Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman, popularly known as C.V. Raman, was born in Thiruchirapalli, in Tamil Nadu, on November 7, 1888. He was the second of children of Chandrasekhar Iyer and Parvathi Ammal. His father was a professor of Mathematics.At an early age, Raman moved to the city of Visakhapatnam, in Andhra Pradesh, where his father accepted […]
Rajgopalachari (December 1878-December 25, 1972), known as Rajaji, was an lawyer, writer, statesman and a spiritualist. He was the second Governor-General of independent India. Later he became the Chief Minister of the Madras Presidency.At one time considered Mahatma Gandhi’s heir, this brilliant lawyer from Salem was regarded in pre-independence years as one of the top
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on September 5, 1888, at the pilgrim town of Tiruttani near Chennai.He was the second son of a poor couple. It is said that his father did not want his son to learn English, and wanted him to be a priest instead. However, the boy was so talented that his parents
Born on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm X was a prominent black nationalist leader who served as a spokesman for the Nation of Islam during the 1950s and ’60s. Due to his efforts, the Nation of Islam grew from a mere 400 members at the time he was released from prison in 1952
Born on June 5, 1878, in San Juan del Rio, Durango, Mexico, Pancho Villa started off as a bandit who was later inspired by reformer Francisco Modero, helping him to win the Mexican Revolution. After a coup by Victoriano Huerta, Villa formed his own army to oppose the dictator, with more battles to follow as
Dictator Rafael Trujillo was born on October 24, 1891, in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic. He became president of the Dominican Republic in 1930 through political manoeuvring and torture. He officially held the office until 1938, when he chose a puppet predecessor. He resumed his official position from 1942 to 1952, but continued to rule by
Born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein on November 7, 1879, Leon Trotsky’s revolutionary activity as a young man spurred his first of several ordered exiles to Siberia. He waged Russia’s 1917 revolution alongside Vladimir Lenin. As commissar of war in the new Soviet government, he helped defeat forces opposed to Bolshevik control. As the Soviet government developed,
Born on March 1, 1922, in Jerusalem, Israel, Yitzhak Rabin served as Israel’s military chief of staff before becoming the country’s first native-born prime minister in 1974. He reclaimed the post in the 1992 elections, and then became known for his historical peace negotiations with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in
Burhanuddin Rabbani, born on 20 September 1940, was President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996. After the Taliban government was toppled during Operation Enduring Freedom, Rabbani returned to Kabul and served as a temporary President from November to December 20, 2001, when Hamid Karzai was chosen at the Bonn International Conference
Born in either 383 or 382 B.C., Philip II became Macedonia’s leader in 359, and was officially its king by 357. He used skilled military and diplomatic tactics to expand his country’s territory and influence, and ended up dominating almost all of his neighbouring Greek city-states. He was assassinated in July 336, at the approximate
Paul I of Russia was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on October 1, 1754. He was sidelined for years by his mother, Catherine II, before finally becoming emperor in 1796, after her death. His reign was marked by numerous decrees that were resented by the populace, as well as quickly shifting alliances in foreign affairs.
Peter III was the emperor of Russia for a mere six months in 1762. During his reign, he withdrew from the Seven Years War and formed an alliance with Prussia to wage war against Denmark, which made him an unpopular leader. His wife, Catherine the Great, suspected he was set to divorce her and conspired
Anastasia was born on June 18, 1901, in Petrodvorets, Russia. On July 16, 1918, she and her family were executed in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Speculation arose as to whether she and her brother, Alexei Nikolaevich, might have survived. In 1991, a forensic study identified the bodies of her family members and servants, but not hers or
Shaikh Abu al-Fazal ibn Mubarak, also known as Abu’l-Fazl, Abu’l Fadl and Abu’l-Fadl ‘Allami, was born on January 14, 1551. He was the vizier of the great Mughal emperor Akbar, and author of the Akbarnama, the official history of Akbar’s reign in three volumes, (the third volume is known as the Ain-i-Akbari) and a Persian
Born in New York in 1930, gay rights activist and community leader Harvey Milk made history when he became one of the first openly gay officials in the United States in 1977, when he was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors. He was tragically shot and killed the following year, and numerous books and