Childhood Of Celebrities : Soichiro Honda

Soichiro Honda was born in Yamahigashi on November 17 1906. His father, Gihei Honda, was the local blacksmith but could turn his hands to most things, including dentistry when the need arose. His mother, Mika, was a weaver.

Honda’s subsequent spirit of adventure and determination to explore the development of new technology had its roots in his childhood. The family was not wealthy, but Gihei Honda instilled into his children the ethic of hard work, and a love of mechanical things. Soichiro soon learned how to whet the blades of farm machinery, and how to make his own toys. A nearby rice mill was powered by a small engine, and the noise fascinated him. He would demand daily that his grandfather take him to watch it in action. At school he got the nickname ‘black nose weasel’, which is less derogatory in Japanese than it sounds in English, because his face was always dirty from helping his father in the forge.

Soichiro Honda’s childhood days are full of examples of technical ingenuity, including using a bicycle pedal rubber to forge his family’s seal on school reports that were less than promising.

The bicycles had another use: those that his father sold from the shop he subsequently opened helped Honda to hone his engineering skills. As he grew, the dream of the car on the country road acted like a magnetic force, drawing him ever closer towards things mechanical. In 1917 a pilot called Art Smith flew into the Wachiyama military airfield to demonstrate his biplane’s aerobatic capabilities. Honda raided the family’s petty cash box, ‘borrowed’ one of his father’s bicycles and rode the 20 kilometers to a place he had never before visited. When he got there he soon realized that the price of admission, let alone a flight, was far beyond his meagre means, but after climbing a tree he watched the plane in motion, and that was enough. When Gihei Honda learned what his son had done to get to the airfield, he was more impressed with his initiative, determination and resilience than he was angry with him for taking the money and the bike.

Credit : Wikipedia

Technorati Tags: Celebrities, Famous, Honda, Photos, Soichiro Honda, Entrepreneur

Share This

Marion Jones was born in Los Angeles, California on October 12, 1975. As early as the age of 5, she was able to outrun her older brothers, and before athletics became a part of her life, she played tetherball with a passion.

She began playing basketball at an early age, and also made it onto her junior high school track team. She won both the 100- and 200-meter sprints at the California High School state meets four years running, between 1990 and 1993. She also won the same events at the USA Juniors meet of ‘91 and ‘92, and was named High School Athlete of the Year those same two years.

During the 1992 Olympic trials, 16-year-old Jones finished fourth in the 200m and fifth in the 100m, and declined an offer to run on the 4×100m relay team. She participated in her first World Juniors that same year, where she finished fifth in the 100m and seventh in the 200m, and also played on the U.S. World Junior Championship basketball team. Track & Field News ranked her No. 5 in the U.S. in both the 100m and 200m that year.

Jones graduated from Thousand Oaks High in 1993 and went on to study journalism at the University of North Carolina on a basketball scholarship. She was a star player with the Lady Tar Heels, leading them on to two record-setting seasons, as well as the 1994 NCAA Women’s Championships. That same year, she won both the 100m and the long jump at the ACC Championships; in 1995, she repeated her winning performance in the long jump at the same meet.

In 1996, Jones broke her foot while playing basketball, and as a result of her injury, was unable to try out for the U.S. Olympic track and field squad. By the time she graduated from university in 1997, she had made up her mind to concentrate solely on athletics, with the dream of becoming the fastest female sprinter on the planet. She claimed her first major international title that same year, winning the 100m race at the 1997 World Championships in Athens. She followed up with wins in the 100m and the long jump at the 1997 USA Outdoor Track & Field championships. Track & Field News ranked her No. 1 in the world in the 100m and 200m, as well as No. 2 in the U.S. in the long jump.

1998 proved to be a major year for Jones, as she finished first in 35 of 36 competitions. Highlights included first-place finishes in the 100m and 200m at the IAFF World Cup, as well as at the Goodwill Games. Track & Field News ranked her No. 1 in world in the 100m, 200m and the long jump, and also named her Athlete of the Year. On the personal front, she married world champion shot putter CJ Hunter, but they divorced in 2001.

In 1999, Jones won the 200m and placed second in the long jump at the USA Outdoors meet. She hoped to take four titles at that year’s World Championships, but withdrew from the meet after injuring her back during the 200m. She did, however, manage to win gold in the 100m and bronze in long jump before taking the rest of the season off to recuperate.

Credit : Askmen.com

Technorati Tags: Celebrities, Childhood, Photos, Marion Jones, Olympic Games

Share This

Valentino Rossi was born in Pesaro, Marche, and grew up in the town of Tavullia. Son of Graziano Rossi, a former motorcycle racer, he first jumped on a bike at the age of two, and his astounding career progressed in leaps and bounds.

Rossi’s first racing love was actually go-karts. Fuelled by Rossi’s mother, Stefania’s, concern for her son’s safety, Graziano purchased a go-kart as substitute for the bike. However, the Rossi family trait of perpetually wanting to go faster prompted a redesign; Graziano replaced the 60 cc motor with a 100 cc national kart motor for his then-5-year-old son.

Although Valentino showed interest in such things as his guitar and playing football, his interest in school and study waned. Shrugging off his mother’s attempt to get him to attend football school, he found more interest in the gravel pits and various motorcycle GPs.

Graziano attempted to forge documents in an attempt to get Valentino’s junior kart licence one year before he was legally allowed (he was 9 at the time), but ultimately failed.

Valentino won the regional kart championship in 1990. At the time, a new craze had taken over. The minimoto had now become his weapon of choice, and before the end of 1991, he had won 16 regional races.

Although minimoto was for fun, he continued to race karts and finished fifth at the national kart championships in Parma. Both Valentino and Graziano had started looking at moving him into the Italian 100 cc series as well as the corresponding European series, which most likely would have pushed him into the direction of Formula 1. However, the high financial burden of racing karts led to the decision to race minimoto exclusively. Through 1992 and 1993, Valentino continued to learn the ins and outs of minimoto racing, steadily racking up win after win.

With Rossi growing in talent, it became abundantly clear that a proper motorcycle was required to further his progress. In 1993, Rossi acquired a Cagiva Mito 125 cc motorcycle, which was damaged in a first-corner crash no more than a hundred meters out from pit lane.

The bike was repaired, giving Rossi an opportunity to correct his first-corner mistake, only to crash it going into the second corner. It was an amusing yet trying moment for Rossi, who was hoping to decide whether motorcycles were really for him.

Valentino ended up finishing ninth that race weekend. Although his first season in the Italian Sport Production Championship was varied, he consistently improved his skills, leading to a pole position at the season’s final race in Misano, where he ultimately would finish on the podium. By the second year, Rossi had been provided a factory Mito by Cagiva team manager Claudio Lusuardi and cruised to the Italian title.

Credit : Wikipedia

Technorati Tags: Celebrities, Famous, Childhood, Photos, Pictures, Valentino Rossi

Share This

Childhood Of Celebrities : Christy Turlington

Born on January 2nd, 1969, in Walnut Creek, California, Christy’s initial interest was not in the fashion industry, but rather, she had an undeniable passion for horses and horseback riding.

By the age of 13, her encouraging father entered young Christy in local competitions. She continuously trained in Coral Gables, the location where she grew up with her two sisters. It was around this time that a man named Dennie Cody discovered the immature beauty.

Cody took notice of Christy’s beauty although she didn’t realize what a potential celebrity she could become. As with most protective parents, Christy’s mom and dad were somewhat hesitant to let Christy venture into the world of modeling, but after some urging, they finally gave their consent.

She was hired instantly by a local agency and her first shoot was for a succession of advertisements for a store chain called Emporium Capwell. It wasn’t long before more jobs came pouring in for the American Beauty.

Miami’s fashion world familiarized itself with Christy’s flawless face in no time and fashion agencies were demanding Christy’s for their shoots. It wasn’t long before word about Christy reached New York and Eileen Ford (modeling’s top scout) offered Christy a job in Paris.

Her first high status photo shoots in Europe were not successful and Christy returned to the US immediately. It was at about the same time that models like Stephanie Seymour, Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista began getting noticeable attention. It was evident that after years of the “blonde” look, brunettes had finally become the “in” thing in the fashion industry.

In 1985, when Christy was still only 16 years old, Eileen Ford, who refused to give up on Christy’s potential for stardom, sent the budding babe to New York’s most noted magazines and photographers.

After appearing in Vogue magazine in the US, Christy returned to high school to complete her education before continuing her career as a model. It was in 1987 when her modeling career finally shot into high gear after she did a cover shot for Vogue Italy.

After she graced the cover of that magazine, the best photographers in the world began knocking on Christy’s professional door. Designers such as Chanel, Christian Lacroix, Gianni Versace, and Azzedine Alaia were requesting the new fresh face for their fashion shows.

By this time, Christy was considered a supermodel, and in 1989, she signed a contract with Calvin Klein and began representing his perfume Eternity. Soon after that, Maybelline asked Christy to represent their cosmetics line.

Christy is an advocate for helping poverty-stricken individuals as she donates all the proceeds from her calendar to the American Foundation for El Salvador, an organization that helps the poor in the small Central American country that was her mom’s homeland.

As well, Christy also participates in a number of other volunteer organizations including Fashion Targets Breast Cancer and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

Education-wise, Christy attended UCLA and the Gallatin School at New York University in which she received her degree in philosophy and literature, with a specialization in Eastern philosophy.

In her personal life, Christy most notably dated actor Jason Patric, and is still seen in advertisements all over the world. It’s evident that Christy is a classic beauty that won’t soon fade out of the spotlight.

Credit : Wikipedia

Technorati Tags: Celebrities, Famous, Early Year Pictures, Supermodel, Christy Turlington

Share This