Barack Obama
True or False: Barack Obama’s family lives in three different countries.
True! His mother was born and raised in the United States. His father came from Kenya. His stepfather came from Indonesia. Family members still live in all three places.
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expedition through the western United States.
deaf, she knew several langauges. True! Helen Keller learned to read and communicate by touch. She used these skills to study English, French, German, Greek, and Latin. Late in her life, she said she wanted to learn even more languages.
True or False: In spite of huge fame and success, Walt Disney often struggled to make enough money. True! Many of Walt’s movies were hits, but the money they made was always spent on his next project. Each idea Walt dreamed up was bigger than the last. And he spent whatever it took to make each movie perfect. He created Mickey Mouse on a train ride. He got the idea for Disneyland while watching his daughters ride the merry-go-round at the park. He brought live deer into the studio during the making of Bambi.
True or False? Ronald Reagan was an actor before he became president of the United States. True! He appeared in dozens of films and TV shows during his career. He even served as president of the Screen Actors Guild.
True or False? Marian Anderson once received a standing ovation before she even sang her song. True! On January 7, 1955 Marian Anderson was the first black person to sing with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. The audience applauded for five minutes before she could start singing.
Born in Rutland, Vermont, John Deere served a four-year apprenticeship to a blacksmith and worked in that trade until 1837. The implements being used by pioneer farmers of that day were cumbersome and ineffective for cutting and turning the prairie soil. To alleviate the problem, Deere and a partner, Major Leonard Andrus, designed three new plows in 1838. The plow was so successful that by 1846 Deere and his partner were selling a thousand a year. Deere then sold his interest to Andrus and organized a plow company in Moline, Illinois. After experimenting with imported English steel, he had a cast steel plow made for him in Pittsburgh. By 1855 he was selling more than 13,000 such plows a year. In 1868 his business was incorporated as Deere & Company, which is still in existence today.
True or false? Abigail Adams was shy and quiet? False! Abigail had many strong opinions. She shared her ideas with her husband, President John Adams. Abigail wrote many letters. Some of them described her thoughts on how the new U.S. government should work. Abigail’s son, John Quincy Adams became the sixth president of the United States. She traveled the world, but preferred reading and writing at her Massachusetts farmhouse.
Question: What did President John Adams want to be when he grew up? Answer: A farmer! But John’s father talked him out of it. He wanted John to go to school. If he hadn’t, American history might have been very different! John’s ideas about government became part of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. He had to spend a lot of time away from the country he loved. He represented the United States in Holland, France and England. He was the first president to live in the White House.
A soldier, a farmer, a governor, and an explorer, Juan Ponce de León made his very first voyage with the famed Christopher Columbus. As an explorer, Ponce de León may be better known for what he didn’t discover—the fabled fountain of youth—than for what he did discover—Florida!