People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

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Bella Fortuna
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People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by Bella Fortuna » Tue Nov 02, 2010 1:49 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irena_Sendler

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Irena Sendler (née Krzyżanowska, in Poland commonly referred to as Irena Sendlerowa, 15 February 1910 – 12 May 2008) was a Polish Catholic social worker who served in the Polish Underground and the Żegota resistance organization in German-occupied Warsaw during World War II. Assisted by some two dozen other Żegota members, Sendler saved 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto, providing them with false documents, and sheltering them in individual and group children's homes outside the Ghetto.

In December 1942, the newly created Żegota (the Council to Aid Jews) nominated her (by her cover name Jolanta) to head its children's section. As an employee of the Social Welfare Department, she had a special permit to enter the Warsaw Ghetto to check for signs of typhus, something the Nazis feared would spread beyond the Ghetto. During these visits, she wore a Star of David as a sign of solidarity with the Jewish people and so as not to call attention to herself.

She cooperated with the Children's Section of the Municipal Administration, linked with the RGO (Central Welfare Council), a Polish relief organization that was tolerated under German supervision. She organized the smuggling of Jewish children out of the Ghetto, carrying them out in boxes, suitcases and trolleys. Under the pretext of conducting inspections of sanitary conditions during a typhoid outbreak, Sendler visited the Ghetto and smuggled out babies and small children in ambulances and trams, sometimes disguising them as packages. She also used the old courthouse at the edge of the Warsaw Ghetto (still standing) as one of the main routes for smuggling out children.

The children were placed with Polish families, the Warsaw orphanage of the Sisters of the Family of Mary, or Roman Catholic convents such as the Little Sister Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary Conceived Immaculate at Turkowice and Chotomów. Some children were smuggled to priests in parish rectories. She buried lists of their real names in jars in order to keep track of their original and new identities. Żegota assured the children that, when the war was over, they would be returned to Jewish relatives.

In 1943, Sendler was arrested by the Gestapo, severely tortured, and sentenced to death. Żegota saved her by bribing German guards on the way to her execution. She was left in the woods, unconscious and with broken arms and legs. She was listed on public bulletin boards as among those executed. For the remainder of the war, she lived in hiding, but continued her work for the Jewish children. After the war, she dug up jars containing the 2,500 children's identities and attempted to find the children and return them to their parents. However, almost all of their parents had been killed at the Treblinka extermination camp or had gone missing otherwise.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Rogozov

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From September 1960 until October 1962, Rogozov worked in Antarctica, including his role as the sole doctor in a team of thirteen researchers at the Novolazarevskaya Station, which was established in January 1961.

On the morning of 29 April 1961, Rogozov experienced general weakness, nausea, and moderate fever, and later pain in the upper right portion of the abdomen. All possible conservative treatment measures did not help. By 30 April signs of localised peritonitis became apparent, and his condition worsened considerably by the evening. Mirny, the nearest Soviet research station, was more than 1,000 miles from Novolazarevskaya. Antarctic research stations of other countries did not have an aircraft. Severe blizzard conditions prevented aircraft landing in any case. Rogozov had no option but to perform the operation on himself.

The operation started at about 22:00 on 30 April with the help of a driver and meteorologist, who were providing instruments and holding a mirror to observe areas not directly visible, while Rogozov was in a semi-reclining position, half-turned to his left side. A solution of 0.5% novocaine was used for local anaesthesia of the abdominal wall. Rogozov made a 10-12 cm incision and proceeded to expose the appendix. General weakness and nausea developed about 30–40 minutes after the start of the operation, so that short pauses for rest were repeatedly needed after that. According to his report the appendix was found to have a 2x2 cm perforation at its base. Antibiotics were administered directly into the peritoneal cavity. By about midnight the operation was complete.

After a brief period of postoperative weakness, the signs of peritonitis disappeared. Rogozov's temperature returned to normal after five days, and the stitches were removed seven days after the operation. He resumed his normal duties in about two weeks. The self-surgery captured the imagination of the Soviet public at the time. In 1961 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.
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Re: People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by redunderthebed » Tue Nov 02, 2010 2:01 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Jara

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Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbiktor ˈliðjo ˈxaɾa marˈtineθ]) (September 28, 1932 – September 15, 1973[1]) was a Chilean teacher, theatre director, poet, singer-songwriter, political activist and member of the Communist Party of Chile. A distinguished theatre director, he devoted himself to the development of Chilean theatre, directing a broad array of works from locally produced Chilean plays, to the classics of the world stage, to the experimental work of Ann Jellicoe. Simultaneously he developed in the field of music and played a pivotal role among neo-folkloric artists who established the Nueva Canción Chilena (New Chilean Song) movement which led to a revolution in the popular music of his country under the Salvador Allende government. Shortly after the Chilean coup of 11 September 1973, he was arrested, tortured and ultimately shot to death by machine gun fire. His body was later thrown out into the street of a shanty town in Santiago.[2] The contrast between the themes of his songs, on love, peace and social justice and the brutal way in which he was murdered transformed Jara into a symbol of struggle for human rights and justice across Latin America.

On the morning of September 12, Jara was taken, along with thousands of others, as a prisoner to the Chile Stadium (renamed the Estadio Víctor Jara in September 2003). In the hours and days that followed, many of those detained in the stadium were tortured and killed there by the military forces. Jara was repeatedly beaten and tortured; the bones in his hands were broken as were his ribs.[4] Fellow political prisoners have testified that his captors mockingly suggested that he play guitar for them as he lay on the ground with broken hands. Defiantly, he sang part of "Venceremos" (We Will Win), a song supporting the Popular Unity coalition.[4] After further beatings, he was machine-gunned on September 15, his body dumped on a road on the outskirts of Santiago and then taken to a city morgue.

Jara's wife Joan was allowed to come and retrieve his body from the site and was able to confirm the physical damage he had endured. After holding a funeral for her husband, Joan Jara fled the country in secret.
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Re: People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by Clinton Huxley » Tue Nov 02, 2010 2:40 pm

Eileen Nearne - they don't make 'em this any more...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/1 ... earne-dies
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Re: People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by Feck » Tue Nov 02, 2010 2:48 pm

I was going to say Shakleton http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton

but I have since found out he was a cat murdering bastard so meh !
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Re: People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by Clinton Huxley » Tue Nov 02, 2010 2:55 pm

The cat had to go. Shack was immense.
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Re: People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by klr » Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:04 pm

Clinton Huxley wrote:The cat had to go. Shack was immense.
+1. A man's gotta do ...

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He also had to have off all the dogs killed off, and their pups:

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Re: People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by Pappa » Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:07 pm

Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Richard Dawkins (when he's writing about science)
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Re: People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by Clinton Huxley » Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:10 pm

Constantine XI Palaiologos - Last emperor of Byzantium and thus, in a way, last Roman Emperor. Died on the walls of Constantinople 1453. I find this period in history fascinating.
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Re: People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by klr » Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:16 pm

Clinton Huxley wrote:Constantine XI Palaiologos - Last emperor of Byzantium and thus, in a way, last Roman Emperor. Died on the walls of Constantinople 1453. I find this period in history fascinating.
May I recommend Constantinople: The Last Great Siege, 1453 by Roger Crowley?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Constantinople- ... 0571221866

... and also his Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Empires-Sea-Bat ... y_b_text_b

:read:
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It's not up to us to choose which laws we want to obey. If it were, I'd kill everyone who looked at me cock-eyed! - Rex Banner

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Re: People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by Clinton Huxley » Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:19 pm

klr wrote:
Clinton Huxley wrote:Constantine XI Palaiologos - Last emperor of Byzantium and thus, in a way, last Roman Emperor. Died on the walls of Constantinople 1453. I find this period in history fascinating.
May I recommend Constantinople: The Last Great Siege, 1453 by Roger Crowley?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Constantinople- ... 0571221866

... and also his Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Empires-Sea-Bat ... y_b_text_b

:read:
I have the first bit will check out the latter :tup:

John Julius Norwich's three volume history of Byzantium is excellent, heartily recommended.
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Re: People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by leo-rcc » Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:25 pm

Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema, Soldier of Orange.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Hazelhoff_Roelfzema
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Re: People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by Clinton Huxley » Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:27 pm

Captain Bligh - excellent navigator, that chap.
"I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled"

AND MERRY XMAS TO ONE AND All!

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Re: People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by Ronja » Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:38 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Addams
Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 – May 21, 1935) was the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In a long, complex career, she was a pioneer settlement worker and founder of Hull House in Chicago, public philosopher (the first American woman in that role), sociologist, author, and leader in woman suffrage and world peace. She was the most prominent woman of the Progressive Era and helped turn the nation to issues of concern to mothers, such as the needs of children, public health and world peace. She emphasized that women have a special responsibility to clean up their communities and make them better places to live, arguing they needed the vote to be effective. Addams became a role model for middle-class women who volunteered to uplift their communities. She is increasingly being recognized as a member of the American pragmatist school of philosophy.
...
In 1917, when the US joined the war, Addams started to be strongly criticized... She faced increasingly harsh rebukes and criticism as a pacifist. Her 1915 speech on pacifism at Carnegie Hall received negative coverage by newspapers such as the New York Times, which branded her as unpatriotic.
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Re: People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by ambok » Wed Nov 17, 2010 4:39 am

shakesphear. . . :mehthis:

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Re: People Who Make You Think "WOW!"

Post by Eriku » Wed Nov 17, 2010 4:46 am

Helen Keller was a major wow... to get as far as she did when she had to compensate for such sensory deprivation... An incredible feat.

I've not fully appreciated how far she went until I read up on her a few years ago... I'd only heard of her in English class previously, I believe... and they didn't fully disclose her contribution to the public discourse on matters of social welfare and citizens' rights.

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