ADVANCED LISTENING

BARACK OBAMA LISTENING

Barack Obama was born to a white American mother, Ann Dunham, and a black Kenyan father, Barack Obama Sr., who were both young college students at the University of Hawaii. When his father left for Harvard, she and Barack stayed behind, and his father ultimately returned alone to Kenya, where he worked as a government economist. Barack's mother ... See full bio »

Born:

 Barack Hussein Obama II 
August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA



ALBERT EINSTEIN LISTENING AND DICTIONARY SKILLS ACTIVITY

Son of Hermann and Pauline Einstein. His father was a featherbed salesman. Albert began reading and studying science at a young age, and he graduated from a Swiss high school when he was 17. He then attended a Swiss Polytechnic, where he met his first wife. He graduated in 1900, and became a Swiss citizen in 1901. He began working at the Swiss ... See full bio »

Born:

 March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Died:

 April 18, 1955 (age 76) in Princeton, New Jersey, USA

MARTIN LUTHER KING

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. His father, Martin Luther King Sr., was a pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. His mother was a schoolteacher. For Martin the civil rights movement began one summer in 1935 when he was six years old. Two of his friends did not show up to play ball with him and ... See full bio »

Born:

 Michael Luther King Jr. 
January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Died:

 April 4, 1968 (age 39) in Memphis, Tennessee, USA

NELSON MANDELA

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (July 18, 1918 - December 5, 2013) was the former leader of the African National Congress (ANC). He was known for his lifelong struggle against apartheid (enforced racial separation), which was instituted in South Africa in 1948. The ANC was soon declared a terrorist organization and banned by the South African government.... See full bio »

Born:

 Rolihlahla Mandela 
July 18, 1918 in Mvezo, Union of South Africa [now South Africa]

Died:

 December 5, 2013 (age 95) in Johannesburg, South Africa

MUHAMMAD ALI

Muhammad Ali beat more champions and top contenders than any heavyweight champion in history. He defeated heavyweight kings Sonny Liston (twice), Floyd Patterson(twice), Ernie Terrell, Jimmy Ellis, Ken Norton (twice), Joe Frazier (twice), George Foreman and Leon Spinks. He defeated light-heavyweight champs Archie Moore and Bob Foster. Ali ... See full bio »

Born:

 Cassius Marcellus Clay 
January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA

MARILYN MONROE

Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California. Her mother was a film-cutter at RKO Studios who, widowed and mentally ill, abandoned her to sequence of foster homes. She was almost smothered to death at two, nearly raped at six. At nine, the LA Orphans' Home paid her a nickel a month for kitchen work while ... See full bio »

Born:

 Norma Jeane Mortenson 
June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California, USA

Died:

 August 5, 1962 (age 36) in Los Angeles, California, USA

JIMI HENDRIX

Jimi Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington, to African-American parents Lucille (Jeter) and James Allen Hendrix. His mother named him John Allen Hendrix and raised him alone while his father, Al Hendrix, was off fighting in World War II. When his mother became sick from alcoholism, Hendrix was sent to live with relatives in ... See full bio »

Born:

 Johnny Allen Hendrix 
November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington, USA

Died:

 September 18, 1970 (age 27) in Notting Hill, London, England, UK

ELVIS PRESLEY

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in East Tupelo, Mississippi, to Gladys Presley (née Gladys Love Smith) and Vernon Presley (Vernon Elvis Presley). He had a twin brother who was stillborn. In September 1948, Elvis and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee where he attended Humes High School. In 1953, he attended the senior prom ... See full bio »

Born:

 Elvis Aron Presley 
January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi, USA

Died:

 August 16, 1977 (age 42) in Memphis, Tennessee, USA