The Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh has produced some of the worlds most popular, most beloved and most expensive paintings. Despite his great success, he was also known as a tortured, lonely artist who many felt was mad or at least on the verge of insanity. It is a testament to his immense talent …
George Washington was the first president of the United States and considered one of the best. George Washington is a much-admired person in many respects. As the first president of the United States, he set the course upon which the current three-branch system of federal government is based. George Washington is perhaps the one …
King Ludwig II of Bavaria, named after his grandfather, was born in Nymphenburg Castle outside Munich on August 25, 1845 and was the eldest son of King Maximillian II and Queen Marie. As a boy, Ludwig’s favourite time of the year were the summer holidays spent at the Royal Castle Hohenschwangau which his father …
During the last thousand years, European Monarchs have ruled Europe and the world with an iron fist and by fear, compassion and hatred. As their wealth grew from the riches of newly conquered continents and lands, they began building some of the worlds greatest castles as a sign of their status and wealth, leaving …
Vlad Tepes or Dracula was born in 1431, in the fortress of Sighisoara, Romania. His father was the military governor of Transylvania and a member of the Order of the Dragon. The order was created in 1387 by the Holy Roman Emperor and his second wife, Barbara Cilli. In the winter of 1436-1437, Vlad(Dracul) …
U2 was founded in 1976 and features Bono (Paul David Hewson) on vocals, The Edge (David Howell Evans) on lead guitar, keyboards, and background vocals, Adam Clayton on bass guitar, and Larry Mullen, Jr. on drums and background vocals. The band found popularity in the mid 1980’s and is still wildly popular today. They …
John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an iconic 20th century composer and singer of popular music with his songwriting partner Paul McCartney throughout the 1960s, and was the founding member of The Beatles. Lennon’s songwriting was an integral part of The Beatles’ profound commercial and critical impact. …
“I will never put my name on a product that does not have in it the best that is in me.” – John Deere JOHN DEERE In 1962, a University of Illinois archaeological team unearthed the exact location of the blacksmith shop where John Deere developed the first successful steel plow in 1837. The …
Ian Lancaster Fleming (1908-1964), the author of the James Bond 007 novels, was the grandson of a Scottish banker and the son of a Conservative MP (Member of Parliament). His father died in the first world war. In his will, he bequeathed his property to his widow on condition she never remarries. Ian’s youth …
Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt was born in a small town near Vienna in 1862 and educated at the Kunstgewerbe Art School. Klimt, as well as other symbolist painters, were part of a 19th century movement that infused art with mysticism by using mythology and dream imagery in order to paint the language of …