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edit   The Biography Portal A General History of the Pyrates A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts (education, work, relationships, and death), a biography also portrays a subject's experience of these events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of his or her life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of a subject's personality. Biographical works are usually non-fiction, but fiction can also be used to portray a person's life. One in-depth form of biographical coverage is called legacy writing. Biographical works in diverse media—from literature to film—form the genre known as biography. An authorized biography is written with the permission, cooperation, and, at times, participation of a subject or a subject's heirs. An autobiography is about a life of a subject, written by that subject or sometimes with a collaborator. More about biographies… edit   Featured biography Stede Bonnet (c. 1688 – December 13, 1718) was an early 18th-century Barbadian pirate, sometimes called "the gentleman pirate". Because of marital problems, Bonnet turned to piracy in the summer of 1717. He bought a sailing vessel, named it Revenge, and traveled with his paid crew along the American eastern seaboard, capturing other vessels and burning down Barbadian ships. After arriving in Nassau, Bonnet met the infamous pirate Blackbeard. Incapable of leading his crew, Bonnet temporarily ceded his ship's command to Blackbeard. Before separating in December 1717, Blackbeard and Bonnet plundered and captured merchant ships along the East Coast. After Bonnet failed to capture the Protestant Caesar, his crew abandoned him to join Blackbeard on the Queen Anne's Revenge. Bonnet stayed on Blackbeard's ship as a guest, and did not command a crew again until summer 1718, when he was pardoned by North Carolina governor Charles Eden and received clearance to go privateering against Spanish shipping. By July 1718, he had returned to piracy. In late August and September of that year, Colonel William Rhett led a naval expedition against pirates on the Cape Fear River. Rhett and Bonnet's men fought each other for hours, but the outnumbered pirates ultimately surrendered. Rhett arrested the pirates and brought them to Charleston in early October. Bonnet was brought to trial, and sentenced to death. After his request for clemency was turned down, Bonnet was hanged in Charleston on December 10, 1718. (Read more...) edit   Selected portrait Walter "Walt" Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. edit   Things you can do Write an article Expand an article about: a person an actor an animator an artist a businessperson a diplomat an educator an engineer a jurist a military person a musician a politician a scientist a sportsperson a writer a photographer Improve an article by: adding references Review an article John Gilchrist (linguist) • Thomas Brattle • Answer requests for comments Assess an article Assessment requests Unassessed articles edit   Categories Biography • People By association • By behavior • By ethnicity • By gender • By language • By nationality By occupation: Academics • Scientists Actors • Artists • Choreographers • Comedians • Dancers • Directors • Musicians • Photographers • Playwrights • Writers Astronauts • Aviators • Explorers • Mountain climbers Businesspeople • Computer designers • Innovators Heads of state • Humanitarians • Journalists • Lawyers • Politicians • Warriors Sportspeople • Association football players • Baseball players • Basketball players • Olympians By place • By political orientation • By religion By status: Award winners • Billionaires • Celebrities By time • Lists of people ▼ Biography (genre) ► Biography awards ► Biographers ► Family history ► Biography journals ► Biographical museums ► Oral history ► Person databases ► The Biography Channel shows ► Biographical works edit   On this day – March 20 Births 43 BC - Ovid, Roman poet (d. 17) 1741 - Jean Antoine Houdon, French sculptor (d. 1828) 1770 - Friedrich Hölderlin, German writer (d. 1843) 1799 - Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet (d. 1839) 1811 - Napoleon II of France, (d. 1832) 1828 - Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian writer (d. 1906) (pictured) 1904 - B. F. Skinner, American psychologist (d. 1990) 1928 - Fred Rogers, American TV host (d. 2003) 1957 - Spike Lee, American film director Deaths 1929 - Ferdinand Foch, French commander of allied forces in World War I (b. 1851) 1931 - Hermann Müller, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876) 1974 - Chet Huntley, American television journalist (b. 1911) 2004 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (b. 1909) edit   Did you know ... that Dave Gunness (pictured) designed concert loudspeakers used by Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Iron Maiden, Pearl Jam, Usher, and Snoop Dogg? ... that former Israeli politician and Speaker of the Knesset Shlomo Hillel was in charge of an underground ammunition factory disguised as a laundry facility during the British Mandate of Palestine? ... that Hasan ibn Zayd, the founder of the Zaydid emirate of Tabaristan, was succeeded by his brother Muhammad, who lost it to the Samanids? ... that Thomas Jefferson Ramsdell built the opera house where James Earl Jones started his career? ... that British physiologist Mabel Purefoy FitzGerald attended Oxford before women were granted degrees and 75 years later received an honorary master's when she was 100 years old? ... that Fredrik Magnus Piper introduced the English landscape garden to Sweden? ... that although Kosta Manojlović was instrumental in the establishment of the Belgrade Music Academy, serving as its first rector, he was forced to retire from it for political reasons? edit   Quote of the week "I never did write a biography, and I don't exactly know how to set about it; you see I have to be accurate and keep to the facts, a most difficult thing for a writer of fiction." — Elizabeth Gaskell Referring to her Life of Charlotte Brontë in a letter to Harriet Anderson, 15 March 1856 edit   WikiProjects List of WikiProjects and work groups that involve biography articles: Arts and entertainment Actors and Filmmakers Composers Canadian Dictionary of Biography Initiative Living persons Philosophers Saints Romance authors Military Peers and Baronets Politics and government U.S. Members of Congress U.S. presidents Royalty and nobility Science and academia Aerospace Sports and games Baseball players List of all WikiProjects See also: Biographies of living persons • Manual of Style (biographies) edit   Related portals Anthropology Community Criminal justice Culture Death Gangs Human rights LGBT Mind and brain Music Philosophy Religion Sexuality Social and political philosophy Thinking edit   Associated Wikimedia Wikipedia's Portals All Portals Overview Glossaries Indices Lists Outlines Categories Reference Culture Geography Health History Mathematics Nature People Philosophy Religion Society Technology Featured portals About portals