Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam - "A Missile Man"

Birth: 15 October 1931, at Dhanushkodi in the Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu.
Mothers Name: Ashiamma
Fathers Name: Jainulabiddin



Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam sir was born on 15th october 1931 at Dhanushkodi in the Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. His full name was "Avul PakirJainulabdeen Abdul Kalam". He is from a middle-class family. His father Jainulabiddin, had to rent the boats to the fishermen. His mother Ashiamma had gained much formal education. His father having quality to innate wisdom, true generosity of spirit and was a spiritual person. His father
commanded a high respect religious man. Dr. Kalam distributed newspapers at a young age to help with household expenses.

Dr.Kalam's primary education was completed in Ramaeswaran. And then he went to Schwartz High School at Ramanathpuram from where he went to Tiruchchirapalli for higher studies. Dr.Kalam was the first graduate from his family. He wrote "By the time I completed my education at Schwartz, I was a self-confident boy with the determination to be successful. The decision to go in for further education was taken without a second thought. To us, in those days, the awarness of the possibilities for a professional education did not exist; higher education simply meant going to college." After completing his B.Sc from St. joseph's college, he joined the MIT (Madras Institute of Technology) for studing Aeronautical engineering. Then he went to HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) at Bangalore as a trainee.

In 1963-64 he was invited by NASA to spend four months in the US at the Wallops Island Rocketry Centre and the Langley Research Centre. Before he become president of the country, he had divided his career in four phases.
The FIRST phase :
He worked with the Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO). After initiating Fibre Reinforced Plastics activities and spending time with the aerodynamics and design group he joined the satellite launching vehicle team at Thumba. Here he was made the Project Director of the Mission for SLV-3. He played an important role in developing satellite launch vehicle technology and expertise in control, propulsion and aerodynamics. The SLV-3 project managed to put Rohini, a scientific satellite, into orbit in July 1980. Commenting on the first phase of his career Dr. Kalam wrote: “This was my first stage, in which I learnt leadership from three great teachers—Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, Prof. Satish Dhawan and Dr. Brahm Prakash. This was the time of learning and acquisition of knowledge for me.”

The SECOND phase:
When he joined the Defence Research and Developement Organazation (DRDO). As a director, he was entrusted with the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. Under his leadership India has able to develop strategic missiles. such as Nag, Prithvi, Akash, Trishul, and Agni. About this phase Dr. Kalam wrote:“During this stage, I have gone through many successes and failures. I learnt from failures and hardened myself with courage to face them. This was my second stage, which taught me the crucial lesson of managing failures.”

The THIRD phase:
Dr. Kalam has participation with India's mission to become a nuclear weapon state, joinly undertaken by DRDA and DAE (Department of Atomic Energy). Dr. Kalam as a chairman of the TIFAC, also got involved in the creation of Technology Vision 2020 and the India Millennium Missions (IMM 2020). In Nov 1999 Dr. Kalam was appointed as a principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.

The FOURTH phase:
Fourth phase was started when he left the post principal scientific Adviser. Then he joined the Anna University of Chennai as a Professor of technology and Societal Transformation. As part of realizing his mission he decided to ignite the minds of young. For this he wanted to meet atleast 100,000 students in differents parts of the country. Then he became the President of India in 2002.

In 1997 Dr. Kalam was awarded by the highest civilian award of India, the Bharat Ratna. The Government of India has honoured him with the Padma Bhushan(1981), Padma Vibhushan (1990). Also got Dr. Biren Roy Space award, om Prakash Basin Award for Science and Technology, National Nehru award, Arya Bhatta Award.

His favourite quotation:
"We must think and act like a nation of a billion
people and not like that of a million people.
Dream, dream, dream!! Conduct these dreams
into thoughts, and then transform them into action."

Dr. Kalam was the third Precident of the India to have been honoured with a Bharat Ratna before being elected to the highest office . He was the first scientist and the first bachelor who lived in the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
After his workperiod as the Precident he is now a visiting guest professor at JSS University, Mysore. He has agreed to deliver a minimum of four lectures every year..

George Washington Carver-'The Plant Doctor'

Birth: January 1864 in Diamond Missouri(The exact day and year of his birth are unknown)
Mothers Name: Mary Carver
Fathers Name: Giles Carver( They both were slaves owned by Susan and Moses Carver)
Death: January 5, 1943 in Tuskegee, Alabama

George Washinging Carver was born around 1864 probabaly on january but, nobody knows for sure. His father Giles Carver and his mother Mary Carver was slave owned by Susan and Moses Carver in Diamond, Missouri.Giles Carver died right before George was born. George and his mother were kidnapped by Confederate (a supporter or soldier of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War) night-raidersand and they taken to the Arkansas. Moses carver paid money for George and bring him back home but his mother was disappeared forever. So Susan and Moses Carver reared George as their own child. It was on the Moses' farm where George first fell in love with nature, where he earned the nickname 'The Plant Doctor' and collected in earnest all manner of rocks and plants.

When he was baby he had a disease called whooping cough. It left him sickly and he couldn't do work hard like the other slaves. His daily task was cooking and sewing. He loved to work in the garden and wanted to get an education. He taught himself to read. When he was 12 yrs old he left home to attend the black school in Neosho, Kansas. There was only one teacher for 75 students in a small room. Other students played in the recess while he studied. He studied at home before and after his daily task. So he knew more than his teacher. Then he spent the next ten years traveling through the Midwest. He studied whatever he could learn. He finally finished school in his early twenties.

He wrote to a college to enroll and they accepted him, but when they found out he was black, they told him he couldn't attend. Then he spent time farming until he had enough money to go to Simpson College in Iowa. When he was 30, he was accepted at a college in Iowa. And in 1894, he became the first black student to graduate from Iowa State University. In 1896, he received his Masters Degree from Iowa State University. At this time George was beginning to be known around the U.S. for the study of fungi and parasites, and also for the study of plants.


Later in 1896, He was invited to work at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He accepted the job and build an agriculture building and laboratory. The U.S. Department of Agriculture funded his laboratory in 1897. Carver began working on how to solve the problems the south was having with their fields. When he was came to Tuskegee the peanut had not the recognized as a crop. But later it becames the sixth leading crop in U.S. In 1940 the peanut became second most important crop in the south. He made more than 300 different products from peanut. Products such like wood stain, shampoo, face powder, printer ink, vinegar, soap, coffee, butter, milk, cheese etc. He also made different things from other plants. George also found 118 ways to make industrial materials from the sweet potatoes, like rubber. Also made 500 dyes from various southern plants.

George received many medals and awards for his discoveries in science and agriculture. He was awarded the fellow of the Royal Society of Arts from the scientific body in the Great Britain. He was also awarded by Roosevelt Medal for his service in the science field, Humanitarian award from the variety Club of America,Man of the Year award from the magazine Progressive Farmer. He had received a Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science from the university of Rochester.

Later in his life, Thomas Edison offered him $100,000 a year to come and work for him, but he thought he could do more good at Teskegee. One of his major accomplishment was the inventation and promotion of the organic fertilizing methods. Introduction of crop rotation for restoring nutrients to the soil.

He was known as a religious man. He never got married, but he says that he was married to his work. He donated his life saving to the George Washington carver Research Foundation at Teskegee Institute.

In 5th january 1943 george was died. He died from anemia and for being sick for long time. He was appeared on US commemorative stamp in 1948 and 1998, also depited on a commemorative half doller coin from 1951 to 1954. His Monument was build in 1953 near his birth place in Missouri. It was the first federal monument dedicated to a black person.