Biographies for Kids

Omid Kordestani — Omid R. Kordestani (born 1963, Persian‎) is an Iranian-American businessman who works as Chief Business Officer at Google. He was previously senior advisor at Google’s Office of the CEO and Founders. and serves as Non-Executive Director at Vodafone. Kordestani was the Senior Vice President for Worldwide Sales and Field Operations of Google until he stepped down on …

Omar E. Rivera 43, employee of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, will never forget the violent and terrifying sound of the Sept. 11, 2001 disaster. He and his yellow Labrador retriever, Salty, escaped unharmed with many of his co-workers from the 71st floor office. He was sitting on his desk when the first of the hijacked …

Norman Pritchard — Norman Gilbert Pritchard, who is also known as Norman Trevor was an Indian Athlete during the British days, and the first Athlete from the nation to participate at the Olympic Games although it is still an issue of debate whether he participated from India or Great Britain, as is being claimed by some Olympic historians of late. …

Norman Mailer — Norman Kingsley Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007) was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, filmmaker, actor and political activist. His first novel was The Naked and the Dead, published in 1948. His best work was widely considered to be The Executioner’s Song, which was published in 1979, and for which he won one of …

Niklas Zennstrom (The Skype Guys) was born on 16 February 1966. He is a Swedish entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. He is most famous for founding several high-profile online ventures with Janus Friis including Skype and Kazaa, More recently the pair founded the investment group Atomico and have become significant figureheads for entrepreneurs in the tech sector. Career Zennstrom started his professional career …

Nicolas Ghesquiere (born 1971 in Comines, Nord) is a fashion designer and is currently creative director for the house of Balenciaga owned by the Gucci Group (Pinault Printemps Redoute). He grew up in Loudun, Vienne. He was the son of a Francophone Belgian golf-course owner and manager in the 9,000 inhabitants Poitevine town of Loudun and a French mother who …

Neil Gershenfeld — Physicist and computer scientist, Gershenfeld heads the Center for Bits and Atoms at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he takes an interdisciplinary approach to quantum computing, nanotechnology, and personal fabrication. Gershenfeld’s research interests are mainly in interdisciplinary studies involving physics and computer science, in such fields as quantum computing, nanotechnology, personal fabrication, and other research areas. …

Neil A. Armstrong — The American astronaut Neil Alden Armstrong, b. Wapakoneta, Ohio, Aug. 5, 1930, was the first person to walk on the Moon. Armstrong received his pilot’s license on his 16th birthday. After two years at Purdue University, he joined the navy and flew combat missions over Korea. He returned to Purdue, obtained his aeronautical engineering degree in 1955, …

Malvika Iyer is the essence of courage and optimism. At 13, a freak accident caused her to lose both her hands and severely damaged her legs, raising serious doubts about whether she would ever walk again. But young Malvika braved the odds and emerged victorious. Today she is a dedicated social worker, a motivational speaker and model for accessible clothing …

Narendra Jadhav — Growing up in the heart of a Wadala slum, eight-year-old Narendra Jadhav knew what he wanted to be when he grew up: a gangster. Somewhere along the way he changed course and ended up as chief economist of the Reserve Bank of India and then vice-chancellor of Pune University, a chair he currently holds. This prestigious post …