Biography of Michael Jackson

Singer, songwriter. Jackson was born August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, to an African-American working-class family. His father, Joseph Jackson, had been a guitarist but had put aside his musical aspirations to provide for his family as a crane operator. Believing his sons had talent, he molded them into a musical group in the early 1960s. At first, the Jackson Family performers consisted of Michael's older brothers Tito, Jermaine, and Jackie. Michael joined his siblings when he was five, and emerged as the group's lead vocalist. He showed remarkable range and depth for such a young performer, impressing audiences with his ability to convey complex emotions. Older brother Marlon also became a member of the group, which evolved into the Jackson 5.
Behind the scenes, Joseph Jackson pushed his sons to succeed. He was also reportedly known to become violent with them. Michael and his brothers spent endless hours rehearsing and polishing up their act. At first, the Jackson 5 played local gigs and built a strong following. They recorded one single on their own, "Big Boy" with the b-side "You've Changed," but it failed to generate much interest.
The Jackson 5 moved on to working an opening act for such R&B artists as Gladys Knight and the Pips, James Brown, and Sam and Dave. Many of these performers were signed to the legendary Motown record label, and it has been reported that Gladys Knight may have been the one to tell Motown founder Berry Gordy about the Jackson 5. Impressed by the group, Gordy signed them to his label in 1968.
Relocating to Los Angeles, Michael and his brothers started work on their music and dancing with their father as their manager. They lived with Gordy and also with Supremes singer Diana Ross when they first arrived there. In August 1969, the Jackson 5 was introduced to the music industry at a special event, and later served as the opening act for the Supremes. Their first album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5, hit the charts in December of that year. It's first single, "I Want You Back," hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1970.
More chart-topping singles quickly followed, such as "ABC," "The Love You Save," and "I'll Be There." At the age of 13, Jackson launched a solo career in addition to his work with the Jackson 5. He made the charts in 1971 with "Got to Be There" from the album of the same name. His 1972 album, Ben, featured the eponymous ballad about a rat. The song became Jackson's first solo No. 1 single.
For several years, Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 maintained a busy tour and recording schedule, under the supervision of Berry Gordy and his Motown staff. Gordy wrote many of the songs recorded by the group and by Michael Jackson as a solo artist. The group became so popular that they even had their own self-titled cartoon show, which ran from 1971 to 1973.
Despite Jackson's individual achievements and the group's great success, there was trouble between the Jacksons and their record company. Tensions mounted between Gordy and Joseph Jackson over the management of his children's careers, and their level of participation in making their music. The Jacksons wanted more control over their recordings, which led to most of the Jacksons breaking ties with Motown in 1975. Jermaine Jackson remained with the label and continued to pursue a solo career, having previously released several albumsnone of which had matched the success of his younger brother Michael. Read more

Biography of US President Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born of Luo ethnicity in Nyanza Province, Kenya. He grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British. Although reared among Muslims, Obama, Sr., became an atheist at some point.
Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in Wichita, Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he signed up for service in World War II and marched across Europe in Patton's army. Dunham's mother went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved to Hawaii.
Meantime, Barack's father had won a scholarship that allowed him to leave Kenya pursue his dreams in Hawaii. At the time of his birth, Obama's parents were students at the East–West Center of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. Obama's father went to Harvard to pursue Ph.D. studies and then returned to Kenya.
His mother married Lolo Soetoro, another East–West Center student from Indonesia. In 1967, the family moved to Jakarta, where Obama's half-sister Maya Soetoro Ng was born. Obama attended schools in Jakarta, where classes were taught in the Indonesian language.
Four years later when Barack (commonly known throughout his early years as "Barry") was ten, he returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham, and later his mother (who died of ovarian cancer in 1995).
He was enrolled in the fifth grade at the esteemed Punahou Academy, graduating with honors in 1979. He was only one of three black students at the school. This is where Obama first became conscious of racism and what it meant to be an African-American.
In his memoir, Obama described how he struggled to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage. He saw his biological father (who died in a 1982 car accident) only once (in 1971) after his parents divorced. And he admitted using alcohol, marijuana and cocaine during his teenage years.
After high school, Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, graduating in 1983 with a degree in political science.
After working at Business International Corporation (a company that provided international business information to corporate clients) and NYPIRG, Obama moved to Chicago in 1985. There, he worked as a community organizer with low-income residents in Chicago's Roseland community and the Altgeld Gardens public housing development on the city's South Side.
It was during this time that Obama, who said he "was not raised in a religious household," joined the Trinity United Church of Christ. He also visited relatives in Kenya, which included an emotional visit to the graves of his father and paternal grandfather. Read more

World richest women

World's Richest Women5 Wealthiest Female Billionaires © Elizabeth Nelson
Jul 17, 2008 Liliane Bettencourt, Christy & Alice Walton, Abigail Johnson, and Jacqueline Mars inherited fortunes that put them high on Forbes' Billionaires List.
There's always a lot of buzz about the richest men in the world, but did you ever wonder about the wealthiest women? There are some females with serious economic clout out there.

Here are the current top 5:
Liliane Bettencourt
Liliane Bettencourt was in her mid-40s when she inherited the fortune of L’Oreal, the makeup company that her father, Eugene Schuller, founded. Now 85 years old, this Frenchwoman still owns a controlling interest in the company. Most of her time, however, is devoted to humanitarian and medical work with the Bettencourt Schuller Foundation. At approximately $22.9 billion, Liliane is the richest woman in the world.

Christy Walton
When John Walton tragically died in a 2005 plane crash, his wife, Christy, inherited a large portion of the family fortune. John’s father, Sam Walton, started Wall-Mart in 1962. Christy is now 53 years old and is worth $19.2 billion dollars. She lives in Jackson, Wyoming.
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Alice Walton
The Wall-Mart fortune created more than one billionaire female. Alice Walton, Christy’s 58 year old sister-in-law, also makes the list at $19 billion. Alice is divorced and lives in Fort Worth, Texas.

Abigail Johnson
Next on our list is Abigail Johnson, the 46-year-old owner of a controlling interest in Fidelity Investments. Abigail inherited her $15 billion from her father, who went from an analyst to president in 15 years. Abigail went to undergrad at Hobart and William Smith College and earned her MBA at Harvard. After her education, she worked at Fidelity as a diversified fund manager, president of the mutual fund division, and currently the head of employer services. She lives in Boston.

Jacqueline Mars
The 5th lady on our list is Jacqueline Mars, the 68 year old inheritor of the Mars candy and pet food fortune. Mars, begun by her grandfather, Frank Mars, as a 1911 chocolate company, became famous after her father, Forrest, began making chocolate and nut candy bars. She inherited the $14 billion family fortune nearly a decade ago and currently lives in New Jersey.
The Billionaire List and the Gender GapThe gender gap is overwhelmingly evident on the list of the world’s billionaires. Only 9% of the billionaires (99 women on the list total) are female. It is also interesting that, despite the fact that they have been accomplished professionals, all of the women on this top 5 list have inherited their fortunes. This stands in stark contrast to the quintessential ‘self-made’ billionaires like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates who top the list of the world's richest men. In an age where a woman can be a CEO, a billionaire, or even a serious contender for the nomination to US presidency, gender inequality is still painfully clear on the lists of Forbes magazine.

5 world's richest men

World's Richest Men5 Wealthiest Billionaires on the Planet© Elizabeth Nelson
Jul 18, 2008 Warren Buffet, Carlos Slim Helu, Bill Gates, Lakshimi Mittal, and Mukesh Ambani all made or inherited vast fortunes that put them at the top of Forbes' rich list.
Ever wonder who the richest person in the world is? It's not Bill Gates (although his Microsoft fortune is nothing to sneeze at - unless, perhaps, your name is Warren Buffet). Here are the current top 5:

Warren Buffet - #1
The world’s richest person is currently Warren Buffet, worth $62 billion at age 77. His made his fortunes at Berkshire Hathaway by investing in Geico, See’s Candies, and Coca-Cola, amongst other major companies. Warren studied at the University of Nebraska and Columbia University, where his studies helped him to become a better investor. He has long been known for his conservative lifestyle, and he still lives in the same Nebraska house where he lived before he earned his large fortune.
Despite the fact that he has a wife and 3 children, Buffet plans to give the majority of his billions to charity. Much of this money has already been promised to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Carlos Slim Helu - #2
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Worth $60 billion, Carlos Slim Helu isn't far behind Warren Buffet on Forbes’ billionaire list. The 68 year old made his billions in the Latin American telecommunications industry. Carlos is a widower with 6 children and lives in Mexico City.

Bill Gates - #3
Bill Gates was the richest man in the world for many years but currently holds the #3 spot due to the recently poorer performance of Microsoft stock. Bill famously dropped out of Harvard undergrad to start Microsoft, the company that has long dominated the PC world. A recent failed merger attempt with Yahoo marked the beginning of Microsoft’s stock downturn. Microsoft alternatives and non-PC products, like Apple computers and software, are also becoming more mainstream. Currently, Gates is worth about $58 billion.
Bill and his wife, Melinda, are very involved in sponsoring charitable projects through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. AIDS research and vaccination and public education in the United States are two of the foundation’s main focuses. Now 52 years old, Bill and wife Melinda have three children and live in a small city not far from Seattle, Washington.

Lakshimi Mittal - #4
Unlike the prior three men on the list of the world’s billionaires, Lakshimi Mittal inherited his steel fortune. He is 57 years old, married, and has two children. He is still of Indian citizenship but lives in London. He is worth $45 billion.

Mukesh Ambani - #5
The final billionaire on the top 5 list, Mukesh Ambani inherited his $53 billion dollar fortune from his father, Dhirubhai Ambani. His father’s business was split in two due to the quarrel between Mukesh and his brother, Anil, who is currently the 6th richest person in the world. Mukesh is the head of Reliance Industries and is in the manufacturing and petrochemicals business. He was briefly the richest man in the world in 2007, momentarily seizing the title from its usual place in the hands of a United States billionaire. He currently resides in Mumbai, but has pursued his chemical and business studies both in India and in the United States, at Stanford University. Mukesh Ambani and his wife and three children enjoy a lavish lifestyle, epitomized by his soon to be 27-story private residence in downtown Mumbai, said to cost over $2 billion.
To learn more about the world's billionaires, read the companion article, http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_The-Worlds-Billionaires_Rank.html

Successful football manager

Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson, CBE, more commonly known as Alex Ferguson, Sir Alex, or Fergie (born 31 December 1941 in Govan, Glasgow) is a Scottish football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United , where he has been in charge since 1986. He has won more trophies than any other manager in the history of the English game.With 22 years as manager of Manchester United, he is the second-longest serving manager in their history after Sir Matt Busby, while his tenure is the longest of all the current League managers. During this time, Ferguson has won many awards and holds many records including winning Manager of the Year most times in British football history. Manchester United have won more honours during Ferguson's tenure than they did in all the years combined prior to his appointment.He was an inaugural inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame for his great services to the English game, was knighted in 1999 by Queen Elizabeth II and currently holds the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen for his services to the city, having managed the city's football club to a host of major trophies in the early to mid 1980s.

Sir Alex Ferguson is the most successful manager in British football history – winning more than 30 trophies during his time in charge of the Reds. Yet despite more than two decades at the United helm he remains focused on increasing that tally, bringing yet more silverware to Old Trafford.The Reds boss enjoyed a playing career north of the border that saw him take in spells with Queen's Park, St Johnstone, Dunfermline, Glasgow Rangers, Falkirk and Ayr United. But it is not for his playing of the game that Sir Alex was to become a success. Following a spell out of the game he moved into coaching, taking up the role of manager of East Stirlingshire, St Mirren then Aberdeen. It was his time at Pittodrie where he earned his reputation as a top coach. He broke the Glasgow dominance of Scottish football to lead Aberdeen to three Scottish titles, four Scottish cups, one League Cup and one European Cup Winners’ Cup.Following the sacking of Ron Atkinson as manager of Manchester United, the Old Trafford hierarchy moved quickly for his services. They got their man on 6 November 1986.Ferguson inherited a dispirited team of underachievers supporters’ discontent, failed to break Liverpool’s domination. Stuck in the bottom four of the Division One table, Ferguson immediately set about attempting to stave off the very real threat of relegation. Without resorting to the transfer market, he guided United up the table to and eleventh place finish. By now it was clear to Ferguson that he faced a major job in turning the club around. United were an entertaining side but one that seemed unable to cope with the more physical aspects of League football. In his second season the Reds fared better finishing second behind Liverpool, but the position painted a falsepicture. The turning point came in the 1989/90 season. Following a run of games in which the Reds were drawn away in every round, United picked up their first silverware of the Ferguson era. Lee Martin scoring the only goal in a final replay against Crystal Palace to in the FA Cup.This first trophy opened the flood gates. The European Cup Winners’ Cup was won the following season in Rotterdam, Barcelona defeated 2-1 thanks to a brace from Mark Hughes. Then in 1991/02 the League Cup was added to United’s list of honours.Sadly the title remained elusive. It was the Holy Grail to United fans, the 26 championships free years being exacerbated by Liverpool’s dominance of the domestic and European game. In 1992/93 the long wait for the League championship came to an end. The Reds, inspired by £1m signing Eric Cantona, pipping Aston Villa in the final weeks of the season.The shackles were broken: the double followed in 1993/94, the double-Double (with ‘kids’) in 1995/96, and another title in 1997. Finally United were matching off-field might with on-field success. Liverpool’s dominance was well and truly over.Sir Alex’s greatestachievement came in 1998/99. No side before or since has achieved a treble haul of Premiership title, FA Cup and European Cup. On an unforgettable night in Barcelona his decision to throw on substitutes Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer assured history was made. The pair scored injury-time goals to win the Champions League and complete the treble.Ferguson was knighted following that success and some suggested he should retire, believing his desire would wane following the realisation of a dream. Not a bit of it. Another title followed in 1999/2000 and he made it three-in-row in 2000/01. His eighth Premiership duly arrived in 2002/03; his fourth FA Cup a year later, against Millwall in Cardiff. The Reds had by now entered a period of rebuilding. The side of homegrown players he’d first put together in 1995/96 was now breaking up and he’d recruited new stars like Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo to spark a new era of success.The rebuilding paid off with victory in the Carling Cup in 2005/06 and a ninth Premier League trophy in 2006/07. In May 2007 Sir Alex swooped for three players - Anderson, Nani and Owen Hargreaves - to bolster an already strong squad. This evolving team claimed more glory in 2007/08, defending the Premier League title and securing Sir Alex's second Champions League triumph.United followed European success by winning the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan in December 2008. The Reds then claimed the Carling Cup in March 2009 by beating Tottenham on penalties in the final. On 16 May 2009, United achieved what had seemed an impossible mission when Sir Alex arrived in 1986, equalling Liverpool's long-standing record of 18 league championships. Beating Liverpool to the 2008/09 crown - Sir Alex's 11th title in 17 seasons - made the feat even sweeter.

How to make life successful

Bill Gates came from a family of entrepreneurship and high-spirited liveliness. William Henry Gates III was born in Seattle, Washington on October 28th, 1955. His father, William H. Gates II, is a Seattle attorney. His late mother, Mary Gates, was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent, and chairwoman of United Way International.

Bill Gates - Early Life!!!

He had an early interest in software and began programming computers at the age of thirteen. In 1973, Bill Gates became a student at Harvard University, where he meet Steve Ballmer (now Microsoft's chief executive officer). While still a Harvard undergraduate, Bill Gates wrote a version of the programming language BASIC for the MITS Altair microcomputer.Did you know that as young teenagers Bill Gates and Paul Allen ran a small company called Traf-O-Data and sold a computer to the city of Seattle that could count city traffic?

Bill Gates & Microsoft!!!

In 1975, before graduation Gates left Harvard to form Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen. The pair planned to develop software for the newly emerging personal computer market.Bill Gate's company Microsoft became famous for their computer operating systems and killer business deals. For example, Bill Gates talked IBM into letting Microsoft retain the licensing rights to MS-DOS an operating system, that IBM needed for their new personal computer. Gates proceeded to make a fortune from the licensing of MS-DOS.
On November 10, 1983, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, Microsoft Corporation formally announced Microsoft Windows, a next-generation operating system.
On January 1, 1994, Bill Gates married Melinda French Gates. They have three children.
Bill Gates PhilanthropistBill Gates and his wife, Melinda, have endowed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with more than $28.8 billion (as of January 2005) to support philanthropic initiatives in the areas of global health and learning.