Carol II was a King of Romania. He was born in 1893 and died in 1952. A son of King Ferdinand, he married PrincessHelen of Greece, who bore him a son, Michael. In 1925 he renounced the succession, and settled in Paris with his mistress, Lupescu. Michael succeeded to the throne in 1927 but in 1930 Carol returned to Romania and was proclaimed king. In 1938 he introduced a new constitution under which he became practically absolute. He was forced to abdicate by the pro-German Iron Guard in September 1940, and withdrew to Mexico with Lupescu, whom he married in 194. Research Carol II
Gottfried August Burger was a German poet. He was born in 1748 and died in 1794. He studied at Halle and Gottingen; and his attention being drawn towards literature, especially the ballad literature of England and Scotland, he was inspired with the idea of winning a reputation in this department where Uhland and Schiller had already preceded him. In 1773 appeared his Lenore, which took the German public by storm, and his poems have continued to be very popular with his countrymen. Scott translated his William and Helen and the Wild Huntsman. Though he wrote odes, elegies, etc, he is more at home in ballads and simple songs than in higher poetry. Research Gottfried Burger
Helen Blavatsky was a Russian occultist. She was born in 1831 and died in 1891. She married at the age of seventeen the sixty-year-old Baron Blavatsky, but left him at the end of three months. She made extensive travels in Europe, Asia, and North America, took up the subject of theosophy and Eastern lore, and with ColonelOlcott, an Englishman, founded in 1875 the Theosophic Society, whose leader she continued to be until her death in London in 1891. Besides editing a theosophistic journal, Lucifer the Lightbringer, she published various works, including The Secret Doctrine; Key to Theosophy; Isis Unveiled; etc. Research Helen Blavatsky
Helen Maria Fiske Jackson was an American writer. She was born in 1831 and died in 1885. After the death of her husband, Edwin B Hunt, in 1863, she began writing prose and poetry for periodicals under the pen-name of Helen Hunt. In 1876 she married William S Jackson. She was appointed special commissioner to the Mission Indians of California by President Arthur in 1883, as a consequence of her special interest in them, as shown by her writings. Research Helen Jackson
Helen Keller was an American writer and campaigner for the disabled. She was born in 1880 at Tuscumbia, Alabama and died in 1968. She became deaf and blind at the age of 19 months, but remarkably was taught to communicate when she was seven years old and went on to use both sign language and verbal language, graduated from Radcliffe College in 1904 and wrote several books based on her experiences. Research Helen Keller
Henry Thomas Buckle was an English historical writer. He was born in 1822 and died in 1862. The son of a wealthy London merchant, at an early age he entered his father's counting-house, but at the age of eighteen, on inheriting his father's fortune, he devoted himself entirely to study. The only thing he allowed to distract him from his more serious pursuits was chess, in which he held a foremost place amongst contemporary players. His chief work, a philosophic History of Civilization, of which only two volumes (1858 and 1861) were completed, was characterized by much novel and suggestive thought, and by the bold co-ordination of a vast store of materials drawn from the most varied sources. Three volumes of his Miscellaneous and Posthumous works were edited by HelenTaylor in 1872. Research Henry Buckle
Jacques Louis David was a French historical painter. He was born in 1748 at Paris and died in 1825. He went to Rome in 1774, and passed several years there painting several important pictures. A second visit produced the Horatii, one of his masterpieces. In 1787 he produced The Death of Socrates, in 1788 Paris and Helen, and in 1789 Brutus. In the revolution he was a violent Jacobin, and wholly devoted to Robespierre. Several of the scenes of the revolution supplied subjects for his brush. What is considered his masterpiece, The Rape of the Sabines, was painted in 1799. He was appointed first painter to Napoleon about 1804; and after the second restoration of Louis XVIII, he was included in the decree which banished all regicides from France, when he retired to Brussels. Research Jacques Louis David
John Gibson was a Welsh sculptor. He was born in 1790 near Conway, in Wales and died in 1866. He was the son of a landscape-gardener, and was apprenticed to a wood-carver at Liverpool, where he attracted attention by a figure of Time modelled in wax which he exhibited at the age of eighteen. The patronage of Roscoe assisted him to go to Rome, where he was cordially received by Canova. On the death of Canova in 1822 John Gibson entered the studio of Thorwaldsen. His reputation was now widely spread, and his works were eagerly sought after by his countrymen. In 1836 he was made a Royal Academician; but to the end of his life he continued to make Rome his chief place of residence. Most of John Gibson's subjects are taken from classical mythology, and are executed with a noble severity and purity of style. Amongst his best works are: The Wounded Amazon; The Hunter and his Dog; Hylas and the Nymphs, Helen, Proserpine, Sappho, etc. One of his peculiarities as an artist was the practice of colouring his statues. Research John Gibson
J (John) Gregory Smith was an American politician and railroadmagnet. He was born in 1818 at St Albans, Vermont and died in 1891. He attended the University of Vermont and Yale Law School, and was admitted to the Vermont bar in 1842. His father was a lawyer who was actively involved in the expansion of the railroads in Vermont and J Gregory joined him both in the practice of law and railroad management. John Smith was on the board of the Vermont Central Railroad, a railroad chartered in 1843 and headquartered in Northfield, and was president of the Vermont and CanadaRailroad, which he had started in 1845 to eventually connect the Vermont Central Railroad with Montreal. Upon his father's death in 1858, J Gregory Smith became president of the Vermont Central Railroad and his brother, Worthington C. Smith, was named president of the Vermont and Canada. The Central VermontRailroad was organized in 1873 and assumed management of both the Vermont Central and Vermont and Canada Railroads. In 1883 the Consolidated Railroad of Vermont
was formed to purchase the Vermont Central and Vermont and Canada property, and immediately leased it to the Central VermontRailroad thereby consolidating the Smith family's railroad holdings. The family expanded their holdings to include related industries such as the St. Albans Foundry, the National Car Company, and its subsidiary the Vermont Iron and Car Company. While expanding his holdings in Vermont and the northeast,
J Gregory Smith became interested in the idea of a railroad to the west and became president of the Northern PacificRailroad Company in 1866, a position he held until 1872. Smith was also active in politics and was elected to the state senate in 1858 and 1859. In 1860, 1861, and 1862 he was elected to the house as a representative of St. Albans, and served as speaker of the house. In 1863 Smith was elected governor and served two terms before retiring to devote time to his duties as the president of Central Vermont and the Northern PacificRailroad.
J Gregory Smith married Ann Eliza Brainerd of St Albans in 1843 and together they had six children: George Gregory (who married Frances Lewis), Edward Curtis (who married Anna B. James), Lawrence (who died in infancy), Annie B., Julia B. (who married Oliver Stevens), Helen L. (who married D. SageMackay). Research J Gregory Smith
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