Portal:Biography

The Biography Portal A General History of the Pyrates A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of their life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of the subject's personality. Biographical works are usually non-fiction, but fiction can also be used to portray a person's life. One in-depth form of biographical coverage is called legacy writing. Works in diverse media, from literature to film, form the genre known as biography. An authorized biography is written with the permission, cooperation, and at times, participation of a subject or a subject's heirs. An unauthorized biography is one written without such permission or participation. An autobiography is written by the person themselves, sometimes with the assistance of a collaborator or ghostwriter. (Full article...) Featured biography Pericles (also spelled Perikles) (ca. 495–429 BC, Greek: Περικλῆς) was a prominent and influential statesman, orator, and general of Athens during the city's Golden Age–specifically, the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars. He was descended, through his mother, from the powerful and historically influential Alcmaeonid family. He had such a profound influence on Athenian society that Thucydides, his contemporary historian, acclaimed him as "the first citizen of Athens". Pericles turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire and led his countrymen during the first two years of the Peloponnesian War. The period he led Athens, roughly from 461 to 429 BC, is sometimes known as the "Age of Pericles", though it can include times as early as the Persian Wars, or as late as the next century. He promoted the arts and literature, helping to build the reputation of Athens as the cultural centre of Ancient Greece. He started an ambitious project that built most of the surviving structures on the Acropolis (including the Parthenon). (Read more...) Selected portrait Ada Lovelace Credit: Alfred Edward Chalon Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852), born Augusta Ada Byron and now commonly known as Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She is often described as the world's first computer programmer. Things you can do Write an article Expand an article about: a person an actor an animator an artist a bishop a businessperson a diplomat an educator an engineer a lawyer a military person a musician a photographer a saint a politician a scientist a sportsperson a writer Improve an article by: adding references adding categories Review an article Romano Volta • Suzanne Carrell • Mullá Husayn • John Gilchrist (linguist) • Thomas Brattle • Answer requests for comments Work on the Portal Portal:Biography Assess an article Assessment requests Unassessed articles Categories Category puzzle Biography • People By association • By behavior • By ethnicity • By gender • By language • By nationality By occupation: Academics • Scientists Actors • Artists • Choreographers • Comedians • Dancers • Directors • Musicians • Photographers • Playwrights • Writers Astronauts • Aviators • Explorers • Mountain climbers Businesspeople • Computer designers • Innovators Heads of state • Humanitarians • Journalists • Lawyers • Politicians • Warriors Sportspeople • Association football players • Baseball players • Basketball players • Olympians • Tennis players By location • By political orientation • By religion By status: Award winners • Billionaires • Celebrities By time • Lists of people Biography (genre) Biography awards Biographers The Biography Channel shows Biography journals Biographical museums Oral history Person databases Biographical works On this day – January 4 Births 1643 - Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician and natural philosopher (d. 1727) (pictured) 1785 - Jakob Grimm, German philologist and folklorist (d. 1863) 1809 - Louis Braille, French inventor of Braille (d. 1852) 1935 - Floyd Patterson, American boxer (d. 2006) 1957 - Patty Loveless, American singer Deaths 1066 - Edward the Confessor, pre-Norman conquest English king (b. ca. 1004) (disputed) 1877 - Cornelius Vanderbilt, American entrepreneur (b. 1794) 1960 - Albert Camus, Algerian-born French philosopher and writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1913) 1961 - Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1887) 1965 - T. S. Eliot, American-born writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1888) Did you know ... that prolific food writer and reality TV judge Mary Berry's first job was to visit consumers' homes to show them how to use their own electric cookers? ... that Indonesian director Wim Umboh, who won nine Citra Awards, began his career in the film industry as a janitor? ... that Eduardo Iturrizaga became Venezuela's first and only chess grandmaster, at the age of 19? ... that Tsholofelo Thipe, who represented South Africa in the 400 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, failed drug tests in 2012 due to her contraceptive? ... that Dr. Fred Conklin received the Legion of Merit for setting up a mobile hospital in New Caledonia and later presented a medal to John F. Kennedy for heroism on the PT 109? ... that Sean Hughes MP got Scottish MPs to give him their free tickets to the 1986 English FA Cup Final so his constituents could watch the Everton–Liverpool Merseyside derby? ... that Pulney Andy was the first Indian to receive a British medical degree when he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of St. Andrews in 1860? Quote of the week "Pale, beyond porch and portal, Crowned with calm leaves, she stands Who gathers all things mortal With cold immortal hands." — Algernon Charles Swinburne In The Garden of Proserpine, 1866 WikiProjects List of WikiProjects and work groups that involve biography articles: Arts and entertainment Actors and Filmmakers Composers Canadian Dictionary of Biography Initiative Living persons Philosophers Saints Romance authors Military Peers and Baronets Politics and government U.S. Members of Congress U.S. presidents Royalty and nobility Science and academia Aerospace Sports and games Baseball players List of all WikiProjects See also: Biographies of living persons • Manual of Style (biographies) Related portals Associated Wikimedia The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject: Commons Free media repository Wikibooks Free textbooks and manuals Wikidata Free knowledge base Wikinews Free-content news Wikiquote Collection of quotations Wikisource Free-content library Wikispecies Directory of species Wikiversity Free learning tools Wikivoyage Free travel guide Wiktionary Dictionary and thesaurus