Leonardo DaVinci

By Nick R and Jarrett Riordan

Leondardo's Robot
Did you know that Leonardo DaVinci invented the armored knight robot? Well, it’s true and it was operated by a system of pulleys and cables. Leonardo had an amazing life, he invented and painted many things.

Leonardo’s robot has changed a lot over time, one way is that robots now use electricity. Another way is that they use robots for practice with new cars and they also them for practice at the hospital.

Leonardo’s robot was very detailed for one of the first robots ever! It had a four factor system in it. The four factor system contracted the robot’s wrists, elbows and shoulders.

Leonardo’s robot changed the world with lots of things. The first reason the robot changed the world is that it saved human lives because it fought in wars. Another reason the robot changed the world is that, if people lose body parts, people replace they body parts with robot body parts.

Birth
Leonardo DaVinci was born on April 15, 1452 in Vinci, Italy. His father was a businessman. Leonardo’s father was also ashamed of Leonardo.

Drawing
In 1462, when Leonardo was ten, his father gave him a very exciting surprise. His father took him to work with Andrea del Verrocchio and live in his workshop for 13 years. Before that, there was terrible food and after that, he only drew pictures of water. When Leonardo was inventing, he painted the Mona Lisa in 1505, he also painted the Last Supper in 1498.

Development
In 1478, Leonardo developed his paintings from perspectives and 3D. In 1478, his first whole painting was finished at 26 years old.

Inventing
The first invention Leonardo mad was a clay horse statue. A few years later, the French destroyed Leonardo’s horse statue. Leonardo was very depressed after the French came.

Encyclopedia
Leonardo started wanting to make an encyclopedia of everything. In all of his note books, Leonardo wrote in mirror writing. A long time after Leonardo died, only some of his notebooks were found and they are priceless.

Inventing Comes Back
After a while, Leonardo invented the plane theory, by watching one of his birds fly over his head. Leonardo also made weapons for the military. Leonardo thought of the body as a machine and in 1495, made the first armored knight robot.

Death
On May 2, 1519, Leonardo DaVinci died. He died at the age of 67. There are lots of stories of how Leonardo died.

Conclusion
Now that you know all about Leonardo DaVinci, you can share them with other people. Leonardo DaVinci had an amazing life, he invented many wonderful things.

Alexander Graham Bell

By Remy Reed and Kobe Hescott

Introduction
“Hello?” Yes, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, a very important device. Without it, you might not be able to talk to your grandparents. Our person is Alexander Graham Bell, his life was very exciting.

Born
Exciting, that’s Alexander Graham Bell ‘s childhood. Alexander Bell was born on March 3, 1847 in Scotland. His nickname was Alec. Sadly, his mother was deaf.

Education
In 1857, Alec attended school. He hated school, he would have rather been at home playing the piano.

New Name
After two month at school, Alec decided he needed a middle name. Alec got Graham from his grandpa. Now his full name was Alexander Graham Bell.

Inventions
In 1859, Alec came up with the idea of the wheat husker, a machine to make husking wheat easier. He was only 12 years old at the time. Then when he was 15, he made a talking machine in the voice of a baby “mama."

Teaching Jobs
In 1863, when he was only sixteen, he became a physics teacher. Some of his students were taller and older than he was.

Brothers
In 1867, his brother Melville James died from tuberculosis. 3 years later, his brother Edward Charles died from the same disease. This left Alec alone with only his parents.

Canada
In 1870, Alexander Graham Bell moved to a small town in Canada. Alex bought a big house, not a mansion.

Daniel
A year later in 1871, Alec got a job trying to help the deaf speak. Alec had a favorite student named Daniel, who had a rather squeaky voice. In the middle of the first semester, Daniel quit trying to speak and left for the train station. Alec was too late to catch him, Daniel had left.

More Inventing
In 1879, Alec got the idea for the harmonic telegraph. The harmonic telegraph sends messages across electric wires.

Starting the Telephone
In 1874, Alec came up with the telephone but Mr. Hubbard, his boss thought it was impossible. Alec told Mr. Hubbard “I know we can do it, it’s possible just give me some time”, but Mr. Hubbard shouted back “I’m paying you to work on the telegraph, not some nonsense that you made up, now good bye.” Slam, he slammed the door shut which made Alec very disappointed.

Mr. Watson
One year later, Alexander Graham Bell met a man named Thomas Watson. Mr. Watson owned his own electric shop. They worked on the telephone together, in Mr. Watson’s shop.

Mabel
In 1875, Alec started to fall in love with one of his students, Mabel Hubbard. He later became engaged to Mabel.

It Works
One day, Alec and Mr. Watson were working on the telephone in different rooms across electric wires. In a couple minutes, Alec heard Mr. Watson from the other room. “It’s possible” Alec yelled. “It actually works!” Alec started dancing.

Marriage and Children
In 1877, Alexander Graham Bell married Mabel Hubbard. Mabel was one of Alec’s students. Alec was 30 and Mabel was only 18.

Later in 1878, Mabel Bell gave birth to little Elsie May Bell. She was the third person in their family. In 1880, the Bell’s had their second child Marian, but Marian preferred to be called Daisy.

Photo Phone
In 1880, Alec made the photo phone, a device that sends sound waves through the air.

Moving
Still in 1880, the Bell family moved to Washington D.C. and built a house there. It was a little bigger than their old house because of their new child Marian/Daisy.

Metal Detector
The next year in 1881, Alex invented the metal detector. He invented it because Abe Lincoln got shot. Everybody wanted to find the bullet, but it appears the bullet was lead.

Poor Child
Also in 1881, Alec had his third child who unfortunately died two hours later from lung disease. That gave Alec the idea for the metal breathing jacket.

U.S. Citizen
In 1882, Alexander Graham Bell because a U.S. citizen in Washington D.C.

Mansion
Four years later, just Alec moved back to Canada and used the money he made from the telephone to buy the supplies for his mansion. Seven years later, after tiring work, Alec finished his mansion and the rest of the family moved in and they spent the rest of their lives there.

The National Geographic Society
2 years later in 1888 Alex became a member of the National Geographic Society.

Hydrofoil
Next, in 1909 Alec had another invention, the hydrofoil. It was a huge boat that went very fast. 10 years later, the hydrofoil broke a world record for speed. One of the heaviest boats went 79 mph.

Bell's Most Famous Invention: The Telephone
The amazing telephone, invented by Alexander Graham Bell. It solved lots of problems in 1876, when it was first invented. The telephone solved problems like worldwide communication. No, it wasn’t his first invention, when he was 12 years old, he made the wheat husker. How has the telephone changed? Now there are hand held, wireless phones called cell phones. There are also radio phones.

Did the telephone fail at first, yes. The first time, Mr. Watson’s voice came across full of static so Alec couldn’t hear anything Mr. Watson said. After many failed attempts, (about 8 times) the telephone finally worked! The telephone successfully worked in 1876.

Conclusion
In conclusion, Alexander Graham Bell died in 1922 from complications from diabetes. He lived a happy life. By the way, did you know that the first telephone didn’t have a ringer? Instead you would have to yell into it and hope that somebody would pick up. Man, he should have thought of the ringer too.

Albert Einstein

by Xavier Rosado and Zachary Boggs

Introduction

Do you know a famous inventor? Well Albert Einstein is one. In Albert’s time, he was one of the smartest scientists in the world. Let me tell you more about Albert’s amazing life and his invention of the General Theory of Relativity.

Birth

Albert Einstein was born on March 14th, 1879 in Ulm, Wurttemberg, Germany. His mother’s name was Pauline, and his dad’s name was Hermann.

Early Childhood

Albert’s childhood was very difficult. His teachers didn’t understand him and his parents moved a lot! His parents were very worried because Albert was slow to speak. In 1895 Albert was expelled from school!!!

Childhood

Even though Albert loved math, he spent most of his childhood playing the violin!! He hated it. In fact, he hated it so much he threw a chair at his violin teacher! He hated it at first, but he learned to love the violin.

School

Albert Einstein graduated high school. Then he went to a polytechnic school in Zurich, Switzerland. But Albert finished secondary school in Aarau, Switzerland. He soon graduated from that school in 1901.

Discovery

In 1903, Albert said that the sun bent star light, and in 1905 an eclipse proved that it was true. Since he had published the General Theory of Relativity, in 1906, scientists decided to give Albert his scientist job that he was dying to get.



Family

At age 25, Albert decided to have a family. In 1903 Albert got married to Meleva Maric. In 1904 Albert’s son Hans Albert was born. Later in 1910, Albert’s son Edward was born.

Life

Nine year later, in 1919, Albert got divorced from Meleva Maric. That same year Albert got very sick so his cousin Elsa Lowenthal took care of him. When Albert got better he married Elsa.

Awards

In 1921 Albert won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Adventures

After winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Albert agreed to go to the United States to help raise money for a university there. He stayed there for a long time. Then in 1933 Albert found out that Nazi soldiers had broken into his apartment in Germany.
In 1936, Albert’s wife Elsa died.

War

Later, in 1939 World War II began! In 1941, Japan attacked Hawaii! Four years later, in 1945, The United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. This ended the war.

Life

In 1952 Albert was asked to be the President of Israel, a mostly ceremonial position. Albert turned it down.


Death

Sadly, Albert Einstein died on April 18, 1955, at the age of 76, in Princeton, New Jersey.

Awards

In 1999 Albert was named The Person of the Century.

Ending

After all of this, you should a lot about Albert Einstein. Albert had a very exciting life. Are you as smart as Einstein?

Thomas Edison

by Carter Prieditis and Emily Dixon

Thomas Alva Edison was born in 1847, February 11 in Milan, Ohio.
When he was born his parents gave him the nickname Al and Tom.

He was a very curious young boy. Thomas had a slight loss of hearing. When Al was in school he hated his classes. Thomas liked machines like the train. He liked the train so much he wanted to work with the train company. As a kid, Edison liked the big railroad that reached from Ohio to Port Huron. Thomas taught himself the dots and dashes and hand signals for morse code.

In 1862 Thomas got a job selling newspapers on the big railroad train, he was 12 when he got the job. His mother thought that it was a little too early for a job of his own, but he got it anyway.

In the same year 1862, he got a new job called a telegraph job by taking messages and sending one back. In 1863 he turned sixteen. In 1866 Thomas got a new telegraph job. He got the small job at Boston. He got the job at 19. At that time he started working on a vote recorder. A few months later in 1869 he quit his telegraph job. From now on he would just invent.

In 1869 Tom became an inventor. Soon he decided to sell his inventions. He also found out that inventing wasn't cheap he needed money to bye his supplies.

Next in 1870 Tom got a new inventing shop. He was 23 years of age. Thomas usually spent 19 hours a day in his shop. Even though he was busy he started a family. On 1871 on Christmas day Edison got married. He married Mary Stillwell. His first child in 1873 was Marion. Then in 1876 he had Thomas JR.

In 1877 Edison made the phone clearer and better. Then it could not go far, but he made it that it can go farther. Soon they put the phone in stores and people would make a life selling the phone.

His work of the phonograph idea paid off. In 1878 Tom made the phonograph. He met a lot of about it and they let him proceed on making more.

Thomas got a new idea so he took parts off the telephone. He put the parts and tried to make something that played noise back. It worked! That is what we call the video camera.

Al had a lot of questions about power. He asked how much power? It took a huge amount.
In 1881 Thomas Edison made a new lab in New York City. It was huge, it had a lot of room and space in it.

On 1881 was a devastating year for Edison! His beloved wife Mary died! He had a very tough time inventing because of her death.

A while after Mary died he married Mina in 1886 in New Jersey. Soon the inventor of morse code had a daughter. Ed was so happy for him. Also Mina's father was Lewis Miller.

Edison's fifth child was born! In 1890 he started making movies. He got his own movie studio. The date 1896 was the time of the movies the first movie kiss was out. It was a very good day for Edison. He was overjoyed.

Thomas invented a lot of things. He invented the battery to power a car. He also made things for the wars, air force and navy. He was 60 when he was working on these.

In 1927 Thomas made rubber and things we use for cars and roads to fill cracks in it. He kept working on things used for rubber.

In 1931 Thomas Edison died. He was buried in West Orange October 21, also he died before Mina. That was the life of Thomas Edison.

W.K. Kellogg

By Katie Servis and Claire Riordan

Introduction
Did you know when you eat Kellogg's ceral, you are eating the invention of W.K. Kellogg? That's right. W.K. Kellogg invented Kellogg's Corn Flakes, a great success. He had an amazing life and was a very hard working man. This is his story.

Birth
“Yeah, it's a boy!” April 7, 1850 Will Keith Kellogg was born to a hard working family in Battle Creek, Michigan. His father's name was John and his mother's name was Ann.

Childhood
In Wills childhood he worked for his family. They sold food from their garden for money. In 1867 Will started working in his father's broom factory when he was only 7 years old. Will loved his Arabian horse named Spot. Later on his father decided to sell Spot for the money. When this happened, Will promised himself that he would get several Arabian horses when he was older.

Education
At school Will was very shy though he still had quite a few friends. Also at school Will didn't have very good grades. In fact, he actually needed glasses but he didn't figure that out until later on. His mother and father didn't care about any of his grades. They thought work was more important. Although Will wasn't very good in school, his parents taught him to be helpful and caring.

Religion>
The Kellogg's belonged to a religion called the Seventh-day Adventists. They believed that it was wrong to take drugs. The Kellogg's taught others not to do drugs. The Kellogg family was very caring. They helped neighbors in need. One time a neighbor needed milk so they gave them one of their cows. Another time, a neighbor couldn't keep his farm so they gave him some money. They also gave money to neighbors and other people in need.

Early Business
In 1878 Will was working very hard at his broom factory job. He was finally a very, very busy businessman. He took trains to and from to all different places to work at broom factory's. At the time, Will had a girl friend named Ella Davis. But he found another broom factory job very far from home. He decided to take the job, but once he got to the new job he missed home terribly, so he instantly decided he would go back home.

In 1880, Will got a new job in Battle Creek. He worked with his brother, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. Will's brother ran the Battle Creek sanitarium. It was called the Sun for short. When Dr. Harvey was busy with other patients, Will was in charge. The employees enjoyed his company. They started calling him W.K. They said, “If you want something to get done, go to W.K.”.

Family Life
Once Will moved home he decided to ask Ella for her hand in marriage and Ella replied “yes” in 1882. A year later they had their first child named John Leonard-a boy. Five years later they had their youngest child named Elizabeth Ann-a girl in 1888. Because of Will's business he couldn't spend much time with his children and his wife.

Third Business
W.K didn't enjoy his job with his brother very much. His brother didn't pay him much, and he was very poor. Even though W.K didn't have much money, he still gave money to neighbors.

W.K and his brother made health food for their patients. One day they put the wheat in the water and forgot about it. Then a few days later they found it in the water. Instead of throwing it away they tried it . It was a success! After that they started making health food for the patients at the Sun. The recipe was very bland and had no sugar. In 1891, they tried to make another recipe that was better, but in the end it tasted terrible. They called it Granose Flakes. The patients loved it. They had it for every breakfast. W.K started inventing a cereal called corn flakes. It contained ingredients with corn.

Biography
So at the time as you can see Will had become very rich and he used all that money for a big house, huge car and a ranch with many Arabian horses which was a dream come true for Will. He built a day care and an elementary school named after his dear mother, the Ann J. Elementary School. Also Will donated $25,000 to people in serious depression! He still had enough money to survive.

Now that Will had made so many inventions, he had become very famous. He was famous for his inventions, but also for his genorosity. Now that Will was becoming old he wasn't liking all the attention anymore. What he really wanted was a quiet, peaceful life.

Death
Will Keith Kellogg died on October 6, 1951. He was 91 years old when he died. After an exciting life it all came to an end.

Kellog's Invention
Crunch! Crunch! Do you like Kellogg's Corn Flakes cereal? If you do, this is how it all came to be.
W.K. Kellogg actually made the corn flakes on accident! But before he even had any idea about the corn flakes, he made health food with his brother for the San patients. To make it, first, they boiled wheat in hot water so it became a mushy dough. Then they put it through two rollers to flatten out the dough. After that the brothers crumbled up the dough and served it to the patients.

One day the brothers forgot about some wheat in the boiling water. They found it in the water a few days later and decided to put it in the rollers anyway. It tasted spectacular!

The cereal invention solved the problem of having to make a big healthy breakfast. Instead they are getting a bowl, a spoon, a glass of milk and grabbing a box of Kellog cereal and your set. Now isn't that handy? It is healthy and delicious too. Don't forget if you got to go to work, it's fast and easy! The cereal invention has changed over time because it has gotten more sugary and more cereals. There are also lots more exciting names for the cereal like Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks, Frosted Flakes and Frosted Mini Wheats.

The cereal invention changed our world by making people more up and going in the morning and a more healthy breakfast.

Conclusion
Finally after all of this, you should know millions of facts about Will Keith Kellogg and his invention. I'll bet you'll always remember when you read, the fact that the Corn Flakes invention was really a mistake.

Samuel F.B. Morse

by Luke

Introduction

Do you know about Samuel F.B. Morse? Samuel F.B. Morse was well known for the invention of Morse Code and telegraphs. He had a historic and amazing life.

Birth
April 27, 1791 Samuel F.B. Morse was born. Samuel was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts. His parents were Jedidiah Morse and his mom was Elizabeth Ann Finley Breese.

Childhood
On February 7, 1794 Samuel F.B. Morses brother Sindney Edwards Morse was born. Samuels brother was born in the same state and town as Samuel was. Sindney Edward Morse was born 3 years after Samuel.
In 1795, June 18 Samuels brother Richard Cary Morse was born. He was born 4 years after Samuel and 1 year after Sindney.

Education
Morse entered his first school which was Phillips Academy in 1799. The school was located in Andover, Massachusetts.
At the age of 14 Samuel entered Yale College. Samuel hears lectures on electricity from Benjamin Silliman and Jeremiah Day.
In 1810 Samuel Morse graduated from Yale College. When he graduated he supported himself by painting.

England
In July 1811 Samuel set sail for England aboard the Lydia. In England he joined Roaly Academy where he studied painting.

Family Life
In 1816 Samuel Morse got engaged to a lovely women named Lucretia Pickering. On September 28, 1818 they were married in Concord, New Hampshire.

In 1819 on September 2 they had their first child. The child's name was Susan Walkes Morse. While Samuel was starting a family, he had the opportunity in 1820 to paint president James Monroe. March 17, 1823 Samuel was gifted with a second child. The name of the child was Charles Walker Morse. In 1825, January 7, his third child was born. This child's name was James Edward Finley Morse.

On February 7, 1825 Samuels wife died. She died one month after she had her third child. In 1826 Samuel's father dies. In 1829 Samuel left to Rome. His children went with family members.

Returning
In the Autumn of 1832 Samuel returned to the U.S.A. He took the Sully back to the U.S.


Telegraph
In 1833 Samuel F.B. Morse started developing the telegraph. In the Autumn of 1835 Morse made a reporting telegraph. In 1837 Morse retires from painting. He painted his last painting to work on the telegraph. On January 24, 1838 Morse demonstrates the telegraph.

Second Family
On August 10, 1846 he got married again. Morse got married to a beautiful second wife. On July 25, 1849 Morse was given with another child. That was his fourth child. In 1851, April 8, Morse got another child. That was the fifth child Morse was gifted with. On January 31, 1853 Morse got a sixth child. William Morse was born almost two years after his sister. In 1857, March 29, Morse had a seventh child. The child's name was Edward Morse.

Death
In 1877, April 2, Samuel F.B. Morse sadly died.

Conclusion
In conclusion, Samuel was a very successful man. His inventions weren't well known now, but they played a big part in the world. Do you want to be like Samuel F.B. Morse?

Louis Braille

By Madeline Velinga

Did you know that Louis Braille was the first person who invented raised dots for blind people to read and write? I will tell you about the life of Louis Braille, and the invention that he created.

Born To See

Louis Braille was born January 4, 1809. Louis was born in CoupVray, France. His father's name was Simon Rene Braille, his mother's name was Monique Braille. Louis had two sisters.

In 1812 Louis was three years old. One day Louis went to play in his father's workshop, Louis was tapping leather with a screwdriver when he poked his left eye. Louis all the sudden started screaming. His mother ran and got him and brought him in the house. Louis's mom called the doctor but the doctor couldn't do anything. A couple days passed but Louis's eye got worse, it spread into the other eye. Louis Braille was blind. Louis was four years old now and the Napoleons army had attacked Russia, and soldiers were living in the Braille's house.

New Priest

In 1815 Louis Braille had a new priest at his church. The priest name was Father Pulley. Father Pulley taught Louis about the world around him. And at that time the Napoleon army was offended.

Father Pulley talked to Louis's parents and said that Louis was ready to go to school. So Louis went to school the next day. Everyday one of Louis's classmates came to pick Louis up. Louis couldn't read or take notes, but he listen really well. Then his teacher started to focus on reading and writing. Since Louis couldn't take part in any of this he stopped going to school.

The Royal Institution

Father Pulley found a school for the blind called the Royal Institution. It was 1819 when Louis went to the Institution, he also was ten years old. Louis made a lot of friends right away. He loved the Institution. But the teachers were strict about rules.

Sick

It was still 1819 and the water got really dirty, soon Louis got a really bad disease called tuberculosis. It made Louis cough really hard, some even died from the disease.

Activities

At the Institution, one of Louis's class was music. And he sewed slippers for women. Louis learned to play the piano, organ and the cello.

Making Dots

One day in 1821 a person from the army came in, he had a machine called a night writer. The army used it to talk to each other. Louis tried it but it didn't help him read. And when you wrote on it, it wouldn't tell you when a sentence stopped. It was still 1821 and summer had come. Louis took the screwdriver from his father's workshop and got a piece of paper. Then he started punching holes. After he punched them, Louis felt the piece of paper. He found a way to read! Louis went back to the Institution and wanted other blind kids to feel it.

Showing

After that Louis took it to the principal of the Royal Institution. Louis went to his office and showed him how to make it. But after Louis showed him the dots, the owner said “no” because he wasn't interested.

Job

It was 1826 now and Louis Braille was fifteen years old. Louis was now a teacher at the Institution. All of the kids in Louis's class thought Louis was the best teacher ever!

Instruments

In 1828 Louis Braille graduated from elementary school. And now Louis was going from church to church playing the organ and the piano. Soon the principal of the school let Louis publish his first book in the raised dots. Louis was twenty years old when he made the book. Blind kids were so excited to read that almost every blind person in the world bought the book. Soon Louis taught the sighted teachers to read the dots too.

Sick Again

In 1835 Louis got the disease tuberculosis again. Soon Louis had to go home because he became very sick. Friends came to visit because they thought Louis would die soon. A couple days later Louis got better.

Burned Papers

It was 1840 and Louis went back to the Institution. When Louis got back he found out that the school had a new principal. Louis went to the principal and presented his dots. Again the principal didn't like the dots. So that night he burned the papers of the raised dots. Kids still used the raised dots, So the principal asked if they could have a show. They had a show so people could see the raised dots. At the show a little girl read the dots aloud!

Died

It was 1852, Louis got tuberculosis again. Friends came to visit him and it was his 43rd birthday. Two days later Louis died of tuberculosis. Louis died January 6, 1852 in Paris, France.

Worldwide

After Louis died they named the dot Braille. Braille became worldwide. People who were blind could read!

Reburying

Soon the French government wanted to rebury Louis with other French stars. Louis was reburied so people could see his grave.

Closing

In conclusion, Braille dots are still here and blind people love to read. Louis Braille's invention changed the world with what he created.

Invention

Poke, poke, poke, that's the sound of Louis Braille poking holes in a paper to make the invention of Braille. Thanks to Louis Braille he changed the world.

To make Braille you use a special machine called the Brailler. The Brailler makes Braille. The special machine looks like a typewriter but smaller and has only six keys. You press certain keys to make a letter or a number. Braille is an amazing thing!

The problem Braille solved was that blind people couldn't read or write. But a couple centuries later Louis Braille came to the Royal Institution for the Blind. While Louis was there he thought of an idea. Louis thought of this when he poked his eye and got the screwdriver in it. Then he took a piece of paper and poked holes. Louis felt it and could read. The entire world felt it and the blind could read!

Although Braille is made from a Brailler centuries ago, they still used screwdrivers. But then the Brailler was invented to type faster. People could only read 50 words per minute. Now blind people can read faster, they can read at the average speed of 125 words per minute.

Also back then it was hard to make books for the blind. Now it's fast and easy for people to make books in braille from a Brailler. Louis Braille changed the world in a very cool way. All the people who were blind were told they would never be able to read. Well after Louis Braille invented Braille all the blind were reading the raised dots. Now every blind person in this world is reading with Louis Braille's great invention.

Louis Braille changed our world so blind people can read and write. Louis invented a great invention for everyone to know about.

George Eastman

by Kyle and Daniel

Introduction

“Click, click!” That was a shutter on George Eastman’s camera moving! You may hear your son or grandson asking, “Who invented the camera?” Well it’s a simple answer, George Eastman! You will be able to learn about his life and invention of the camera.

Birth and Childhood

George Eastman was born on July 12, 1854, in Waterville, New York. By age 5, George’s father judged that his children should be sensible enough to run errands.

In 1862 George’s father died and George only had his mom left. In 1868 George dropped out of school at the age of 13. He bought land in the Caribbean without his mom’s approval.

Then, in 1877, George began his work in photography. In 1878 George made a chemical that made wet plates more light resistant. In 1879 George Eastman invented a coating machine. George sold his used machine to make money. In 1880, George rented a second-floor room in a building and turned it into a factory.

Eastman Dry Plate Company

One year later, in 1881, George founded the Eastman Dry Plate Company. In 1885 George Eastman invented American Film. It helped people’s cameras work better and easier. That same year, George invented motion picture film. It included a box camera that weighed 2 pounds!
In 1890 George made film that lasted for 100 pictures. A lot of people bought his film. In 1891, George invented a slogan for his company. It went something like this, “You press the button and we do the rest.” In 1905 George Eastman had talent for coming up with advertisements for different things, which helped make his company a success.

Inventing the Camera

In 1900 George Eastman invented the Kodak Brownie Camera, made just for kids. He also had a club for it. Thousands of Kodak Brownies were sold within the first month. In 1901 people stole George’s ideas so George started to sue people because of it. In 1902 George hired some workers. They wanted pay for their work, so George gave them some of the profits.

Building

In 1905 George built a house with 500 rooms in it! George even hired a professional pipe organist so people would wake up listening to beautiful music. George Eastman planted a ton of flowers in gardens around the Eastman house. George also built 3 barns for farm animals. In 1906 George thought his house was too quiet so he hired an organist.

Traveling And Giving Away

In 1907 and as George got older, he traveled through out the United States. In his 50’s, George gave over $2.5 million away under the name Mr. Smith becuase he didn't want people to know of his generous donations.In 1909 George biked through Europe with some of his friends. In 1913 George built a dental clinic for poor families.

Finally, in 1911, George gave all of his money away. He gave some of his money to people…he gave the rest of his money to dental places so they could help poor people care for their teeth so that they wouldn’t rot.

1960, George Eastman’s Kodak Brownie Camera celebrated its 60th year anniversary. A ton of people came to the celebration.

Death

In 1932 George Eastman died at the age of 77. By that time, George had given away over $100,000,000.00 (One hundred million dollars)!

Madame C.J. Walker

By Emma Tracy and Autumn Veldink

Introduction

Did you know that Madame C.J. Walker was the most successful black business woman of her time? Well, she was! She made hair products and you will learn about her most famous hair product. She had an amazing life and now you will be able to learn all about that too!

Childhood
Madame C.J. Walker was born as Sarah Breedlove. She was born December 23, 1867. Slavery had just ended, so Sarah was the only child who was born free into her family.

Sarah had a tough childhood. Her family log cabin was located in Louisanna. When she was about five years old, her mom died with yellowfever. Two years later her dad died from the same disease. After her dad died, she had to live with her mean uncle and aunt. They didn’t treat her fairly.

Marriages
Many years later, in 1885, Sarah got married. After that she had a daughter. Sadly, then her husband, Moses McWillams, died in a car crash. It was a very sad day for Sarah.

Luckily, Sarah got remarried. But this man was the wrong man for her. He got drunk and could not hold a job. So, later they got divorced. Sarah knew he was the wrong man for her.

Jobs
One day Sarah tried Pope-Turnbo hair products. It worked so well that she became a Pope agent. Unlike her job as a washer woman, Sarah really liked her new task!

Later, in 1905 the most important think happened to her. She had a dream, two men came up to her and told her ingredients to a magical hair grower. She put it together and put it on her hair. A few days later her hair started growing even faster than ever! Later an ad appeared for the new magical hair grower. To make sure it worked correctly she tried her products on herself. This was the most important thing that ever happened to her.

After Sarah invented her products, she made other things. She made hair grower, hair gels, and many similar things. After a while, Sarah had her own business!

Third Marriage
Finally, Sarah got married again. While she was working on her products, she met a business man named Charles J. Walker. They fell in love and got married. After they got married, Sarah called herself Madame C.J. Walker.

Convention
About six years later, in 1912, Madame C.J. Walker went to a convention. She had become quite a celebrity. Madame C.J. Walker wanted to be part of the convention. But they thought that she shouldn’t be part of the convention. Then, she spoke up, “I should be part of the meeting!” was probably something she had to say to get them to put her on the team. But when she was done all the people clapped for her. They must have thought she was good at growing hair because she had to do another speech! “What a girl. What a girl!”

Divorce
After the convention, things went downhill. Madam C. J. Walker had to divorce again. C.J. had started drinking and was going out with other women! He had even revealed the secret formula to her hair products!

Adoption
Later in Madame C.J. Walker’s life, she adopted a little girl her name was Mae. They adopted her because Lelia had no kids. So, they taught her to run the family business. So that then business could keep going.
Mae, was a perfect new model for the Madame C.J. Walker products!

Walker Agents
Six years later in 1916 Madame C.J. Walker got the idea of Walker Agents. These pupils were in college at the time. After she trained them to sell her hair projects, 20 other schools wanted to do it too! Later it became popular, around the United States. It was an amazing idea to others!

New Home
Later, in 1918, Madame C.J. Walker bought a new house. She called the Villa Lewardo. She had Italian gardens, and Madame C.J. Walker filled her house with astounding furniture. There were many other rich people who lived in her new neighborhood.

Death
While she was still in her new house, something bad happened. When Madame C.J.Walker was 51 years old, she got very sick. She had kidney disease. This happened while Madame C.J. Walker was in the state of Missouri. She knew that she was very sick. So she gave all her wealth to the people she loved.

Later, in 1919 Madame C.J. Walker died of her terrible kidney disease. She was only 51 years old! She knew she would die. When she died she left behind her house. She gave it to her beloved ones. She died in New York. Sadly, Sarah is hardly remembered now. But our Madame C.J. Walker was truly a very important person!

Invention Introduction
Hey, now you can learn about Madame C.J. Walker’s famous invention. The most famous invention is Madame C.J. Walker’s Wonderful hair grower. Now, its time to learn about it!

The Problem
There was a huge problem, all the black women were losing their hair! The black women were getting very upset. They were mad that their hair was falling out because of the hair products they were using. They had to use a special oil o their hair, the oil made their scalps sting and seemed to make their hair fall out even more! Their hair looked so frizzy and did not look pretty at all! Good thing Madame C.J. Walker was working on her new shampoo!

How the Invention Works
Madame C.J. Walker’s shampoo is know as “The Vegetable Shampoo”. This product is very smooth and helps to take out the tangles! Madame C.J. Walker’s special oils, unlike the other hair oils that were around. Her’s didn’t sting. The ingredients are secret.

Impact
After Madame C.J. Walker invented her wonderful hair grower, things changed. After that, women got more rights! Many people were inspired because of the invention. Black women had healthier hair. Women’s hair stopped falling out, it made them happy! People probably smiled they were so happy.

How Hair Products Have Changed
Madame C.J. Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower has changed over time. If you look online, her original products are still for sale. They are not as good, as are improved shampoos are though. Now, we don’t have the same ingredients as Madame C.J. Walker did. Women’s hair is improved. Now, there is no hair loss.

Conclusion
After all this, you should know tons of facts about Madame C.J. Walker. Her life and invention are so interesting! Madame C.J. Walker was an amazing inventor, she made a very important invention. Have you ever wanted to be an inventor like Madame C.J. Walker?

P.S. What is Madame C.J. Walker’s first husband’s name? If you don’t know, read it again.

Benjamin Franklin

by Evan Pohl and Ben Metcalf

Did you know your TV wouldn’t work if Benjamin Franklin didn’t invent the Lightening Rod? Its true, Benjamin Franklin changed our world. This biography will tell you about his awesome life and inventions such as the Lightening Rod.

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706. He was born on Milk Street in the city of Boston. At the time, Boston was the largest city in America. His dad was a candle maker.

Ben’s early childhood was not fun. He later moved to a bigger shop-house. Also, he attended school and was the best students. But sadly, Ben’s dad could not afford to let Ben go to school anymore and in 1716, he moved back to his dad’s shop.

Later, Ben found interest in newspaper printing. Luckily, Ben’s brother James was a real printer. Ben signed a contract to work for James for nine years.

One day, Ben decided to run away. Ben wrote letters that James liked. When James found out who really wrote the letter, he was mad at Ben and that is why he ran away. He ran away to New York.

Ben couldn’t find a job in New York. So he went to Philadelphia. He had to walk 100 miles. He spent his last dollar on bread.

In 1721, Ben thought about marrying Deborah Read. Then, that marriage was cancelled due to a trip to London. In London, Ben worked in printing shops and bought printing equipment.

In 1729, at the age of 23, he wrote for a newspaper called the Pennsylvania Gazette. Ben wrote observations and essays. Ben Franklin’s business started small. Then, it grew bigger and bigger, and then it was the biggest newspaper company in America.

In 1730, Ben got married with Deborah. They lived on Market Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His son, William, was born in 1731.

In 1732, Deborah and Ben had another child named Francis. The Franklins liked to call him Franky.

In Philadelphia, the streets were not paved and it was dust. Ben thought he should make the town a better place. He past a law for people to pay taxes and got the streets paved.

Next, sad news came to the Franklin family. The Franklin’s son Francis died of small pox. Small pox is a disease where little small brown pox appear on your skin. There was no cure.

In 1743, Ben and Deborah had a daughter named Sarah. They nicknamed her Sally.

In 1747, Ben retired from printing. Instead, he created a partnership. Then he want into electrical research.

In 1748, Ben stopped working to study science. He studied very hard. Eventually, his work paid off and he invented a whale oil candle.

In June 1752, there was a thunderstorm. Ben and his son William went out in the storm for an experiment. Ben started to fly a kite with a key tied on the string. Lightening struck the kite and the key started to glow. Ben touched the key and he discovered a sign of electricity.

In 1757, America was not free. They were ruled by a British king. The British King made the Americans pay taxes and used the money for Britain. So, Benjamin Franklin was sent to London. He tried to convince the British that it was not fair to be ruled by another country. Britain wouldn’t agree. Franklin knew this would lead to war.

Later, in 1776, Ben, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the rest of the Continental Congress wrote the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. That ended the Revolutionary War! The Americans were free.

Next, came the bad news that Benjamin Franklin died in April 1790. He was 84 years old when he died.

How it works

The Lightening Rod works in a special way. Put a steel bar on top of a building. Then a wire leads down to the ground to another steel bar. When the lightening strikes the bar, all the lightening leads to the ground.

The problem the Lightening Rod solved was a big problem. Houses would have been destroyed. There would be tons of fines! The Lightening Rod saves houses from getting struck by lightening.

The Lightening Rod changed the world in a great way! It also conserves water. The Lightening Rod also changed over time. It made our electricity.

In conclusion, people still use the Lightening Rod today because of Ben Franklin. He changed our world from destruction of lightening. As a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin was a very important man.