Alan Turing

Alan Turing was born June 23rd, 1912 in Maida Vale and died June 7th, 1954 in Wilmslow. He was a British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist and attended Campbridge and Princeton University. Turing is essentially known for inventing the computer by a paper he wrote in graduate school called "On Computable Numbers". He also worked as a cryptographer for the British Foreign Policy and broke a German Enigma code during WW2 that helped the path to the D-day invasion. Something not very known about Turing is that he was gay. In 1954 being homosexual was illegal and the government made him decide between imprisonment or hormonal treatment. He was then forced to take estrogen which made him develop breasts and other side effects to punish or "cure" him. He later committed suicide by biting into a cyanide apple. It is said that this was the inspiration for the logo of Apple computers.

Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was born July 10, 1856 in Smiljan. He died January 7, 1943 in New York City. He attended the schools, Graz University of Technology and Charles University in Prague. The awards he received in sciences was the Edison Medal, Elliot Cresson Medal, and John Scott Award. Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electrical supply system. The Edison Medal he received he thought of as an insult since he didn't like Thomas Edison because of verbal abuse he had taken from him. Tesla even thought of an idea of using energy waves(known as RADAR today) to detect German submarines but Edison thought that was a "ludicrous" idea. Many people told Tesla his inventions were impossible but he ended up making them anyway. His mind was also very good at holding large amounts of information. He could recite complete books from memory and all the ideas of his inventions were from his head, rather than writing them down. All the inventions conceived from Tesla were the radio, radar, the induction motor, the Tesla coil, alternating current dynamos, arc light systems, and electric vehicles. Also, many of his concepts we made real today were X-ray machines, telegeodynamics, robotics, and early computer-logic principles. Tesla thought of making a death ray that could destroy 10,000 airplanes 250 miles away. There are theories that he succeeded this invention, but knowing the power of it and how people would use it in war, he destroyed it. Our technology would be nowhere without Tesla. He's a genius and I'm glad he kept doing what he loved even if no one believed in him.

Dita Von Teese

Dita Von Tesse was born September 28th, 1972 in Rochester, Michigan. Her birth name is Heather Renee Sweet; she named herself after Dita Parlo. Dita is popular for being a dancer and pin-up model, but she is also an actor and artist. She was trained as a dancer from an early age and danced solo at age thirteen for a local ballet company. She moved to California because of her father's job and attended school in Irvine college, where she studied historic costuming with the goal to work as a stylist for period films. Right now she is trained in costume designing and often puts herself in the photos. She helped train the dance routines for the ending of Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Dita was married to the known Marilyn Manson but divorced for "irreconcilable differences." She also played in an episode of CSI but was asked to "take it down a notch" because of "offensive cleavage". Dita thought that was interesting considering how much blood and gore is on the series. I think Dita is gorgeous, intelligent, and a real inspiring individual. I can't believe she's turning forty and still performs as if she were twenty. She's herself and has a strong sense of her sexuality. It is said that her burlesque inspired style has revived the burlesque scene. "Some people say what I do isn't very liberating. I say it's pretty liberating to get $20,000 for 10 minutes work." -Dita Von Teese

Richard Ramirez

I find serial killers engaging and so I decided to write about Richard Ramirez because I didn't know a lot about him, but after reading about him, he was definitely an interesting character. He was born February 29, 1960 in El Paso, Texas. He is a known serial killer in California and became called the "Night Stalker." He was found guilty of 43 counts, including 13 murders in Los Angeles county. Ramirez is a rapist, murderer, drug addict, pedophile, and satanist. And during his trial he'd often yell "Hail Satan!" to intimidate his witnesses. He also loved leaving satanic symbols in blood after committing his crimes. Ramirez lived in a large family of eight and was raised catholic. In his youth he became a user of marijuana, stole and burglarized homes, and dropped out of high school at age seventeen. He also enjoyed soda and sugar to the point it rotted his teeth and gave him unbearable halitosis. How Ramirez was caught was when someone recognized him at a store and he began to run. He ran to a neighborhood and attempted to steal a car but didn't notice that the owner was under the car working on the transmission. Ramirez ran again for another vehicle, but the owner of the car noticed and called for her husband. The man grabbed a metal pole and began chasing him. Someone recognized him and called out that he was the "Night Stalker," and a crowd began to chase him. Suddenly, Ramirez turned around, laughed and stuck out his tongue at the mob. He eventually was hit in the back of the neck with the the metal pole and the police arrested him. During Ramirez's trial, he had a large group of women followers who were attracted to him because of his looks. He even married one of the women, Doreen Lioy, in the waiting room in San Quentin. His wife vowed to commit suicide when her husband was put to death. In conclusion, Ramirez is still alive today but is sentenced to die. When he heard these news he said, "Big deal. Death comes with the territory. I'll see you in Disneyland."

Hayao Miyazaki

         Hayao Miyazaki is by far one of the most inspiring people to me. Each short film or movie he makes I get extremely excited for. I have been watching his work since the elementary years and still love them the same. How he can capture so much love between two characters with expressions and words, and no intimacy, amazes me. I wish to publish work as magnificent as he has. I want to make the impact he's made on me. Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's most famous animation directors and has created Studio Ghibli with Isao Takahata. He was born in Tokyo on January 5, 1941 and graduated Gakushuin University for political science and economics. Miyazaki started his career in 1963 and was immediately successful because of his terrific talent in art and endless ideas for movies. Some movies you may recognize he produced are Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, and Spirited Away (and a lot others). His work frequently has a young protagonist, includes flying, and nature, ecology, and pollution by man, shown in his films. Also, he bases people in real life in some of his films. For Example, his daughter plays as Chihiro in "Spirited Away". He is often called "Walt Disney" of Japan, but he hates that title. Miyazaki only allows 10% of the footage in his movies to be computer generated. I could talk about him all day gah

Timothy Burton

Tim Burton was born August 25, 1958 in Burbank, California. He is a film director, film producer, screenwriter, artist, and writer. He is by far one of my all time favorite directors. I always get inspired and excited about the new work he does. Burton is most known for the dark twisted films such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Batman, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. He was married to Lena Gieseke from 1989-1991 and is currently with the actress Helena Bonham Carter since 2001 with two children named Nell and Billy. Early in his career he worked with Disney but couldn't grasp drawing, and out of frustration he pulled out his own wisdom tooth and walked around the halls with blood and the tooth in hand. After a year he quit to make his own. In 1982, he released a short film called Vincent and won an award from it. Burton is good friends with Johnny Depp and casted him in seven of his films. He also directed the music video "Bones" by The Killers. It is not proven but his partner Helena has shared that she believes he has Asperger Syndrome and it helps him be inspired and creative.

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin, October 16, 1854 and died November 30, 1900. He was a famous playwright, poet, and author, and one of my favorites. Wilde grew in a wealthy environment, as his mother was a successful poet and his father was knighted for his services in medicine. He was very talented and was awarded a scholarship to Trinity College Dublin and then went to Magdalen College Oxford University. But he was rebellious and didn't show up to class until three weeks in. He became bored and went to London. Wilde married Constance Lloyd and had two sons. He was often questioned of his orientation for being homosexual or bisexual. When his association with Alfred Douglas was known, he was imprisoned for his sexuality. Constance took the surname Holland and also took her two sons away. When Wilde was let out of prison, he moved to Paris and continued to write. He will always be known for his work and individualism. I loved that he critiqued the social norm and dressed how he wanted to and not to society's standards of what a man should.