Hero
-
The Hero of Two Worlds
On this day in 1777, after offering to serve the United States without pay, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution allowing French nobleman the Marquis de Lafayette to join American revolutionary forces as a major general. Barely two years before, when he was only 18, Lafayette professed that his “heart was dedicated” to the… Continue reading
-
The Martyr of Palmyra
Three years ago on August 18th, Syrian archaeologist Khaleed al-Assad—no relation to the Syrian dictator—was publicly beheaded by ISIS for refusing to betray the location of ancient artifacts he had hidden. He was 83 years old. Al-Assad was the head of antiquities for the ancient city of Palmyra, which was founded in the third millennium… Continue reading
-
The Swiss Diplomat Who Saved Half of Budapest’s Jews
Carl Lutz was a Swiss diplomat who, as Vice Consul in Budapest, Hungary, saved over 62,000 Jews – nearly half the Jewish population of the city – in one of the largest rescue operations of Jews in the Second World War. Shortly after being appointed Vice Consul in the Hungarian capital in 1942, Lutz wasted… Continue reading
-
The Greek Prelate Who Stood Up to the Nazis and Saved Thousands
Archbishop Damaskinos Papandreou was the leader of the Orthodox Church in Greece during the Second World War, credited with saving the lives of thousands of Greek Jews. His actions were characteristic of the Greek resistance, which was among the fiercest and most stubborn in Europe; indeed, the Greeks are credited with inflicting the first major… Continue reading
-
The Woman Who Fell From the Sky and Survived
Vesna Vulovic was a Serbian flight attendant who holds the Guiness World Record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute: 33,330 feet (10,160 meters). Her fall occurred in 1972 after an explosion brought down a Yugoslav airliner, killing everyone else on board. Although she broke multiple bones (including a totally crushed vertebra), sustained severe… Continue reading
-
The Woman Who Curbed An Ebola Outbreak In Africa’s Largest Country
Nigeria had never had a case of Ebola before, so when Dr. Adadevoh, a UK-trained consultant endocrinologist, ordered he be tested for the disease and placed in quarantine, she had to stand firm against those who disagreed. — The Independent, on Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh and her quick identification of Nigeria’s patient zero. Although it sadly ravaged three… Continue reading
-
Hero of the Week — Maria Bashir
Maria Bashir is the Chief Prosecutor General of Herat Province Afghanistan (the second largest jurisdiction in the country), the only woman to hold such a position thus far. Her fifteen years of experience as a civil servant has brought her into conflict with criminals, the Taliban, and corrupt policemen. When the Taliban took power in 1996,… Continue reading
-
Happy 107th Birthday Grace Hopper
Today’s Google Doodle honors Grace Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906 – January 1, 1992), an American computer scientist and Rear Admiral in the US Navy who pioneered computer programming. Hopper was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer, one of the most advanced of its time. She also developed the first compiler,… Continue reading
-
Witold Pilecki: Forgotten War Hero
Witold Pilecki (May 13, 1901 – May 25, 1948) was a soldier of the Second Polish Republic who founded Poland’s first resistance groups, the Secret Polish Army, shortly after German occupation of the country in 1939. He was also a prominent member of the underground Polish Home Army, another resistance group that was one of… Continue reading
-
Fazlur Rahman Khan
Fazlur Rahman Khan was a Bangladeshi structural engineer and architect who has been called the “Einstein of structural engineering” and the Greatest Structural Engineer of the 20th Century. As the “father of tubular designs”, he devised groundbreaking structural systems that still form the basis of skyscraper construction to this day. Indeed, most of the world’s… Continue reading
About Me
Humanist | Bibliophile | Writer | Wiki Editor | World Citizen | Esquire (J.D. / LL.M.)