5 Minute Biographies

“If you drink don’t drive. Don’t even putt” – Dean Martin. Few individuals need less of an introduction than Dean Martin. He was known as the “king of cool” due to his charismatic nature and is one of the most iconic comedians, actors, and singers of the 20th century. Dean Martin was born Dino Paul …

“If you can dream it, you can do it” – Walt Disney. There is no name better known in the film industry than that of Walt Disney. An American film icon, the very name Disney continues to carry weight decades after the death of its namesake. However, few people know how Walt Disney became successful …

“Because something or someone looks or acts differently from us does not necessarily mean that it is ugly or bad” – Gene Roddenberry. Gene Roddenberry was the genius behind the groundbreaking television series Star Trek.  But there was so much more to Roddenberry’s life – he was a military aviator, worked for the police department, …

“Life is 10 percent what you make it, and 90 percent how you take it.” – Irving Berlin Born Israel Isidore Baline, Irving Berlin was a man born into a world of discrimination, hatred, and incredible poverty. However, from these ashes, Irving Berlin would rise like a phoenix in a new country to become perhaps …

“Being a princess isn’t all it’s cracked up to me” – Princess Diana Diana Frances Spencer, better known as Diana, Princess of Wales, was born 1 July 1961. Princess Diana was born into British nobility as the youngest child of Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer. She grew up in close proximity to the British …

“The best revenge is massive success” – Frank Sinatra. Frank Sinatra, born 12 December 1915 is possibly the most famous American singer of the entire 20th century and someone whose music continues to be influential to this day. Born to Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, Frank Sinatra’s mother worked as a midwife and also …

“My desire was not to pass any island without taking possession, so that, one having been taken, the same may be said of all” – Christopher Columbus. Don Cristobal Colon, otherwise known to us by the name Christopher Columbus was a pivotal historical figure and one whose legacy continues to be a matter of contention …

“A pen is to me as a beak is to a hen.” – J.R.R. Tolkien. J. R. R. Tolkien Biography John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, known as J.R.R. Tolkien, was born on 3 January 1892 in Bloemfontein in what was then called the Orange Free State but which is now part of South Africa. He is …

“I have ways of making money that you know nothing of” – John D. Rockefeller For a man who was never president nor a world-changing inventor, it is surprising to many that the name John D Rockefeller continues to echo all the way from the 19th century through to the present.  But whereas he may …

“A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.” – Alexander Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton was one of the founding fathers of the United States of America. He was heavily involved in promoting the US Constitution in addition to founding the nation’s financial system, The US Coast Guard, and the …

“There is no greater harm than that of time wasted.” – Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was born on 6 March 1475 in the village of Caprese, which is in Tuscany, Italy, approximately 100km to the east of Florence. His family was in the banking business and so while not affluent, they certainly weren’t …

“I ought to be jealous of the tower. She is more famous than I am.” – Gustave Eiffel. Gustave Eiffel was born on 15 December 1832 in the city of Dijon, the historical capital of the Burgundy region of France. His family name is Bönickhausen and that is the name under which his birth was …

“You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas” – Davy Crockett. There is probably not a person in America who was a child in the mid-1950s who can’t still sing the theme song to the TV show Davy Crockett.  “Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, greenest state in the land of …

“The most important tool of my trade was a mirror” – Lana Turner Lana Turner was one of the most famous women of the 20th century. She was a Hollywood actress, sex symbol, pinup girl and a film, theatre and television icon who had one of the longest and most illustrious careers of any professional …

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” – Neil Armstrong Neil Armstrong had flying in the blood one might say. Born in Ohio on 5 August 1930, Neil Armstrong attended his first aviation event at the Cleveland air races at the ripe old age of only two. By the age …

“Women, like men, should try to do the impossible. And when they fail, their failure should be a challenge to others” – Amelia Earhart Born on 24 July 1897 at her grandfather’s home in Atchison, Kansas, Amelia Mary Earhart was the daughter of Samuel Stanton Earhart, a claims officer for the Rock Island Railroad and …

“All I know is just how to make people laugh” – Stan Laurel Born on 16 June 1890 in Ulverston, Lancashire, England, Arthur Stanley Jefferson, known later to the world as Stan Laurel, was the son of a theatre manager from Bishop Auckland called Arthur Jefferson and an actress from Ulverston called Margaret. He was …

“Live without seeing, but be what you are.” – Louis Braille Louis Braille Biography Born on 4 January 1809, Louis Braille was from a small town called Coupvray, which is about twenty miles to the East of Paris, France. He was the youngest of four children born to Simon-René, who was a leatherer and maker …

“The Analytical Engine does not occupy common ground with mere ‘calculating machines.’ It holds a position wholly its own, and the considerations it suggests are more interesting in their nature” – Ada Lovelace. Ada Lovelace Biography Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace was born in London, England on 10 December 1815. She was the daughter …

“It is therefore not unreasonable to suppose that some portion of the neglect of science in England, may be attributed to the system of education we pursue. – Charles Babbage. Charles Babbage Biography Often considered the father of computing, Charles Babbage was an 18th-century polymath, meaning he was a person who had expertise in several …