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Sir William Burrell
Birthdate 9th July 1861

Sir William Burrell was born in Glasgow Scotland on 9th of July 1861. At the age of 15, he began working for his fathers ship building business and when his father died he took over along with his brother.

They were good businessmen and made their money by ordering modern advanced ship as low prices when the market was in a slump and selling them for massive profits when the market peaked. William was an opportunist and never missed a chance to make money.

Once he had made his fortune, William entered into local politics and was a major influence in setting up the Glasgow International Art Exhibition in 1901. He married Constance Mitchell, daughter of another Glasgow shipbuilder at the age of 40.

He sold most of his fleet of vessels during the First World War for a massive profit and retired, devoting his life to collecting art. His tastes were wide ranging and his collecting included tapestries, stained glass, silver, bronzes, Chinese ceramics, rugs and furniture. He travelled far and wide collecting art which he often bought for very little.

In 1944 he gave almost his entire collection to the City of Glasgow and £250,000 to construct a building to house it. There were terms along with the gift. He wanted the building to be in rural surroundings which were difficult to find in such an Urban area. Finally in the 1970's the Burrell Collection building was erected in Pollok Country Park only a few miles from the city centre.

Thousands of people visit the centre each year to see the huge collection of art there and the building also houses exhibitions which are on tour. Sir William Burrell died in 1958.

 

 
Becky Schroeder


Rebecca Schroeder from Toledo, Ohio, USA was ten when she became an inventor. As she was sitting in the family car doing her homework while her mother was buying groceries, she had an idea. The sky became dark and it became difficult for her to see what she was doing and thought it would be pretty cool if you could write in the dark.
Becky spent a few days thinking about how to go about doing this and decided on phosphorescence. Phosphorescent substances are ones that glow after they have been exposed to light. Becky decided to test it so she got some phosphorescent paint and cover a clipboard in it. When she put a piece of paper on top of it the paper glowed and she could see what she wrote.
Becky got a patent for her invention; she was on television and won awards for it. She improved upon the idea over the next few years eventually calling it the Glo-Sheet. The Glo-Sheet has been used in many places. Doctors use them so they can check patient's notes in the dark without waking them up and the US Navy and NASA have used them. Becky has made into the Ohio Inventors Hall of Fame.

 

 Anne Frank

The name Anne Frank is perhaps one of the most commonly known names in history. Anne was born in 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany to Jewish parents Edith and Otto Frank. In 1933 when Anne was only four, the National Socialist Party (Nazi's) led by Adolf Hitler, came to power. The Frank family fled to the Netherlands to try and escape persecution. They stayed there safely until Anne was 11.

In 1940, the Netherlands were invaded by Germany during the second world war and Jewish residents lives became more and more restricted by the Nazi regime. The Frank's went in to hiding with the Van Pels family in an annex of the building in which Otto Frank ran his business.

The Franks spent 2 years in hiding and during this time Anne faithfully wrote her diary describing their life and fears. In August 1944, the Nazi's found the hiding place and arrested everyone there. They were eventually taken to concentration camps where they were killed. Anne had died of Typhus.

Anne had left the annex with no belongings; her diary was found several days later and saved to give back to Anne after the war. When it was discovered that Anne had died, her diary was given to her father who had survived the ordeal.

In 1947, the diary was published as Het Achterhuis (The Secret Annex), and in 1952 it was published in English as Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. To date Anne Franks diary has been published in 67 different languages and is one of the most widely read books of all time.
In 1960, the Anne Frank house was opened to the public. The Diary of Anne Frank remains an important piece of literature and a reminder to us all of the oppression and terror of the Nazi rule.

 

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