Mary Young Pickersgill sewed the Star-Spangled Banner, which later inspired Francis Scott Key to write the song that became the country's national anthem.
James Madison made great contributions to the United States. During his presidency, he declared war on Great Britain. Not all of his decisions met public approval, but he was well respected throughout his lifetime and one of the most influential founding fathers.
Christopher Columbus set out on August 3, 1492, to find the East by sailing west. Over the course of a few years, he convinced the king and queen of Spain to pay for his trip, promising them fame and riches in return. Columbus discovered more than he bargained for—he had found a new continent.
Thomas Jefferson was a gifted writer whose words helped form the country. Although at one time he wanted to be a great speaker, he found comfort and ease in writing. Not only was he a great writer, but also an architect, inventor, surveyor, scientist, and a brilliant politician. He wanted to make life better for all people.
By speaking boldly, Abraham Lincoln earned the nickname “Honest Abe.†Young readers will learn how Abraham Lincoln used honesty to lead a country divided over slavery. Blastoff! Series
Harriet Tubman was a slave who dreamed of freedom from a very young age. After her escape at 29, she did everything she could to help and rescue other slaves. In her later years, she built a home to take care of elderly African Americans with no place to live and encouraged women to stand together for their rights.
Albert Einstein is probably the most influential scientist and greatest physicist of the twentieth century. He revolutionized our ideas about time and space and is best known for his theory of relativity and his equation E=mc^2, which explains the relationship between energy and mass. By age 30, he was considered by many to be one of the world's greatest scientific thinkers.
