wesley out of doing something he might regret, and they later went out and had a drink.
On September 28, 1878, Hardin was sentenced to twenty-five years in a frame-up trial for the Brown County deputy's murder. He was pardoned on March 16,1894.
Having studied law while in prison, Hardin was admitted to the Texas bar soon after his release.
In 1895, Hardin went to El Paso to testify for the defense in a murder trial. Following the trial, he stayed and established a law practice.
Just when he seemed to finally be going straight, Hardin began an affair with one of his married female clients in El Paso. Her husband found out about the affair and Hardin hired some law officials to kill him. One of the hired gunmen Constable John Selman, however shot Hardin in the back with a shotgun instead on August 19, 1895.
Eye witnesses say Hardin even drew as he fell dead to the floor.
Legend has it that his last words were, "Four sixes to beat, Henry." When killed, Hardin was shooting dice with local furniture dealer Henry Brown at the Acme saloon in El Paso.
Thus ended the life and career of one of Texas deadliest gunslingers. Despite his killing of over thirty people, Hardin had a reputation as a gentleman among those who knew him, and he always claimed he never killed anyone who didn't need killing.
[Name]MIYAMOTO MUSASHI I was born in the village of Miyamoto in province of Mimasaka in the twelveth year of the rule of Tensho (1584). I died on Kyushu Island in 1645.
My ancestors were a branch of the powerful Harima clan in Kyushu, the southern island of Japan.
[Short Description] I was a giant amongst men of my time. I stood over 184cm, or just over 6 feet. The average Japanese of my time were well under 153cm (or well under 5 feet).
When I was a child I contracted eczema caused by a congenital disease that left scars that I would carry throughout my life. Worst of all, I couldn't shave my sakayaki ( the front area the top of my head) because of the scars, and therefore I could not properly wear the Topknot that would distinguish me as a Samurai.
[Short Biography] When I was about sixteen years of age, I left home to embark on the "Warrior Pilgimage". During this time I was victor in scores of contests of single combat, and I fought in six wars.
This part of my life was spent living apart from others while I devoted myself to the search for enlightenment by the Way of the sword, and concerned only with perfecting my skill. I lived as men need not live, wandering over Japan soaked by the cold winds of winter, not dressing my hair, nor taking a wife, nor following any profession save my study. It is said that I never entered a bathtub lest I be caught unawares without a weapon, and that my appearance was uncouth and wretched. I bathed, but only in the cold water of the early mornings. It was only when I reached the age of fifty years that I finally settled down, having reached the end of my search for reason.
There must have been many ronin travelling the country on similar expeditions such as mine, some alone like myself and some enjoying sponsorship, and then there was the famous swordman Tsukahara Bokuden who travelled with a retinue of over one hundred men one hundred years before me.
[Skills] I was the master of the sword and thejitte,the sword catcher and deflector, and in later life I used two long wooden swords of my own making.
[Name] I was bornAnne Cormac Bonny on March 8, 1700, in County Cork, Ireland.
[Description] I was a well-endowed lass with a fiery spirit and a temper to match, and I often wore men's clothing.
[Biography] I was the illegitimate daughter of a prominent lawyer and his wife's maid. The ensuing scandal forced my father to flee Ireland with his lover and daughter in disgrace, but my family found refuge in the Carolinas. There Cormac amassed a fortune and bought a large plantation.
When I was sixteen, I married a ne'er-do-well sailor named James Bonny in an attempt to steal the plantation, but my father instead disowned me. Bonny then took me to the pirate lair of New Providence in the Bahamas,where he turned stoolpigeon to Governor Woodes Rogers, accusing any sailor he didn't like of piracy for a handsome reward. I grew to dislike my spineless husband and spent most of my time with the pirate elite. My best friends consisted of the pirates' paramours and of Pierre, the most celebrated homosexual on the island, who ran a popular ladies' establishment, and with whom I had a teasing rivalry for the favors of the male population.
I managed to capture the attentions of Chidley Bayard, one of the richest men in the Carribean, although in order to keep him I had to duel his current lover, a violent Spanish beauty. I enjoyed spending his money, and traveled with him everywhere, until at a ball, I met up with the spiteful sister-in-law of Governor Lawes of Jamaica. When the woman, after asking me catty questions about my position in Bayard's life, rudely told me that she didn't consider me worth knowing and to keep my distance. I cheerfully told her I'd make sure there was quite a bit of distance between us, and I promptly punched the woman in the mouth, knocking out two of her teeth in the process.
I grew tired of Bayard before long, as he was away for much of the time and I quickly caught the eye of one Calico Jack Rackham, a pirate of some renown. Governor Rogers had recently passed an amnesty for pirates which left me out of work. The attraction between myself and Jack was mutual.
Calico Jack was a handsome rogue who knew how to spend money as well as steal it. Jack decided to go back to sea with another pirate, Captain Charles Vane, but when he announced his plans to me, I refused to stay ashore and wait for him. I would go a-pirating, too. And so we began a life of piracy together.
In October of 1720, Jack and I were aboard the Providence, a sloop newly-captured by Mary Read, another female pirate. The Providence was caught by surprise, the male pirates being drunk at the time, and much to my dismay, instead of fighting, the men hid in the hold and were taken far too easily. Mary Read and I were also captured, but confessed our true gender. At our trial, when asked if we had any words to say before we were sentenced, I spoke up for the both of us: "We plead our bellies, sir!" Both of us were pregnant at the time. We received separate trials from the men, but we were sentenced to hang after the birth of our babies. Mary Read escaped the hangman by dying from fever while in jail, her unborn babe dying with her. I on the other hand was lucky in receiving several stays of execution.
((Note: Anne's files mysteriously vanished from official records. The most common story is that her father, who had contacts in the island, forgave his daughter for her acts and ransomed her back to the Carolinas, where she assumed a new name and a new life. Some say that she went West with a wagon train and began a new life. She was only twenty years old at this time.
[Skills] I was an expert with pistol and rapier, and I proved myself as dangerous as any male pirate. Fearless in battle, I was often a member of the boarding party when a prize was about to be taken.
[Name] Harry Houdini (1874-1926) was born Ehrich Weiss on March 24, 1874 in Budapest, Hungary. His family emigrated to the United States while he was an infant, and his father became the first rabbi in Appleton, Wisconsin. They later moved to Milwaukee, and eventually settled in New York. Young Ehrich's life was transformed after he learned his first trick (the vanishing quarter). At the age of 17, he changed his name to Harry Houdini and began performing in medicine shows, circuses, theaters, etc. When 100,000 people watched "The King of Handcuffs" wriggle free while hanging from a building in 1916, a newspaper reported that this was "the biggest crowd ever assembled in Washington at one place except for the inauguration of the President." One of Houdini's most spectacular illusions was the "Vanishing Elephant," in which the pachyderm lumbered on to the stage and walked straight into a large cabinet. Almost simultaneously the cabinet's walls would be pulled back and the elephant had disappeared. Houdini said "Even the elephant does not know how it is done."
Four years after the Wright Brothers flew the first practical airplane, Houdini bought a French plane and made his first flight. And just 5 months later, on March 16, 1910, he became the first person to make a successful flight in Australia!
Houdini was also a motion picture star, making his first appearance in 1918 in a serial "The Mastery Mystery." Soon he set up the Houdini Picture Corporation where he wrote and starred in "The Man from Beyond" and "Haldane of the Secret Service." On October 31, 1975 Houdini's pioneering accomplishments earned him a star on Hollywood Boulevard. Houdini was lounging in his dressing room at the Princess Theater in Montreal on October 22, 1926 when a student from McGill University asked if it was true that Houdini could sustain punches to his midsection without injury. The visitor struck him immediately, not realizing that Houdini had to brace himself. Even though Houdini had stomach pain, he boarded the train for his next appearance in Detroit. Collapsing after the final curtain, Houdini was taken to the hospital where his ruptured appendix was removed. But it was too late, and he passed away on October 31 -Halloween. At his funeral, Rabbi Bernard Drachman called Houdini "one of the truly great men of the age."
HARRY HAWKER (1889-1921) was born in 1889 at Moorabbin, Victoria, the son of an engineer and wheelwright. His father had an engineering interest and designed and built various steam engines, and a steam powered automobile. The enthusiasm influenced Harry, and on leaving school he found work with a company manufacturing bicycles, before becoming a chauffer and mechanic.
He took time off work in 1910 to see Harry Houdini make what has been recognised as the first flight by a powered, controlled aircraft in Australia. The following year, his enthusiasm for aviation fully fired, Hawker left for England to learn to fly. He spent some time finding work, finally being employed as a mechanic by the new Sopwith Aviation Company. Within a few weeks he had persuaded the founder, Tom Sopwith, to teach him to fly. Four days after his first lesson he was capable of flying a 50 minute solo, and after a month he had his "Aviator's Certificate".
At the age of 20, Harry Hawker was put in charge of Sopwith's hangars and of competition, demonstration and test flying. Hawker then set about establishing new records. Hawker took various dignitaries for joy flights, a sound public relations move directed towards enhancing the image of aviation as a professional business and safe mode of transportation, and not just a barnstorming sport.
Apart from his public record setting and experimentation, Hawker, as Sopwith's chief test-pilot, helped develop 295 aircraft throughout World War 1 including The Sopwith company's Sopwith Camel and Sopwith Pup. Post-War, Hawker entered into long distance flights. In 1919, with Commander Grieve, in a single-engine biplane, he left Newfoundland in an attempt to cross the Atlantic. The aircraft was a two-seater, specially adapted by Sopwiths, and incorporating a detachable fuselage section which could serve as a life-boat if required. The aircraft came down at sea, the rescue by a merchant ship going unannounced as the fortunately-placed vessel had no radio. Hawker was presumed lost until the ship docked. The London Daily Mail awarded the two aviators £5000 despite the failure; and Hawker and Grieve were awarded the Air Force Cross for their attempt. In 1921 Hawker entered that years Aerial Derby, flying a Nieuport Goshawk racer. He took off for a test flight on the evening of July 12. In a short time the aircraft caught fire and crashed. Hawker was killed. Tributes flowed in from everywhere, including among them those from the King, and from Australia's Prime Minister. Hawker's name survived him. Tom Sopwith took over the company, renaming it Hawker Aircraft Ltd. in 1933.
[Name}JACK LONDON (1876-1916)is best known for his books The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea-Wolf, and a few short stories, such as "To Build a Fire" and "The White Silence." In fact, he was a prolific writer whose fiction explored three geographies and their cultures: the Yukon, California, and the South Pacific. He experimented with many literary forms, from conventional love stories and dystopias to science fantasy. His noted journalism included war correspondence, boxing stories, and the life of Molokai lepers. A committed socialist, he insisted against editorial pressures to write political essays and insert social criticism in his fiction. He was among the most influential figures of his day, who understood how to create a public persona and use the media to market his self-created image of poor-boy-turned-success. London's great passion was agriculture, and he was well on the way of creating a new model for ranching through his Beauty Ranch when he died of kidney disease at age 40. He left over fifty books of novels, stories, journalism, and essays, many of which have been translated and continue to be read around the world.
[Name] SUN TZU (sn dz) c.500-320 B.C. was a Chinese general who has attributed to him a collection of essays on war called, The Art of War.
Knowledge of Sun Tzu reached Europe shortly before the French Revolution in the form of a translation by Father J. J. M. Amiot, a French Jesuit priest.
In the various translations, Sun Tzu is sometimes referred to as Sun Wu, and Sun Tzi.
The most fundamental of Sun Tzu's principles for the conduct of war is that "All warfare is based upon deception". Another key Sun Tzu principle is that "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." Sun Tzu's ideas spread to the rest of Asia and to Japan.
The works of Sun Tzu have been widely known in the United States since the mid-1970s. Diplomat Henry Kissinger has made reference to Sun Tzu and the principles for the conduct of warfare, and it has been the subject of serious study in U.S. military circles for many years.
The Art of War as applied to business, sports, diplomacy and personal lives has been popularized in American business and management texts, and Sun Tzu may be the most frequently quoted Chinese personality in the world today.
[Name] Charlotte de Berry also disguised herself as a man, joining the English navy with her husband. She eventually found herself forced onto a ship to Africa, whose captain attacked her. She led a mutiny, beheaded the captain, and turned the crew to piracy, raiding gold ships on the African coast.
Charlotte's pirate career demonstrates not only her own abilities, but also the thin line (or morally, no line) between then-legal imperialism and piracy. After all, the gold she stole had originally been stolen from Africans, who were themselves being violently kidnapped by the slave trade—rapine of the worse possible kind. Similarly, the pirates of the Spanish Main were taking what the conquistadores had stolen from the Aztecs, Incas, and other Mesoamerican peoples. Charlotte's crew had been law-abiding sailors when serving under a sadistic rapist, but outlaws when she led them. This, of course, in no way excuses the crimes she and these other pirates committed, it just speaks of the violence of their time, and that at least these criminals were straightforward about what they were doing.
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