Portal:Biography

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The Biography Portal

A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts (education, work, relationships, and death), a biography also portrays a subject's experience of these events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of his or her life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of a subject's personality.

Biographical works are usually non-fiction, but fiction can also be used to portray a person's life. One in-depth form of biographical coverage is called legacy writing. Biographical works in diverse media—from literature to film—form the genre known as biography.

An authorized biography is written with the permission, cooperation, and, at times, participation of a subject or a subject's heirs.

An autobiography is about a life of a subject, written by that subject or sometimes with a collaborator.

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Sargon of Akkad, also known as Sargon the Great (Akkadian Šarru-kinu, meaning "the true king" or "the king is legitimate"), was an Akkadian king famous for his conquest of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th and 23rd centuries BC. The founder of the Dynasty of Akkad, Sargon reigned for 56 years, c. 2333 – 2279 BC (short chronology). He became a prominent member of the royal court of Kish, ultimately overthrowing its king before embarking on the conquest of Mesopotamia. Sargon's vast empire is known to have extended from Elam to the Mediterranean sea, including Mesopotamia, parts of modern-day Iran and Syria, and possibly parts of Anatolia and the Arabian peninsula. He ruled from a new capital, Akkad (Agade), which the Sumerian king list claims he built (or possibly renovated), on the left bank of the Euphrates. Sargon is regarded as one of the first individuals in recorded history to create a multiethnic, centrally ruled empire, and his dynasty controlled Mesopotamia for around a century and a half. (Read more...)

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Credit: Joseph Smith, Jr. portrait owned by Joseph Smith III

Joseph Smith, Jr. (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism. When he was twenty-four, Smith published the Book of Mormon; by the time of his death fourteen years later, he had attracted tens of thousands of followers and founded a religion and religious culture that continues to the present.

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On this day – June 3

Births

1808 - Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1889)
1865 - King George V of the United Kingdom (pictured) (d. 1936)
1906 - Josephine Baker, American dancer, singer, and actress (d. 1975)
1926 - Allen Ginsberg, American poet (d. 1997)
1965 - Mike Gordon, Bassist for Phish, filmmaker
1966 - Wasim Akram, Pakistani cricketer
1967 - Anderson Cooper, American reporter
1986 - Rafael Nadal, Spanish tennis player

Deaths

1657 - William Harvey, English physician (b. 1578)
1861 - Stephen A. Douglas, American politician (b. 1813)
1875 - Georges Bizet, French composer (b. 1838)
1899 - Johann Strauss II, Austrian composer (b. 1825)
1924 - Franz Kafka, Austrian novelist (b. 1883)
1963 - Pope John XXIII (b. 1881)
2016 - Muhammad Ali (b. 1942)

Recent days: June 2 – June 1 – May 31

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Did you know

... that prolific food writer and reality TV judge Mary Berry's (pictured) first job was to visit consumers' homes to show them how to use their own electric cookers?
... that Indonesian director Wim Umboh, who won nine Citra Awards, began his career in the film industry as a janitor?
... that Eduardo Iturrizaga became Venezuela's first and only chess grandmaster, at the age of 19?
... that Tsholofelo Thipe, who represented South Africa in the 400 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, failed drug tests in 2012 due to her contraceptive?
... that Dr. Fred Conklin received the Legion of Merit for setting up a mobile hospital in New Caledonia and later presented a medal to John F. Kennedy for heroism on the PT 109?
... that Sean Hughes MP got Scottish MPs to give him their free tickets to the 1986 English FA Cup Final so his constituents could watch the Everton–Liverpool Merseyside derby?
... that Pulney Andy was the first Indian to receive a British medical degree when he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of St. Andrews in 1860?