PeopleYouShouldKnow-ShortBios

Catharine Macaulay – The Republican Historian Who Dared to Speak Truth to Power Name: Catharine Macaulay (née Sawbridge, later Graham) Born: 2 April 1731, Olantigh, Kent, England Died: 22 June 1791, Binfield, Berkshire, England Summary of What She Is Famous For Catharine Macaulay was England’s first major female historian and one of the boldest republican voices of the 18th century. In an age when most women were expected to stay silent on politics, she wrote an eight-volume History of England that defended the right of the people to resist tyrants — even to the point of approving the execution of King Charles I. She championed liberty, popular sovereignty, and the moral equality of men and women. Her writings inspired American and French revolutionaries, influenced early feminist thinkers like Mary Wollstonecraft, and earned the admiration of George Washington himself. Pull up a chair, friend. Imagine a tall, graceful woman in the 1760s and 1770s, sitting at her desk with qui...

    Saint George, Patron Saint of England. The Dragon Legend: How Stories Gathered Round the Hearth A Roman soldier of the late third century, most likely from the eastern reaches of the empire — perhaps Cappadocia or the lands near Palestine. He held fast to his Christian faith when many were pressed to set it aside during Emperor Diocletian's persecutions. For that quiet steadfastness he was tortured and put to death on April 23, around the year 303. His tomb in Lod (ancient Lydda) drew pilgrims early on, and his memory refused to fade. In time, stories gathered around his name like travellers round a hearth. The best-loved tells of a dragon that plagued a city, demanding the sacrifice of its daughters until a princess stood next in line. George faced the beast, struck it down, and in the telling the people turned toward the light he carried. This dragon tale does not appear in the earliest accounts of the soldier who would not renounce his faith. Those speak only of cour...

Captain Samuel Wallis – The Steady Royal Navy Hand Who Opened Tahiti’s Door Born on 23 April 1728 at Fentonwoon, near Camelford in the rugged, seafaring county of Cornwall, Samuel Wallis came from solid local stock — the third son of a landowner. Like many Cornish lads with salt in their blood, he went to sea young. He entered the Royal Navy as a midshipman during the War of the Austrian Succession, earned his lieutenant’s commission in 1748, and rose steadily through hard service in wartime waters. By the time he reached his thirties, Wallis had shown himself to be a competent, reliable officer rather than a flashy one. He served as flag lieutenant to Admiral Edward Boscawen and commanded several ships during the Seven Years’ War. Then, in 1766, at the age of thirty-eight, the Admiralty gave him command of the sturdy 24-gun frigate HMS Dolphin — a ship that had only just returned from the fastest circumnavigation on record under Commodore John Byron. The Admiralty had unfinished b...

  People You Should Know: Philip Broke – The Scientific Gunner of HMS Shannon While most captains on the long, dreary blockade duty off the French coast simply waited for prizes, Captain Philip Broke (1776–1841) of HMS Shannon stood out as a thoughtful, methodical, and deeply humane officer with a passion for excellence. Courteous and sophisticated in his private life (he wrote affectionate letters to his beloved wife and looked forward to family duties), Broke was a serious professional who took gunnery to a new level. He was calm under pressure, relentlessly thorough, and ahead of his time in his scientific approach. What made him special was his transformation of naval gunnery during those endless months on blockade. Instead of relying on rough estimation and “load as fast as you can,” Broke studied trajectories, elevations, and powder charges. He fitted improved sights, mounted small carronades so even boys could practice, and — most famously — painted precise marks and arc...

  People You Should Know: Edward Pellew – The Bold Frigate Captain Who Inspired Hornblower In the age of fighting sail, when single-ship actions could make or break a reputation overnight, few captains struck fear into the enemy quite like Edward Pellew (1757–1833), later 1st Viscount Exmouth. Pellew was a tough, pugnacious man of immense physical strength and personal courage — a bluff, plain-speaking seaman with a fiery temper and iron will. He led from the front, never asking his men to do what he wouldn't do himself, and showed real kindness and care for their welfare, even as a strict disciplinarian who flogged when necessary. Religious and devout in later life, he could be hot-tempered, ambitious, and occasionally unscrupulous in the pursuit of prize money and family patronage. What made him special was his combination of daring seamanship and bold aggression. As captain of the 36-gun HMS Nymphe in 1793, he won the first major single-ship frigate victory of the French Rev...

   People you should know: Alex Tremulis (1914–1991) The Mad-Genius Designer Who Shaped Tomorrow’s Cars Born Alexander Sarantos Tremulis on January 23, 1914, in Chicago to Greek immigrant parents, young Alex fell in love with speed, cars, and wild ideas almost as soon as he could hold a pencil. With almost no formal art training, the 19-year-old walked into the legendary Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg company in 1933 and landed a job on the spot. By age 22, he was named Chief Stylist, helping create the sleek, supercharged Cord 810/812 and designing elegant custom Duesenberg bodies. When the Great Depression forced A-C-D to close, Tremulis kept moving. He worked at Briggs Manufacturing, where he styled the influential 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt concept — a dramatic, hidden-headlight roadster that pointed toward postwar automotive design. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Air Force, designing advanced aircraft concepts in wind tunnels. In 1946, visionary (and c...