Five people we want to know about their story.

 Who presented the Statue of Liberty to the U.S.A.?

The mighty gorgeous Statue of Liberty was a present to the United States by France for the country’s 100^th anniversary in 1876. But this famous statue was not donated by the French government. The money was raised from contributions by French citizens.

For the concrete base on which the statue was to be placed, the citizens of America raised the money. The statue, when mounted on top of the base, towered 300 feet above the surrounding waters! The statue is covered with copper plates which originally were bright and shining.

But with time the copper reacts with the air and water and pollution in the atmosphere and changes color. Today, the statue looks entirely green!

What made Ferdowsi famous?

Ferdowsi was a Persian poet who lived in Persia (Iran) in the 10^th century. He wrote a very long poem ‘Shah Nameh’ which is a complete history of Persia in almost 60,000 verses, filling nine big volumes. Firdausi took 35 years to write this long poem.

The Sultan of Persia offered one gold piece for every verse the poet wrote. But when the long work was completed, the Sultan did not keep his promise and sent 60,000 silver pieces instead of gold. The proud poet was so angry that he gave away all 60,000 silver pieces!

Who were the Pilgrim Fathers?

Pilgrim Fathers are the name given to those who established the first permanent colony in New England at Plymouth, U.S.A. in 1620. In Tudor times many Puritans lived in Lincolnshire in England where they were often badly treated because of their faith in the English Separatist Church.

 When they could not stand the situation any longer, they decided to sail for Holland where some other Puritans had already settled after living in Amsterdam for some time.

They moved to Leyden where they received a warm welcome from the Dutch people. But they wanted to maintain their English identity and finally came to the big decision.

They decided to sail to England’s settlement in North America. About thirty-five of them arrived in England and with sixty-seven other men, women and children, sailed from Plymouth in the “Mayflower” in 1620. 

After a voyage of two months, during which the ship was blown off course, they reached Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts. They wanted to go and settle in Virginia but their captain refused to take them further. Some of the men went ashore to see if they could find a suitable place for a settlement.

When they did, they named it Plymouth. The life was not easy, especially in winter, but none wanted to return to England. Half of them died, but many more from outside joined and the colony set an example of faith and courage.

The first settlers were first called the oldcomers. Later generations called them Forefathers. It was only after about two centuries that while celebrating Forefathers Day they were referred to as “Saints” who left Holland as “Pilgrims” and the Forefathers became Pilgrim Fathers.

Who was Achilles?

According to Greek mythology fates, the goddess who controlled people’s destiny once told Thetis, a Greek woman, that her baby would die young.

Thetis took her child to the river Styx and gave them a bath in the magical water to keep him safe from wounds. She held her son by his heel and dipped him in water. The heel remained dry but the rest of the body became very strong.

The child, Achilles grew up to become the bravest, handsomest and swiftest of the army of Agamemnon. He fought in the famous Trojan wars. During one of the invasions, Achilles captured a girl named Briseis.

When she was taken away from him by the leader Agamemnon, Achilles refused to fight any more for Agamemnon. It was difficult to win Troy without Achilles. Achilles agreed to lend his chariot and armour to his friend Patroclus to lead the Greek army.

 Patroclus was killed by the Trojan warrior Hector and Achilles decided to seek revenge. He killed Hector and dragged his body around the tomb of Patroclus. Hector’s Brother Paris shot a poisoned arrow at Achilles and killed him.

The arrow that killed Achilles had struck him at his heel, the part which was not dipped in the water of the Styx and remained weak.

This story led to the use of the proverb “heel of Achilles” or ”Achilles heel”. When someone has a weak spot somewhere, either in the personality or the body it is called his Achilles heel.

Who reached the North Pole first?

No one is very sure about who was the first person to reach the North Pole. But two men claimed to have done it at almost the same time.

The American explorer Frederick Cook, along with two Eskimos, two sledges, and 26 dogs, started off from Greenland for the North Pole on February 19, 1908.

Fourteen months later, he returned to Greenland, and then went on to Denmark, claiming that he had reached the North Pole on April 21, 1908.

Another American explorer, Robert Peary, set off from Northern Canada on February 22, 1909. When he returned from his voyage, he claimed that he had reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909. His news came only two days after Cook had arrived in Denmark to claim his victory.

But later, explorers doubted if either of these men had really reached the North Pole. In 1926 Richard Byrd, another American, claimed he had flown over the Pole, but his claim too was never proven.

The first man, to reach the pole as the leader of a group, was Ralph Plaisted, an American, who reached there by snowmobile in 1968!