Real Life Heroes

What makes a hero?

“I think a hero is an ordinary individual who
finds strength to persevere and endure in spite
of overwhelming obstacles.” - Christopher
Reeve, AKA Superman!

What do you think makes a hero? Take a minute

and write down three things that you think
someone a superhero.
Got it?
Heroes
Name: Amelia Earhart
Born:
24 July, 1897. Kansas, USA.
Special skills:
Defying what was expected of women and soaring
through the sky!
Top Quote:
“I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try
to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their
failure must be but a challenge to others.”
On 17th June 1928 Amelia Earhart joined a team to fly from Trepassey Harbor,
Newfoundland, in Canada to Burry Port in Wales. The team of three completed the
flight in 21 hours and Amelia Earhart found fame as the first woman to fly across the
Atlantic Ocean.

Four years later, on 20th May 1932, Amelia Earhart flew from Newfoundland to
Paris. This made her the first woman, and the second person, to fly solo across the
Atlantic.

Earhart was an adventurer and continued to set new records and push the limits of
aviation!

The end of Amelia’s story is a mystery. In 1937 she set off with the ambition of
becoming the first person to fly around the world. Her plane lost radio contact with
the team on the ground. It is unknown what happened to Amelia and her plane, but
she was never seen again.

Despite her sad ending, Amelia is remembered and celebrated not only as a hero of
flight, but also as a symbol of the great things women can accomplish!
Heroes
Name: William Shakespeare
Born:
1564. Stratford-upon-Avon, UK.
Special skills:
Writing creative and entertaining plays that have been performed
across the world, in more than 80 languages and for more than 400
years!
Top Quote:
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have
greatness thrust upon them.”
Also known as The Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare is one of the most
famous playwrights of all time.

Shakespeare’s writing career is first recorded in London in 1592, but how and
why he moved to London from his family home in Stratford-upon-Avon is still a
mystery!

Whilst in London Shakespeare formed a company of actors named ‘The

Chamberlain’s Men’. They were later renamed ‘The King’s Men’ when King
James I became their patron.

The Bard’s plays are often sorted into three categories: comedies, tragedies and
histories. You probably know some of his tales because so many modern stories
have been influenced by Shakespeare. For example, did you know that the story
of The Lion King was based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet?

Whilst he is best known as the most famous playwright of all time, Shakespeare
was also an actor and a poet. His total works include 39 plays, two long
narrative poems and 154 sonnets - that’s a lot of writing!
Heroes
Name: Greta Thunberg
Born:
3rd January 2003. Stockholm, Sweden.
Special skills:
Inspiring a whole generation of young people
around the world to get involved in a movement
fighting climate change.
Top Quote:
“You are never too small to make a difference.”
The youngest of our superheroes, Greta Thunberg developed a passion for protecting
the environment from a young age. For three weeks before the Swedish elections in
2018, the 15 year old student skipped school to sit outside of parliament and protest.
She was calling on her government to take more decisive action to help battle climate
change.

After the election Greta returned to school for four days a week, but continued to
miss classes every Friday to protest outside of parliament. Every week she was joined
by more and more young people. Thousands of students across the globe have since
participated in ‘School Strike for Climate’ on Fridays, known as ‘Friday’s for Future’.

The young activist has since been invited to speak at the World Economic Forum and
the United Nations. She’s been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and in 2019 was
named Time magazine's Person of the Year.

Greta is still fighting for change, and for everyone to consider what impact their
actions are having on our planet.
Heroes
Name: Florence Nightingale
Born:
12th May 1820. Florence, Italy.
Special skills:
Selflessly fought for what she believed in to make sure those in
pain could be cared for properly.
Top Quote:
"Live life when you have it. Life is a splendid gift – there is
nothing small about it."
Florence was born into a wealthy Victorian family (although born in Italy, she was raised
in England). She was expected to marry well and keep a beautiful home. But being a
housewife did not appeal to her at all.

After many years of resistance, in 1850 Florence’s father allowed her to travel to
Germany where she could train as a nurse. But shortly after beginning her work as a
superintendent of a women’s hospital in London in 1953, she was asked to lead a team
of 38 nurses at a field hospital to support The Crimean War effort.

Whilst working at the army hospital, Nightingale noticed how many men were dying not
from their war wounds, but from infections and diseases caused by the lack of
cleanliness in the hospital! She worked to improve the conditions in the hospital and to
put an end to soldiers dying from these preventable issues.

After the war Florence’s image was printed in many newspapers and she became known
as ‘The Lady of the Lamp’. She continued to work on improving hospital sanitation and
to ensure that everyone - including poorer people in society - had access to some
healthcare.
Heroes
Name: Sir David Attenborough
Born:
8th May 1926. London, England.
Special skills:
Shaping modern TV entertainment and teaching millions
of viewers about the natural world.
Top Quote:
"Surely we all have a responsibility to care for our Blue
Planet. The future of humanity and indeed, all life on
earth, now depends on us."
David Attenborough joined the BBC as a trainee in 1952, when only 14% of the
country owned a television!

He worked his way up through the BBC pushing the limits of what people
thought television was capable of. He encouraged programmes filmed outside
of the television studio and worked to help launch colour TV in the UK.

In 1975 Attenborough took a step away from his role of managing the BBC and
moved back to doing what he really loved - exploring. He became one of the
most famous people on television as he explored the globe, filming different
natural environments and educating the public.

Attenborough’s services to television were awarded with a knighthood in 1985,

making him Sir David Attenborough.

He has said that he never set out to be an environmental campaigner, but

simply to introduce people to the wonders of the natural world. And once you
have seen how glorious the world is why wouldn’t you want to protect it?