>> Biography of Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston was an American singer and actress whose first four albums, released between 1985 and 1992, amassed global sales in excess of 86 million copies.

Born on August 9, 1963, in Newark, New Jersey, Whitney Houston released her debut album at age 22 and scored three No. 1 singles. Whitney (1987) delivered four more No. 1s and earned Houston her first Grammy, with later albums including I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990) and My Love Is Your Love (1998) as well as soundtracks to The Bodyguard (1992) and Waiting to Exhale (1995). With her marriage to singer Bobby Brown in 1992 and ensuing drug use, Houston's career got off track. She eventually made a comeback with 2009's I Look to You and also co-starred in the the film remake Sparkle. Houston died from accidental drowning in a hotel on February 11, 2012.

Born on August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey, Whitney Houston almost seemed destined from birth to become a singer. Her mother Cissy Houston, cousin Dionne Warwick and godmother Aretha Franklin were all legendary figures in American gospel, soul and pop music. Cissy Houston was the choir minister at New Hope Baptist Church, and it was there that a young Whitney got her start. Even as a child, Whitney was able to wow audiences; she later told interviewer Diane Sawyer that a rapturous response from the congregation at New Hope had a powerful effect upon her: "I think I knew then that [my singing ability] was an infectious thing that God had given me."

By the time she turned 15, Whitney was performing often with her mother and trying to get a record deal of her own. Around the same time, she was discovered by a photographer who was awed by her natural beauty. She soon became an extremely sought-after teenage model, one of the first African-American women to appear on the cover of Seventeen magazine. But music remained her true love.

When she was 19, Whitney Houston was discovered in a nightclub by the renowned Clive Davis of Arista Records, who signed her immediately and took the helm of her career as she navigated from gospel to pop stardom. In 1983, Houston made her debut on national television, appearing on The Merv Griffin Show to sing "Home" from the musical The Wiz. She and Davis spent the next two years working on her debut album, finding the best producers and songwriters available to showcase her amazing vocal talent.

In 1985, she released her debut album Whitney Houston and almost immediately became a smash pop sensation. Over the next year, her hit singles "Saving All My Love for You" and "How Will I Know" helped the album reach the top of the charts, where it stayed for 14 non-consecutive weeks. Houston won a Grammy in 1986 for "Saving All My Love for You"; the award was presented to the singer by her cousin Dionne Warwick. Houston followed the monumental success of her first album with a second release, Whitney, in 1987. That record, too, went platinum many times over and won a Grammy for the single "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)," with a successful world tour following. During this time, the singer also appeared at a concert for Nelson Mandela's birthday and founded the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children, a nonprofit organization that funds projects to help needy children over the world.

By 1992, Whitney Houston was on top of the world, but her life was about to get very complicated very quickly. That year she married the R&B singer Bobby Brown, formerly of New Edition, after a three-year engagement. At first the marriage was passionate and loving, but things turned sour as the decade progressed and both Brown and Houston battled substance abuse and increasingly erratic behavior, with Houston later alluding to emotional abuse from Brown and domestic violence.

In spite of these growing personal troubles, Houston continued to progress in her career, crossing over successfully into acting in 1992 by starring opposite Kevin Costner in the wildly popular The Bodyguard. With this project, she set a trend for her films to follow: For each movie she also released hit singles, creating sensational record sales for the soundtracks. Her smash single from The Bodyguard, a cover of Dolly Parton's 1974 "I Will Always Love You," proved to be Houston's biggest hit ever, spending a record-breaking 14 weeks atop the U.S. charts. The soundtrack album went on to win Houston three Grammys, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. Later in the 1990s, Houston also starred in Waiting to Exhale and The Preacher's Wife, both accompanied by hit soundtracks as well.

In 1998, Houston released My Love Is Your Love, her first non-soundtrack studio album in many years, and it earned her another Grammy for the single "It's Not Right But It's Okay." But the album could not top the chart performance of her previous full-length releases. However, her collaboration with Mariah Carey in the animated film The Prince of Egypt produced a hit single, "When You Believe," which won an Academy Award.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Houston's increasingly rocky marriage, struggles with drugs and health problems threatened to derail her career. Several concert cancellations and a notorious TV interview with Diane Sawyer in 2002 in which Houston appeared far too thin and in poor health led many to speculate that she was on the verge of a breakdown.

In 2004, Bobby Brown began filming a reality show for Bravo entitled Being Bobby Brown; Houston received substantial airtime. The show aired during the worst years of the couple's crumbling marriage; drug use, lifestyle excess and bad behavior were all caught on tape and Houston's reputation sunk to new lows. Houston tried to ignore the controversy, charging ahead with her music by releasing Just Whitney… to combat her detractors, but it did not match the success of her earlier works. In spite of her troubled relationship, Houston was still celebrated as a singer, being named the most-awarded female artist of all time by Guinness World Records in 2006.

Over the next few years, Houston attempted to repair her marriage and to break her drug habit, but after several relapses her mother Cissy had to step in. As Houston explained to Oprah Winfrey in 2009: "[My mother] walks in with the sheriff and she says: 'I have a court injunction here. You do it my way or we're not going to do this at all. You're going to go on TV, and you're going to retire. And say you're going to give this up because it's not worth it.'" Whitney took a break from her career, divorced Bobby Brown in 2007 and won sole custody of their child, Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown.

After almost a decade of struggling with her personal life, Houston seemed to be pulling herself together. She released a new album, I Look To You, in 2009. "The songs themselves will speak to you and you'll understand where I am and some of the changes I've gone through for the better," Houston told Entertainment Tonight. The recording received a warm welcome from music fans, making it to the top of album charts. Her live shows, however, garnered mixed reviews, with some complaining about the quality of her voice.

In early 2012, Houston was rumored to be experiencing financial trouble, but she denied this claim. She, in fact, seemed to be poised for a career upswing. Houston worked on a new musical film Sparkle with Jordin Sparks, a remake of the 1976 movie about an all-girl musical group similar to The Supremes. She had reportedly been approached to join the singing competition The X Factor as a judge. Unfortunately, Houston did not live long enough to see the latest comeback reach fruition.

Whitney Houston died at the age of 48 on February 11, 2012, in Los Angeles at a Beverly Hilton hotel where a Grammy party was being held by Clive Davis. Houston had been seen out in the days before her death, including at one of the pre-Grammy parties. According to a report released by the Los Angeles County coroner's office on March 22, 2012, the official cause of her death was accidental drowning. The effects of heart disease and cocaine found in her system were contributing factors as well. With her passing, the music world lost one of its most legendary stars. Davis once said that Houston "is in the great tradition of great, great singers, whether it's Lena Horne or Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughn or Gladys Knight."

Daughter Bobbi Kristina has also dealt with much tumult after the death of her mother. She was hospitalized immediately after the passing of Houston due to emotional trauma, but soon was able to speak with Winfrey about returning to her mother's home and feeling her presence. Houston left everything to her daughter, but with grandmother Cissy fearing that the fortune could become the target of predators, sister-in-law Pat Houston became the executor of the estate.

Bobbi Kristina has also had public conflicts with her grandmother over the publishing of the Houston biography Remembering Whitney. And she was reported in early 2014 to have been married to Nick Gordon, who had been taken in by Houston during his childhood and raised with Bobbi Kristina, yet later reports have stated that they weren't legally wed. In another confrontation, she made disparaging comments via Twitter about Angela Bassett after the actress/director opted to cast a trained actress in the lead role of a Houston biopic instead of Bobbi Kristina.

On January 31, 2015, nearly three years to the date of her mother's death, Bobbi Kristina was discovered face down in a bathtub in her Roswell, Georgia home by associate Max Lomas. After being admitted to North Fulton Hospital, she was eventually taken to Emory University Hospital, having been placed into a medically-induced coma.

With media speculation over her prognosis, Bobby Brown and grandmother Cissy have visited her bedside amid calls for public support and prayer, with a public candlelight vigil held on February 10 in suburban Atlanta. Investigations are also underway into the circumstances of how the young woman was found and her home situation with Gordon. It was also revealed by the Associated Press via police reports that days before she was hospitalized, Bobbi Kristina had lost control of a jeep she was driving and crashed into another car, with two people receiving medical attention.

Reference http://www.biography.com/people/whitney-houston-9344818#related-video-gallery

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>> Biography of Madonna " Entertainer "

Madonna Louise Ciccone ( born August 16, 1958 ) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. She achieved popularity by pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV. Madonna is known for reinventing both her music and image, and for maintaining her autonomy within the recording industry. Music critics have acclaimed her musical productions which have also been known to induce controversy. Often referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she is cited as an influence among other artists around the world.

Born in Bay City, Michigan, Madonna attended the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance before moving to New York City to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she signed with Sire Records (an auxiliary label of Warner Bros. Records) in 1982 and released her self-titled debut album the following year. She followed it with a series of commercially successful albums, including the Grammy Award winners Ray of Light (1998) and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005). Throughout her career, she has written and produced most of her songs, with many of them reaching number one on the record charts, including "Like a Virgin", "Into the Groove", "Papa Don't Preach", "Like a Prayer", "Vogue", "Frozen", "Music", "Hung Up", and "4 Minutes".

Madonna's popularity was further enhanced by her film roles; she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for Evita (1996) while most of her other films have been panned by critics. Her other ventures include fashion design, writing children's books, and filmmaking. She has been acclaimed as a businesswoman, particularly after she founded entertainment company Maverick (including the label Maverick Records) in 1992 as a joint venture with Time Warner. In 2007 she signed an unprecedented US $120 million 360 deal with Live Nation.

Madonna has sold more than 300 million records worldwide and is recognized as the best-selling female recording artist of all time by Guinness World Records. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the second best-selling female artist in the United States, with 64.5 million certified albums. Billboard ranked her at number two, behind only The Beatles, on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists, making her the most successful solo artist in the history of American singles chart. The magazine also declared her as the top-touring female artist of all time. She became one of the five founding members of the UK Music Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility.

>> Complete Biography of Madonna

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>> Biography of Lady Diana

Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances Spencer,  1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, who is the eldest child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II. 

Diana was born into an aristocratic British family with royal ancestry as The Honourable Diana Frances Spencer. She was the fourth child of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp and the Honourable Frances Ruth Roche, the daughter of British aristocrat the 4th Baron Fermoy. After her parents' divorce, she was raised in Park House, which was situated near to the Sandringham estate, and was educated in England and Switzerland. Diana became Lady Diana Spencer after her father later inherited the title of Earl Spencer in 1975. She became a public figure with the announcement of her engagement.

Her wedding to the Prince of Wales on 29 July 1981 was held at St Paul's Cathedral and seen by a global television audience of over 750 million. While married, Diana bore the titles Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay, Countess of Chester and Baroness of Renfrew. The marriage produced two sons, the princes William and Harry, who were respectively second and third in the line of succession to the British throne for the remainder of her lifetime. After her marriage, she undertook a variety of public engagements. As the Princess of Wales, Diana assisted the Prince of Wales on his official duties. She was also the patron, president and a member of numerous charities and organisations. She was well known for her fund-raising work for international charities and as an eminent celebrity of the late 20th century. She also received recognition for her charity work and for her support of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. From 1989, she was the president of Great Ormond Street Hospital for children, in addition to dozens of other charities.

Diana remained the object of worldwide media scrutiny during and after her marriage, which ended in divorce on 28 August 1996. If the Prince of Wales had ascended the throne during their marriage, Diana would have become queen consort. Media attention and public mourning were very extensive after her death in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997.


>> Complete Biography of  Lady Diana

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>> Biography of Joko Widodo " Jokowi ", Seventh President of Republic Indonesia

Joko Widodo " Jokowi " ( born 21 June 1961), an Indonesian politician and former businessman, is the current President of Indonesia. He is universally known in Indonesia as Jokowi. He was the mayor of Surakarta before becoming the governor of Jakarta.

Jokowi was nominated by his party, the Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P), to run in the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election with Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (often known as Ahok) as his running mate. Jokowi was elected governor of Jakarta on 20 September 2012 after a second round runoff election in which he defeated the incumbent governor Fauzi Bowo. Jokowi's win was widely seen as reflecting popular voter support for "new" or "clean" leaders rather than the "old" style of politics in Indonesia.

Jokowi's popularity across Indonesia rose sharply following his election to the high-profile position of governor of Jakarta. During 2013 and early 2014 he was increasingly seen as a potential PDI-P candidate for the Indonesian presidential election in 2014. His nomination was announced on 14 March 2014.

The presidential election was held on 9 July. After some controversy about the result of the election, Jokowi was named as president-elect on 22 July 2014. He was formally declared as the winner of the election by the General Elections Commission (Komisi Pemilihan Umum or KPU), winning more than 53% of the vote over his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, who disputed the outcome and withdrew from the race before the count was completed.

Early life and education 
Joko Widodo is of Javanese descent. Before changing his name (changes of name are not unusual in Java), Joko Widodo was called Mulyono. His father came from Karanganyar, his grandparents came from a village in Boyolali. His education started in State Primary School 111, Tirtoyoso, known for being a school for less wealthy citizens.

Due to financial difficulties in his childhood, he had to work his way through primary school to earn enough money for school materials and pocket money. At twelve, he started working in his father's furniture workshop. The evictions he experienced three times in his childhood affected his way of thinking and his leadership later on as the mayor of Surakarta (Solo) as he organised housing in the city.

After primary school, he continued his studies in SMP Negeri 1 Surakarta (middle school). He had wanted to continue his education in SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta (high school), but he failed the entrance exam and went to SMA Negeri 6 Surakarta instead.

He continued his education in the Forestry Faculty of Gadjah Mada University. He made use of this chance to study the structure of wood, its utilisation, and its technology. He completed his degree with the thesis called: "Study on Plywood Consumption in Final Consumption in Surakarta municipality".

After his graduation in 1985, he worked for BUMN PT Kertas Kraft Aceh and was placed in Pinus merkusii forest plantation at Gayo Highlands, Aceh Tengah Regency. Nevertheless, he didn't feel at home and went home to his wife, who was seven months pregnant. He was determined to work with wood in his uncle Miyono's business named CV Roda Jati. In 1988, he started his own business under the name of CV Rakabu, referring to his first child (Rakabuming). The business was quite successful; however due to fraud, it had problems and was closed. In 1990, he tried again with money (Rp 30,000,000, around $16,000) borrowed from his mother.

" Jokowi Blusukan "

Political career
Mayor of Surakarta
When he first ran for the office of mayor of Surakarta, many doubted the ability of a man who had worked as a property and furniture businessman; however, after a year in office Jokowi had successfully led many progressive breakthroughs which became widely praised nationally. One academic paper claimed his leadership style was successful because it established an interactional relationship with the people of Solo, through which he was able to induce people's strong faith in him. He adopted the development framework of European cities (which he frequently traveled to as a businessman) into his own city of Surakarta.

Highlights of Jokowi's approach during the seven years that he was mayor of Surakarta include the following:

- Building new traditional markets – including an antiques market and a home appliances market
- Constructing a 7-km city walk with a 3-meter wide pedestrian walkway along Surakarta's main street
- Revitalizing the Balekambang and Sriwedari parks
- Stricter regulations on cutting down trees along the city's main streets
- Rebranding Surakarta as a center of Javanese culture and tourism under the tagline "The Spirit of Java"
- Promoting the city as a center for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE)
- The blusukan culture, the manner in which Jokowi made impromptu visits to certain areas to hear directly from the people their needs and criticisms
- Prohibiting his family members from bidding for city projects
- Healthcare insurance program for all residents
- Public transportation in the form of double-decker buses and the railbus
- Solo Techno Park, which helped support the Esemka Indonesian car project

His supporters pointed to rapid positive changes in Surakarta under his leadership. Branding the city with the motto "Solo: The Spirit of Java" was seen as a successful move. While in office he was able to relocate junk dealers in the Banjarsari Gardens smoothly, a move which was helpful in revitalizing the functions of the open green land; he emphasized the importance of business firms engaging in community activities; he improved communications with the local community (appearing regularly on local television). Jokowi also did not hesitate to dismiss investors who do not agree with the principles of his leadership. As a follow-up of the new branding of Surakarta, he applied for Surakarta to become a member of the Organization of World Heritage Cities, which was approved in 2006, and subsequently had Surakarta chosen to host the organization's conference in October 2008. In 2007, Surakarta had also hosted the World Music Festival (Festival Musik Dunia/FMD) which was held at the Fort Vastenburg Complex (it is worth noting that Fort Vastenburg was to be bulldozed and replaced by a business center and shopping malls before Jokowi vetoed the decision). The FMD in 2008 was held in the Mangkunegaran Palace Complex.

Part of Jokowi's personal style was his populist "can-do" (punya gaye) elements designed to build bonds with the broad electorate. This approach proved highly effective. As just one example, as mayor of Surakarta, he became personally involved in an incident just before Christmas 2011 when the Surakarta municipality had overdue bills of close to $1 million (Rp 8.9 billion) owing to state-owned electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). Following PLN company policy to pursue a more disciplined approach to collecting overdue bills, the PLN imposed a blackout on street lamps in Surakarta just before Christmas. The city municipality quickly authorized payment but in settling the bill protested that the PLN should consider the public interest before taking this type of action. To reinforce the point, Jokowi made a highly publicized personal visit to the local PLN office to deliver the Rp 8.9 billion in cash in the form of hundreds of bundles of notes and even small coins.

Such interaction-oriented approach quickly raised Jokowi's prominence at the national level. Among others, he was chosen as the Tempo's Leaders of Choice by Tempo news magazine (2008) and received a Changemakers Award from Republika newspaper (2010); his name also started being considered in national polls for governorship of Jakarta way before his party nomination of him to run for the post, including those by Universitas Indonesia and Cyrus Network (2011).

Governor of Jakarta 
Jokowi was an active and high-profile governor of Jakarta. He followed the practice (known as blusukan) of regularly arranging well-publicized visits to local communities, often in quite poor areas, across Jakarta (see below). His broad approach was widely said to reflect the similar, successful style of administration that he adopted while mayor of Surakarta between 2005 and 2007. His inner circle of advisers in Jakarta was reported to include people such as FX Hadi 'Rudy' Rudyatmo, Sumartono Hadinoto, and Anggit Nugroho who were colleagues while he was mayor of Surakarta as well as Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama, his deputy as governor of Jakarta.

Policies as Governor 
Blusukan
Not so much a policy as a general approach, Jokowi actively carried out the practice known as blusukan of regularly visiting quite poor areas across Jakarta. During these visits, he wore simple informal clothes and made a point of spending time in markets or walking along narrow Jakarta lanes (gangs) to chat to people about problems like the price of food, housing difficulties, local flooding, and transport. Polling and media coverage suggested that Jokowi's hands-on style proved very popular both in Jakarta and elsewhere across Indonesia.

Lelang Jabatan
Jokowi created a new system of bureaucratic recruitment called "lelang jabatan" (literally auction of office position). In this system, every civil servant had the same opportunity to achieve a certain position by fulfilling the required qualifications and passing the test. The test results were announced transparently and the provincial government appointed the qualified civil servant in accordance to their achievements and qualifications.

Health care program
Early after taking office in late 2012 Jokowi introduced a universal health care program in Jakarta, based on a Healthy Jakarta Card (Kartu Jakarta Sehat or KJS). The program proved to be very popular. However, the KJS program also generated controversy because implementation problems quickly became evident. ] The demand for health services from hospitals across Jakarta jumped sharply putting great pressure on the limited services available. Demand for health services surged by 70% in the first few months. The program involved an insurance program provided through the state-owned insurance company PT Askes Indonesia (Persero) and a plan to regulate health charges for treatment for over 20,000 services and procedures.There was confusion over the details of the implementation of the system and long waiting queues for services caused dissatisfaction. The long queues even generated a market for middlemen who offered line-waiting services for up to Rp 150,000 (around $US 15 at end-2013 exchange rates). The various problems led to criticism of Jokowi in the Jakarta regional parliament that he was promoting a populist, poorly-designed program. However Jokowi defended the popular KJS program and counseled patience.

Educational program
Jokowi launched the "Smart Jakarta Card" on 1 December 2012, in order to help poor students in Jakarta. This card gives an allowance that can be withdrawn from ATMs in order to buy school needs such as books and uniforms. The usage of the card is constantly monitored and is not allowed to be used for other purposes .

Public transportation
On 10 October 2013, Jokowi inaugurated the construction of Jakarta MRT, which previously was delayed for years. Subsequently, on 16 October 2013, Jokowi also restarted the construction of the green line of Jakarta Monorail.

Financial reforms
After Jokowi took office, the provincial budget of Jakarta increased significantly from Rp 41 trillion in 2012 to Rp 72 trillion in 2014. This was achieved through transparency, efficiency, e-catalog, and e-budgetting.

Transparency
Jokowi and his vice governor, Basuki, publicized their monthly salary and the provincial budget. They also initiated programs aimed towards transparency, such as online taxes, e-budgeting, e-purchasing, and a cash management system. Moreover, all meetings and activities that were attended by Jokowi and Basuki were recorded and uploaded on YouTube.

Revamping street vendors and traditional markets
Jokowi regulated the chaotic agglomeration of street vendors in Pasar Minggu and Pasar Tanah Abang by relocating them to a new building, as these street vendors were causing horrendous traffic jams. He also built and renovated five traditional markets in 2013 and four traditional markets in 2014. The vendors in these markets are not charged for rent, although they are required to maintain their kiosks and to not sell them. They are only asked to pay for maintenance, electricity, and water costs.

Flood control
In 2013, Joko Widodo initiated dredging and reservoir normalization projects in order to reduce flood problems. Three of the most notable projects were the normalization of Pluit Reservoir, Ria Rio Reservoir, and Pesanggrahan River. These projects involved the relocation of settlements around the reservoirs, in which Jokowi used the "lunch diplomacy" tactic to obtain agreement from the local populace. After the inhabitants of these settlements were successfully moved to a new location, the dredging commenced, and the project was praised by the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte as successful. These projects helped to reduce the extent of flood in 2014.

Presidential candidacy
Megawati Sukarnoputri had chosen Joko Widodo to be the presidential candidate of her party.
Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla travelled to many parts of Indonesia for his campaign, most notably West Papua. His mayorship in Surakarta and his governorship in Jakarta further boosted his popularity around Indonesia. Because of his interest in loud music, many musicians around Indonesia, including the cast of Jalanan, volunteered to create a song titled Salam 2 Jari as part of his campaign. Also because of his interest in loud music, several international artists — Jason Mraz, Sting, Bumblefoot and Arkarna — posted their support for him on Twitter and Facebook, tagging #Jokowi9Juli and in Arkarna's case, #ArkarnaVoteJokowi.

After hearing the Quick Count results of many different polls, Joko Widodo declared victory on 9 July. However, his rival Prabowo Subianto also declared victory, leaving Indonesian citizens confused. Jokowi asked his supporters to cancel any celebrations for his victory. While most of Prabowo's supporters tried to congratulate Jokowi, fighting occurred between other Prabowo and Jokowi supporters days before the official announcements. To prevent this from happening, Joko Widodo disallowed the use of his usual off-duty attire, checkered clothing, and Prabowo's usual attire, white clothing, for his supporters and told them not to leave their homes for their own safety.

On 22 July, hours before the announcement of the election results, Prabowo withdrew. A victory for Joko Widodo was expected and realized hours later. The Commission gave Joko Widodo a close victory of 53.15 percent of the vote (representing 70,997,859 voters), to Prabowo's 46.85 percent (62,576,444 votes), though Prabowo's camp disputed these totals.

After his victory, Joko Widodo stated that, growing up under the authoritarian and corrupt New Order, he would have never expected someone with a lower-class background to become president. The New York Times reported him as saying "now, it's quite similar to America, yeah? There is the American dream, and here we have the Indonesian dream". Joko Widodo was the first Indonesian president to not be from the military or the political elite, and the political commentator Salim Said gave the popular view of the politician as "someone who is our neighbor, who decided to get into politics and run for president".

" Joko Widodo taking the presidential oath of office during his inauguration on 20 October 2014 "

President of Indonesia
After being sworn in as president, Joko Widodo started a healthcare and education program similar to what he had initiated while serving as a mayor and a governor

Awards and honours 
National honours
Bintang Jasa Utama – 2011
Bintang Republik Indonesia Adipurna – 2014

Foreign honours
Brunei Brunei
BRU Family Order of Brunei 1st Class.svg Darjah Kerabat Laila Utama Yang Amat Dihormati (DK) – 2015

Other
2008: Listed by Tempo as one of the 'Top 10 Indonesian Mayors of 2008'.

2012: 3rd place at the 2012 World Mayor Prize for "transforming a crime-ridden city into a regional center for art and culture and an attractive city to tourists.

2013: Listed as one of "The Leading Global Thinkers of 2013" in Foreign Policy. In February 2013 he was nominated as the global mayor of the month by the The City Mayors Foundation based in London.

2014: Listed by Fortune as one of the 'The World's 50 Greatest Leaders'

Personal life 
According to The Economist, Jokowi "has a penchant for loud rock music" and once owned a bass guitar signed by Robert Trujillo of heavy-metal band Metallica. He is a fan of Metallica, Lamb of God, Led Zeppelin and Napalm Death, a grindcore band that is known for their utilitarian, liberal political views. Napalm Death also congratulated the president on their Facebook fan page recently. In 2 November 2013, while he was the Governor of Jakarta, he was seen in the rock festival Rock in Solo, at Surakarta, in casual dress. It was the second time he was seen in this rock festival, with the first being in 2011's Rock in Solo.

Family 
Joko Widodo is the eldest son of Noto Mihardjo and Sudjiatmi Notomihardjo. He has three younger sisters, named Iit Sriyantini, Ida Yati and Titik Relawati.

He and his wife, Iriana, have three children. Gibran Rakabuming Raka (male, born 1 October 1988) has a catering and wedding-planning business in Surakarta; he has studied abroad in Sydney and Singapore (at the Management Development Institute of Singapore, MDIS). Kahiyang Ayu (female) was born in 1991; she has recently completed an undergraduate degree in food technology at the state-run Sebelas Maret University in Surakarta. Kaesang Pangarep (male) was born on 25 December 1994 and like his elder brother completed his high school years in ACS International, Singapore.

Film adaptation 
In June 2013, a film depicting Jokowi's childhood and youth was released. Jokowi expressed some objections to the film saying that he felt his life had been a simple one and was not worthy of being presented as a film.


Reference Wikipedia

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>> Biography of President Soekarno, first president of Republic Indonesia

DR.Ir.Soekarno First President of Republic Indonesia
Artwork by Basuki Abdullah, Oil on Canvas, 149cm X 94cm.

Dr.(HC) Ir. H. Soekarno (was born in Surabaya, East Java, on June 6th 1901 – died in Jakarta, on June 21st 1970 in the age 69 years) was Indonesian President first that hold the office of in the period 1945 - 1966. He played the role important to liberate the Indonesian nation from the Dutch colonisation. He was the Kepancasilaan excavator. He was the Proclaimer of Indonesian Independence (was with Mohammad Hatta) that happened on August 17 1945. He published the Letter Of Instruction on March 11 1966 Supersemar that was controversial that, that it seems, including his contents was assigned Lieutenant General Soeharto to pacify and maintain his authority. But this Supersemar was misused by Lieutenant General Soeharto to undermine his authority with the road to accuse him of taking part in masterminding the Movement on September 30. The charges caused People's Consultative Assembly Sementara that his member was replaced with the person who for Soeharto, shifted the presidency to Soeharto

The background and education 
Soekarno was born by the name of Kusno Sosrodihardjo. His father was named Raden Soekemi Sosrodihardjo, a teacher in Surabaya, Java. His mother named Ida Ayu Nyoman Rai came from Buleleng, Bali .

When small Soekarno lived with his grandfather in Tulungagung, East Java. In the age 14 years, a friend of his father who was named Oemar Said Tjokroaminoto asked Soekarno to live in Surabaya and to be sent to school to Hoogere Burger School (H.B.S.) there while reciting the Koran in the Tjokroaminoto place. In Surabaya, Soekarno often met the leaders of the Islam union, the organisation that was led by Tjokroaminoto at that time. Soekarno afterwards gathered with the Jong Java organisation (the Javanese Young Man).

Graduate from H.B.S. in 1920, Soekarno continued to Technische Hoge School (now ITB) in Bandung, and was finished during 1925. During in Bandung, Soekarno interacted with Tjipto Mangunkusumo and Dr. Douwes Dekker, that at that time were the leader of the National Indische Partij organisation.

Soekarno's family

Soekarno's wife 
Oetari
Inggit Garnasih
Fatmawati
Hartini
RatnaSari Dewi Soekarno (the original name: Naoko Nemoto)
Haryati

Soekarno sons and daughters
Guruh Soekarnoputra
Megawati Soekarnoputri, Republic of Indonesia President the term of office of 2001-2004
Guntur Soekarnoputra
Rachmawati Soekarnoputri
Sukmawati Soekarnoputri
Taufan and Bayu (from the wife Hartini)
Kartika Sari Dewi Soekarno (from the wife Ratna sari Dewi Soekarno
Really the national movement

During 1926, Soekarno established Algemene Studie Club in Bandung. This organisation became the young coconut the future Party of national Indonesia that was established during 1927. Soekarno's activity in PNI caused him to be arrested by the Netherlands in December 1929, and bring up pledoi him that was phenomenal: Indonesian Criticize, until being released again on December 31 1931. In July 1932, Soekarno gathered with the Indonesian Party (Partindo), that was the fragment of PNI. Soekarno again was arrested in August 1933, and was isolated to Flores. Here, Soekarno was almost forgotten by national leading figures. However his spirit continued to glow as being implied in each one of his letters to a Teacher the Islam Association named Ahmad Hassan. During 1938 till 1942 Soekarno was isolated to the Bengkulu Province. Soekarno just again was free in the Japanese colonisation period during 1942.

Really the Japanese colonisation
At the beginning of the Japanese colonisation period (1942-1945), the Japanese government had an opportunity to not pay attention to leading figures of the Indonesian movement especially to "pacify" his existence in Indonesia.This was seen in the Movement 3A with his leading figure of Shimizu and Mr. Syamsuddin that were a little unpopular.

However finally, the government of the Japanese occupation pay attention to and at the same time making use of the leading figure of the Indonesian leading figure like Soekarno, Mohammad Hatta et cetera in each organisation and the agency agency to appealing the Indonesian inhabitants. Named in various organisations like Javanese Hokokai, Pusat of the Rakyat Power (Putera), BPUPKI and PPKI, the leading figure of the leading figure like Soekarno, Hatta, Ki Hajar Dewantara, K.H Mas Mansyur and so on other was talk about and seen so active. And finally national leading figures co-operated with the government of the Japanese occupation to achieve Indonesian independence, although there are those that carried out the underground movement like Sutan Syahrir and Amir Sjarifuddin because of considering Japan was the dangerous fascist.

President Soekarno personally, during the speech on the opening by text reading of the proclamation of independence, said that although in fact we co-operated with Japan in fact we believed and have faith as well as relied on the strength personally.

He was active in an effort to preparations for Indonesian independence, among them were to formulate Kepancasilaan, UUD 1945 and the foundation of the foundation of the Indonesian government including formulating the text of the proclamation of Independence. He could be persuaded xNP to take refuge in Rengasdengklok Peristiwa Rengasdengklok.

During 1943, Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo invited the Indonesian leading figure namely Soekarno, Mohammad Hatta and Ki Bagoes Hadikoesoemo to Japan and was received directly by Emperor Hirohito. Moreover the emperor gave the empire Star (Ratna Suci) to three Indonesian leading figures. Penganugerahan Bintang made the government of the Japanese occupation most startled, because that was significant that the three Indonesian leading figures it was considered the family of Japanese Emperor personally. In August 1945, he was invited by the Marshal Terauchi, headed by the South-East Asian territory Army in Dalat Vietnam that afterwards stated that the proclamation of Indonesian independence was the people's Indonesian affair personally

However his involvement in the organisation bodies of the Japanese construction made Soekarno be accused of by the Netherlands co-operating with Jepang,betwen other in the case romusha.

Revolutionary war time
Soekarno with national leading figures began to prepare gazed at the Proclamation of Republic of Indonesia independence. After the session of the Investigator's Body preparations efforts for Indonesian Independence BPUPKI, The Small Committee that consisted of eight people (official), the Small Committee that consisted of nine people/the Committee of nine (that produced Jakarta Charter) and the preparations Committee for Independence Indonesian PPKI, Soekarno-Hatta established the Indonesian Country was based on Kepancasilaan and UUD 1945.

After meeting the Terauchi Marshal in Dalat, Vietnam, the Rengasdengklok Incident on August 16 1945 happened; Soekarno and Mohammad Hatta were persuaded xNP by the young men to take refuge in the barracks of defence troops Motherland Peta Rengasdengklok. The leading figure of the young man who persuaded in part Soekarni, Wikana, Singgih as well as Chairul Saleh. The young men demanded that Soekarno and Hatta immediately proclaimed Republic of Indonesia independence, because in Indonesia happened vacuum of the authority. This was caused because Japan has surrendered and allied troops did not yet arrive. However Soekarno, Hatta and the leading figures refused on the basis of being waiting for the clarity concerning the Japanese surrender. The other developing reason was Soekarno appointed moment exact for Republic of Indonesia independence that is chosen by him on August 17 1945 at that time coincided with the date 17 Ramadhan, the holy month of Muslim who were believed in was the date of the fall of the first revelation Muslims to the Prophet Muhammad SAW namely Al Qur-an. On August 18 1945, Soekarno and Mohammad Hatta were appointed by PPKI to Republic of Indonesia President and Vice President. On August 29 1945 the appointment became the President and Vice President was strengthened by KNIP. In on September 19 1945 Soekarno's authority could resolve without Ikada bloodshed of the field incident where 200,000 Jakarta peoples would the clash with Japanese troops that were still fully-armed.

At the time of the arrival of the Ally (AFNEI) that was led by Lt Gen. Mystically Phillip Christison, Christison had finally acknowledged the Indonesian sovereignty de facto after holding the meeting with President Soekarno. President Soekarno also tried to resolve the crisis in Surabaya. However resulting from the provocation that was launched by NICA troops (the Netherlands) that followed the Ally. (was supervised by England) exploded the Incident on November 10 1945 in Surabaya and fell him Brigadier  General A.W.S Mallaby.

Because of many provocations in Jakarta at that time, President Soekarno had finally moved the Republic of Indonesia capital from Jakarta to Yogyakarta. Followed by the Vice President and the senior official of the other country.

The position President Soekarno according to UUD 1945 was President's position as the head of government and the head of state (presidential/single the Executive). For the revolution of fredom, sistem the government changed became semi-presidential/double the Executive. President Soekarno as the Head of State and Sutan Syahrir as the Prime Minister/ Head of Government. That happened because of the existence of the announcement Vice President No X, and the announcement of the government in November 1945 about the political party. This was followed so that the Republic of Indonesia it was considered the more democratic country.

Although the government's system changed, at the time of the revolution of independence, the position of President Soekarno stayed most important, especially in facing the Madiun Incident 1948 as well as during Aggression of Militer Netherlands Ii that caused President Soekarno, Vice President Mohammad Hatta and several senior officials of the country to be kept by the Netherlands. Although having the Government of the Republic of Indonesia Emergency (PDRI) with the chairman Sjafruddin Prawiranegara, but in fact the international community and the domestic situation continue to acknowledged that Soekarno-Hatta was the Indonesian leader that actually, only of his policies that could complete the Indonesia-the Netherlands dispute.


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>> Biography of Henry Ford

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production.

Although Ford did not invent the automobile or the assembly line, he developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford. In doing so, Ford converted the automobile from an expensive curiosity into a practical conveyance that would profoundly impact the landscape of the twentieth century. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry. As owner of the Ford Motor Company, he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with "Fordism": mass production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers. Ford had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. His intense commitment to systematically lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that put dealerships throughout most of North America and in major cities on six continents. Ford left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation and arranged for his family to control the company permanently.

Ford was also widely known for his pacifism during the first years of World War I, and also for being the publisher of antisemitic texts such as the book The International Jew.

Early life
Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863, on a farm in Greenfield Township, Michigan. His father, William Ford (1826–1905), was born in County Cork, Ireland, to a family that was originally from Somerset, England, His mother, Mary Ford (née Litogot) (1839–1876), was born in Michigan as the youngest child of Belgian immigrants; her parents died when she was a child and she was adopted by neighbors, the O'Herns. Henry Ford's siblings were Margaret Ford (1867–1938); Jane Ford (c. 1868–1945); William Ford (1871–1917) and Robert Ford (1873–1934).

His father gave him a pocket watch in his early teens. At 15, Ford dismantled and reassembled the timepieces of friends and neighbors dozens of times, gaining the reputation of a watch repairman. At twenty, Ford walked four miles to their Episcopal church every Sunday.

Ford was devastated when his mother died in 1876. His father expected him to eventually take over the family farm, but he despised farm work. He later wrote, "I never had any particular love for the farm—it was the mother on the farm I loved."

In 1879, Ford left home to work as an apprentice machinist in Detroit, first with James F. Flower & Bros., and later with the Detroit Dry Dock Co. In 1882, he returned to Dearborn to work on the family farm, where he became adept at operating the Westinghouse portable steam engine. He was later hired by Westinghouse to service their steam engines. During this period Ford also studied bookkeeping at Goldsmith, Bryant & Stratton Business College in Detroit. Ford married Clara Ala Bryant (1866–1950) in 1888 and supported himself by farming and running a sawmill. They had one child: Edsel Ford (1893–1943).

In 1891, Ford became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company. After his promotion to Chief Engineer in 1893, he had enough time and money to devote attention to his personal experiments on gasoline engines. These experiments culminated in 1896 with the completion of a self-propelled vehicle which he named the Ford Quadricycle. He test-drove it on June 4. After various test drives, Ford brainstormed ways to improve the Quadricycle.

Also in 1896, Ford attended a meeting of Edison executives, where he was introduced to Thomas Edison. Edison approved of Ford's automobile experimentation. Encouraged by Edison, Ford designed and built a second vehicle, completing it in 1898. Backed by the capital of Detroit lumber baron William H. Murphy, Ford resigned from the Edison Company and founded the Detroit Automobile Company on August 5, 1899. However, the automobiles produced were of a lower quality and higher price than Ford wanted. Ultimately, the company was not successful and was dissolved in January 1901.

With the help of C. Harold Wills, Ford designed, built, and successfully raced a 26-horsepower automobile in October 1901. With this success, Murphy and other stockholders in the Detroit Automobile Company formed the Henry Ford Company on November 30, 1901, with Ford as chief engineer. In 1902, Murphy brought in Henry M. Leland as a consultant; Ford, in response, left the company bearing his name. With Ford gone, Murphy renamed the company the Cadillac Automobile Company.

Teaming up with former racing cyclist Tom Cooper, Ford also produced the 80+ horsepower racer "999" which Barney Oldfield was to drive to victory in a race in October 1902. Ford received the backing of an old acquaintance, Alexander Y. Malcomson, a Detroit-area coal dealer. They formed a partnership, "Ford & Malcomson, Ltd." to manufacture automobiles. Ford went to work designing an inexpensive automobile, and the duo leased a factory and contracted with a machine shop owned by John and Horace E. Dodge to supply over $160,000 in parts. Sales were slow, and a crisis arose when the Dodge brothers demanded payment for their first shipment.

When Edsel, president of Ford Motor Company, died of cancer in May 1943, the elderly and ailing Henry Ford decided to assume the presidency. By this point in his life, he had had several cardiovascular events (variously cited as heart attack or stroke) and was mentally inconsistent, suspicious, and generally no longer fit for such immense responsibilities.

Most of the directors did not want to see him as president. But for the previous 20 years, though he had long been without any official executive title, he had always had de facto control over the company; the board and the management had never seriously defied him, and this moment was not different. The directors elected him, and he served until the end of the war. During this period the company began to decline, losing more than $10 million a month ($136,290,000 a month today). The administration of President Franklin Roosevelt had been considering a government takeover of the company in order to ensure continued war production, but the idea never progressed.

In ill health, Ford ceded the presidency to his grandson Henry Ford II in September 1945 and went into retirement. He died in 1947 of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 83 in Fair Lane, his Dearborn estate. A public viewing was held at Greenfield Village where up to 5,000 people per hour filed past the casket. Funeral services were held in Detroit's Cathedral Church of St. Paul and he was buried in the Ford Cemetery in Detroit.

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>> Biography of Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as "the King of Rock and Roll", or simply, "the King".

Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi and when he was 13 years old, he and his family relocated to Memphis, Tennessee. His music career began there in 1954, when he recorded a song with producer Sam Phillips at Sun Records. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley was an early popularizer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who managed the singer for more than two decades. Presley's first RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. He was regarded as the leading figure of rock and roll after a series of successful network television appearances and chart-topping records. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines that coincided with the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, made him enormously popular -and controversial.

In November 1956, he made his film debut in Love Me Tender. In 1958, he was drafted into military service: He resumed his recording career two years later, producing some of his most commercially successful work before devoting much of the 1960s to making Hollywood movies and their accompanying soundtrack albums, most of which were critically derided. In 1968, following a seven-year break from live performances, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed televised comeback special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley was featured in the first globally broadcast concert via satellite, Aloha from Hawaii. Several years of prescription drug abuse severely damaged his health, and he died in 1977 at the age of 42.

Presley is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century. Commercially successful in many genres, including pop, blues and gospel, he is the best-selling solo artist in the history of recorded music, with estimated record sales of around 600 million units worldwide. He won three Grammys, also receiving the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. Forbes named Elvis Presley as the 2nd top earning dead celebrity with $55 million as of 2011.

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>> Biography of Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee (Chinese: 李小龍; born Lee Jun-fan, Chinese: 李振藩; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong American martial artist, Hong Kong action film actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, filmmaker, and the founder of Jeet Kune Do. Lee was the son of Cantonese opera star Lee Hoi-Chuen. He is widely considered by commentators, critics, media and other martial artists to be one of the most influential martial artists of all time, and a pop culture icon of the 20th century. He is often credited with helping to change the way Asians were presented in American films.

Lee was born in Chinatown, San Francisco on November 27, 1940 to parents from Hong Kong and was raised in Kowloon with his family until his late teens. He was introduced to the film industry by his father and appeared in several films as a child actor. Lee moved to the United States at the age of 18 to receive his higher education, at the University of Washington, at Seattle and it was during this time that he began teaching martial arts. His Hong Kong and Hollywood-produced films elevated the traditional Hong Kong martial arts film to a new level of popularity and acclaim, sparking a surge of interest in Chinese martial arts in the West in the 1970s. The direction and tone of his films changed and influenced martial arts and martial arts films in the United States, Hong Kong and the rest of the world.

He is noted for his roles in five feature-length films: Lo Wei's The Big Boss (1971) and Fist of Fury (1972); Golden Harvest's Way of the Dragon (1972), directed and written by Lee; Golden Harvest and Warner Brothers' Enter the Dragon (1973) and The Game of Death (1973), both directed by Robert Clouse. Lee became an iconic figure known throughout the world, particularly among the Chinese, as he portrayed Chinese nationalism in his films. He trained in the art of Wing Chun and later combined his other influences from various sources, in the spirit of his personal martial arts philosophy, which he dubbed Jeet Kune Do (The Way of the Intercepting Fist). Lee held dual nationality of Hong Kong and the United States. He died in Kowloon Tong on July 20, 1973 at the age of 32.

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