A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together development of strong emotional bonds such as love, hostility or thoughtfulness. The emotional bond between siblings is often complicated and is influenced by factors such as parental treatment, birth order, personality, and personal experiences outside the family.

Sibling is a modern revival of the Old English word sibling, meaning "relative, kinsman", a derivative of sibb "kinship, relationship", from Proto-Germanic *sibjō "race", from Proto-Indo-European *sebh-, *s(w)ebh- "tribe, one's own people". The term, along with its shortened form sib, may have been in use dialectally throughout the Middle English and Early Modern English periods, but was officially recognized c. 1903 when it came into common use in anthropology as a translation of the German genetics term Geschwister ("a brother or sister"). The word is further related to the second part of the word gossip, which derives from Old English gōdsibb, meaning "a sponsor, close relation".

Kenneth Oppel (born August 31, 1967) is a Canadian author. Born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, he spent his childhood in Victoria, British Columbia and Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has also lived in Newfoundland and Labrador, England and Ireland.

Oppel's first published book, Colin's Fantastic Video Adventure (1985), was written while he was a high school student at St. Michaels University School in Victoria, which he attended at the same time as actors Andrew Sabiston and Leslie Hope, fellow writers John Burns and Bert Archer, and just before the NBA's Steve Nash and Flickr founder Stewart Butterfield. Oppel forwarded the newly completed manuscript to a family friend, that knew Roald Dahl, who in turn recommended it to his agent. Oppel went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts degree in cinema studies and English at Trinity College in the University of Toronto, writing The Live-Forever Machine (1992) during his final year. Oppel moved to England and wrote a number of books during that period, gleaning several ideas while working at typing students' papers. Oppel worked as an editor at Quill and Quire, the trade magazine of the Canadian publishing industry, from 1995 to 1996.

Barack Hussein Obama II (ⁱ/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/; born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. In January 2005, Obama was sworn in as a U.S. Senator in the state of Illinois. He would hold this office until November 2008, when he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.

Following an unsuccessful bid against the Democratic incumbent for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for the United States Senate in 2004. Several events brought him to national attention during the campaign, including his victory in the March 2004 Illinois Democratic primary for the Senate election and his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won election to the U.S. Senate in Illinois in November 2004. His presidential campaign began in February 2007, and after a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won his party's nomination. In the 2008 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In April 2011, he announced that he would be running for re-election in 2012.

Lindsay Lohan ( /ˈloʊ.ən/; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress, recording artist, and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Walt Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11. Lohan gained further fame with leading roles in the films Freaky Friday (2003), Mean Girls (2004), and Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005). In 2006 she appeared in independent films including Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion and Emilio Estevez's Bobby. In 2004, Lohan launched a second career as a recording artist with her debut album Speak, which was followed by A Little More Personal (Raw) in 2005.

In 2007, her career was interrupted when two driving under the influence (DUI) incidents and three visits to rehabilitation facilities led to the loss of several movie deals. Resuming her career, she guest starred in the TV series Ugly Betty in 2008, and starred in the TV comedy film Labor Pains in 2009. In 2010, she appeared in Robert Rodriguez's film Machete. She has attracted a great deal of publicity, particularly surrounding her personal life.

Allan Richard Williams (born 17 March 1930 in Bootle, Liverpool) is a former businessman and promoter of Welsh descent. He was the original booking agent and first manager of The Beatles. He personally took the young band to Hamburg, Germany, where they gained the vital show business experience that led to their emergence on the world stage.

In 1957 Williams leased a former watch-repair shop at 21 Slater Street, Liverpool, which he converted into a coffee bar. He named the venue the Jacaranda, after an exotic species of ornamental flowering tree, jacaranda mimosifolia. The Jac (as it became known) opened in September 1958. The Beatles were frequent customers, with John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe attending Liverpool Art College nearby, and Paul McCartney at Liverpool Institute adjacent to the college. Asking for the chance to play the club, Williams instead put them to work redecorating, with Lennon and Sutcliffe painting a mural for the Ladies room. Finally, the Beatles began playing at the Jac on occasion. Between May and August 1960, Williams secured a number of bookings for the group at other places. (Scott Wheeler: Charlie Lennon: Uncle To A Beatle. Boulder, Colorado: Outskirts Press, 2005.) One was backing a local stripper; when she discovered the Beatles were not familiar with the "Gypsy Fire Dance", they instead backed her with a rendition of the Harry Lime theme tune.