Heroes of History

Written for ages 10 and up -- enjoyed by adults!Alan Shepard gripped the abort handle and braced his feet against the capsule floor. Five, Four, Three...Don't screw up, he muttered. Two, One, Zero, Liftoff. Alan felt himself rising into the sky. He...

Ben visited Maranda's family the night before the young girl's brain surgery. He spoke to her parents, outlining the risks one last time. "The surgery should take about five hours. There's a strong likelihood that Maranda could bleed uncontrollably...

As Ben experimented, people peppered him with questions about electricity. Distracted, Ben was still holding the ends of two bare wires when the other ends touched the Leyden jars. A massive charge knocked him to the ground. When he clambered to his...

Ben thought about the strange course of events that had led him to this point in his life. He had considered being a lawyer but had ended up becoming a doctor, and now he was also a politician and member of the Continental Congress. Ben had never...

Billy boarded the train to Minneapolis. He had come to Los Angeles months before as a small-time preacher. Now he was leaving as one of the most recognized Christians in the country. It was not what Billy had sought; he'd just been open for God to...

The mainsail cracked above them in the ferocious wind as a group of red-faced men descended on John. "You have brought a curse on us. Overboard with you," one of the men yelled. A chorus of cheers went up. It was the last sound John heard before he...

It was completely dark. The only things visible now were the two small beacon fires on the Pinta and the Nina. Christopher was glad the two fires calmed his, too. Their glow reminded him that the Santa Maria was not alone on the vast, uncharted Ocean...

Heroes of History is a unique biography series that brings the shaping of history to life with the remarkable true stories of fascinating men and women who changed the course of history. Known during the Civil War as the "Angel of the Battlefield,"...

Chief Blackfish handed Daniel a belt. "The beads represent three paths," he said. "The red path is the warpath. The white path is the path we can walk together. The black path is death--the path you will walk if you do not surrender." Daniel knew that...

David's father stood beside the stone chimney and spoke to his son. "It's time to grow up, lad," he said. "Mr. Siler has hired you to go to Virginia with him. He's run ragged trying to keep the cattle with him, and he needs a young 'un with strong...

Under siege on the island of Corregidor, General Douglas MacArthur received a warning from the enemy. "You are well aware that you are doomed," the Japenese general wrote. "The end is near. The question is how long you will be able to resist. You are...

Born in Denison, Texas, Dwight David Eisenhower grew up poor in Abilene, Kansas. After graduating from the US Military Academy at West Point, Ike entered army service, commanding tank training in WWI and afterward, serving in Central America, Europe,...

"Narrative biography of Elizabeth Fry, English Quaker and prison reformer (1780-1856)"--Exposed to the horrendous living conditions of women prisoners and their children, Elizabeth Fry pledged to improve the lives of society's most desperate people -...

As adventurers from around the world raced to reach the South Pole and achieve other polar firsts in the early 1900s, outsider Ernest Shackleton and his motley expeditions would outshine even the British navy, becoming icons of the Heroic Age of...

Born into slavery in Maryland, Frederick Douglass was separated from his mother during infancy, then taken from his grandparents at the age of six to serve at the “Great House” on the Wye Plantation in Maryland. He never imagined the cruelties he...

Written for ages 10 and up -- enjoyed by adults!Behind George were enemies; in front, a raging ice-packed river. Poling across had seemed his best chance, but now large blocks of ice slammed into his makeshift raft, twisting it off course. Just as...

George's mother panicked when she heard the thunder of horses and the whooping of men. Bushwhackers! She pulled her baby close to her chest and stood rooted to the dirt floor in fear. A man stumbled through her doorway. "We got us one, boys!" he...

The pounding of horses' hooves shattered the night's silence. Harriet froze in the shadow of a tree and peered out into the darkness. She barely dared to breathe as three slave catchers came to a halt only a few feet from her hiding place. Had she...

Written for readers age 10 and up -- enjoyed by adults!John's heart sank. A British man-of-war was plowing through the frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean in hot pursuit of his ship. If the British caught up with the Boston, John would be hanged. He...

Laura stared at the black cloud blotting out the sun. The cloud was unlike anything she had ever seen. As it got closer, it made a strange noise, like hail pelting the ground. Suddenly the sky began to rain grasshoppers. The bugs clung to Laura's hair...

When the canteen water supply ran dry again, Louie began to doubt they'd survive. He thought back to when he first arrived in Hawaii and Eddie Rickenbacker and his crew had just been rescued from a record of twenty-one days drifting on rafts much like...

Meriwether Lewis had been commissioned by President Jefferson to lead a daring expedition so remarkable it would become one of the most famous explorations in history. He chose as his co-captain William Clark. Their mission - to find a land route to...

'We've done more than our share to see you right, but you're a Hershey, a true son of a dreamer,' Milton's Uncle Abraham said. 'You'll never stick with anything long enough to make it work for you.' Milton gulped. He'd already suspected that his...

At last Orville was free, soaring above the sand dunes, wind in his face. Lying in the glider's wing, he moved his hips in the control cradle and the craft began to turn as planned. But then something went wrong. The glider wanted to go into a spin,...