Plan: Ali, Muhammad

Custer, George Armstrong

George Armstrong Custer grew up in a large, boisterous family. He decided to be an army officer, but was almost expelled from the US Military Academy at West Point. A friend wrote at the time, ‘He is always connected with all the mischief that is going on, and never studies more than he can help’.

After West Point, Custer fought for the Union Army of the northern states in the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865. His commanding officer called him ‘gallant’ but ‘reckless’.

The newspapers called him the ‘Boy General’ because he was only 23 when he was promoted. He raced his cavalry to victory after victory and became a legendary hero for his courage.

After the war, Custer was sent to fight the Native Americans who still roamed the Great Plains. He often fought rashly and did not treat his men well, but the newspapers praised him for his success.
Then, in 1876, Custer and all 266 of his troops were killed at Little Bighorn, South Dakota, by a force of over 3000 Sioux led by Chief Sitting Bull. The only survivor was one horse, which was found wandering by itself at the scene of the massacre.

Dean, James

James Dean's mother died when he was just 5 years old, and he grew up on his uncle's farm. At school he loved acting, and went on to perform on stage and television before becoming a star at the age of 24 in East of Eden (1955). Within a few months he made two more films, Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956), but before they appeared in cinemas he had an accident in his sports car and died.

Dean became a hero for teenagers who were angry at the way adults misunderstood them, just like the character he played in Rebel Without a Cause. Many years after his death, his face can still be seen on millions of posters, T-shirts and photographs bought by young people all over the world.

Disney, Walt

Walter Disney grew up on a Missouri farm, and enjoyed sketching the animals around him. He later drew advertisements for an advertising agency, before starting on cartoon films for the Laugh-o-Gram company in Kansas. He created Mickey Mouse in 1928 and Donald Duck in 1934. These quickly became the world's favourite cartoon characters. He then started making full-length animated films, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio (1940) and Bambi (1942). Sometimes he was criticized for changing famous stories to suit his cartoons.

His film company became the biggest producer of cartoons, but it also made children's films with real actors such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and films such as Mary Poppins (1964) which combined cartoon characters and real actors. Disney is now one of the most successful film companies in the world, making films for adults as well as children.
In 1954 Walt Disney opened Disneyland, the huge amusement park in California. The even bigger Disneyworld in Florida opened five years after his death, and Disneyworld near Paris, France, opened in 1992, originally under the name of EuroDisney.