The 16th President of the United States was a remarkable man in many ways. Serving his presidency during the American Civil War between the years 1861 to 1865, Abraham Lincoln is even today, remembered as the “Great Emancipator” owing to his struggle to bring slavery to an end in the United States, and had a key role to play in the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment that formally ended slavery in the country. Before becoming President, he had successful careers as a lawyer and a politician.
He was a leader that was dedicated to providing the best for his country, and to that end, worked towards a total elimination of slavery and racism. He was also a model individual, possessing a character that widely inspired a lot of people across the globe.
Check out these facts about Abraham Lincoln:
1 Unlikely that you know this, but Lincoln was a licensed bartender!
2 Lincoln, suffering from depression, avoided carrying knives as he feared that he would use it to harm himself.
3 Lincoln felt that women should have the right to vote – one of the first major U.S. leaders to do so.
4 Abe Lincoln lost just once in the 300 wrestling matches he participated in; to that end, he is enshrined in the Wrestling Hall of Fame.
5 He had less than 12 months of formal schooling, and practiced law without a degree.
Entrepreneur, philanthropist and one of the richest men in the world; Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, has a lot to his name. He was named by Time Magazine as being one of the most influential people of the 20th century. Having dropped out of Harvard, he pursued his entrepreneurial dream, and along with his partner Paul Allen, founded one of the most extensively used softwares today – Microsoft.
His most remarkable influence, however, remains his philanthropy. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is, according to Wikipedia, “the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world”! The initiatives undertook by the foundation has seen infant mortality in the world by half, women’s death in childbirth reducing by two-thirds and the complete elimination of polio from the face of the earth, and this is only just the beginning. Bill Gates, therefore, is a man who changed not only the technological, but also the socio-cultural status of the world.
Check out these facts about Bill Gates:
1 Bill Gates dreamt of becoming a millionaire by the time he was 30. By 31, he was a billionaire.
2 Bill Gates had no college degree and joined the ranks of Abraham Lincoln, Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Steve Jobs in that respect.
3 Bill Gates has donated $28 billion thus far.
4 According to him, by 2035, there will barely be any poor countries remaining.
5 He sponsors a machine that turns human waste into water.
