Harland David Sanders-KFC

Harland David Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders (September 9, 1890 – December 16, 1980) was an American entrepreneur who founded Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). His image is omnipresent in the chain's advertising and packaging, and his name is sometimes used as a synonym for the KFC product or restaurant itself.
Sanders was born to a Presbyterian family in Henryville, Indiana. His father, Wilbur David Sanders, died when Harland was five years old, and—since his mother worked—he was required to cook for his family. He dropped out of school in seventh grade. When his mother remarried he ran away from home because his stepfather beat him. During his early years, Sanders worked many jobs, including steamboat pilot, insurance salesman, railroad fireman, farmer, and enlisted in the Army as a private when he was only 16 years old (by lying about his age), spending his entire service commitment in Cuba.
Harland Sanders at age 20
The restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky where Colonel Sanders developed Kentucky Fried Chicken

At the age of 40, Sanders cooked chicken dishes and other meals for people who stopped at his service station in Corbin, Kentucky. Since he did not have a restaurant, he served customers in his living quarters in the service station. His local popularity grew, and Sanders moved to a motel and restaurant that seated 142 people and worked as the chef. Over the next nine years, he developed his method of cooking chicken. Furthermore, he made use of a pressure fryer that allowed the chicken to be cooked much faster than by pan frying.

He was given the honorary title "Kentucky Colonel" in 1935 by Governor Ruby Laffoon. He was re-commissioned in 1950 by Governor Lawrence Wetherby. Although he had been a Kentucky Colonel for nearly two decades, it wasn’t until after 1950 that Sanders began to look the part, growing his trademark mustache and goatee and donning his white suit and string tie[2].

After the construction of Interstate 75 reduced his restaurant's customer traffic, Sanders took to franchising Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, starting at age 65, using $105 from his first Social Security check to fund visits to potential franchisees.[2]

Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's Old Fashioned Burgers was offered a chance to turn around a failing Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. He helped save the restaurant and revolutionized the fast food industry, by simplifying the menu. At the time, there was an excessive number of items on the menu (possibly more than one hundred). Working with Sanders, Thomas stripped the menu down to just the basic fried chicken and salads.[3]
Colonel Sanders is the official face of KFC, and appears on the logo as well as numerous advertisements and promotions of the fast food chain.

Sanders sold the Kentucky Fried Chicken corporation in 1964 for $2 million to a partnership of Kentucky businessmen headed by John Y. Brown, Jr. The deal did not include the Canadian operations. Sanders moved to Ontario and continued to collect franchise fees. Sanders continued on with Kentucky Fried Chicken as its spokesperson and collected appearance fees for his visits to franchises in the United States and Canada. In 1973, he sued Heublein Inc. (the KFC parent company at the time) over alleged misuse of his image in promoting products he had not helped develop. In 1975, Heublein Inc. unsuccessfully sued Sanders for libel after he publicly referred to their gravy as "sludge" with a "wallpaper taste".[4]
Death and legacy
Gravesite of Sanders

Sanders died in Louisville, Kentucky, of pneumonia on December 16, 1980.[5][6] He had been diagnosed with acute leukemia the previous June.[7] His body lay in state in the rotunda of the Kentucky State Capitol; after a funeral service at the Southern Baptist Seminary Chapel attended by more than 1,000 people, he was buried in his characteristic white suit and black western string tie in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.

He had a son, Harland, Jr., who died at a young age, and two daughters, Margaret Sanders and Mildred Ruggles.[7]
Colonel Sanders statue in front of KFC in Japan

Since his death, Sanders has been portrayed by voice actors in Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials on the radio, and an animated version of him has been used for television commercials (voiced by actor Randy Quaid). Sanders also appeared, portrayed by drummer Brooks Wackerman, as part of Tenacious D's backing band for their last world tour.

In 1965 Sanders moved to Mississauga, Ontario to oversee his Canadian franchises. Sanders later used his shares to create the Colonel Harland Sanders Trust and Colonel Harland Sanders Charitable Organization, which used the proceeds to aid charities and fund scholarships. His trusts continue to donate money to groups like the Trillium Health Care Centre; a wing of their building specializes in women's and children's care and has been named after him.[8] The foundation granted over $1,000,000 in 2007, according to its 2007 tax return. The foundation is based in Sidney, British Columbia.[9]

Sanders was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2000.

Swami Ramdev

Swami Ramdev (1965 - ), also known as Baba Ramdev, is an Indian, Hindu swami. He is particularly well-known for his efforts in popularizing Yoga. His yoga camps are attended by a large number of people. People follow his yoga camps through TV channels and video. He is also one of the founders of the Divya Yoga Mandir Trust that aims to popularize Yoga.

Ramdev was born as Ramkishan Yadav in 1965, in Alipur in the Mahendragarh district of Indian state of Haryana. He attended school till the eighth grade in Shahjadpur. He then joined a gurukul in Khanpur village to study Sanskrit and Yoga. Eventually, he renounced worldly life and entered into Sanyas (monastic living) - taking his present name.
He then went to Jind district and joined the Kalva gurukul and offered free Yoga training to villagers across Haryana.

Ramdev spent many years undertaking an study of ancient Indian scriptures. At the same time, he also practiced intense self-discipline and meditation.

In 1995, Ramdev established Divya Yoga Mandir Trust with Acharya Karamveer and Acharya Balkrishna. Acharya Karmaveer is well-versed in Yoga and Veda while Acharya Balkrishna is a physician with a degree in Ayurveda.

He has also founded the Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust, an institution for treatment and research in Yoga and Ayurveda, in Haridwar. The trust provides several free services to all visitors.

Ramdev has taught several aspects of traditional Indian scriptures such as Ashtadhyayee, Mahabhashya and Upanishads along with six systems of Indian Philosophy in various Gurukuls. He has helped establish Gurukuls in Kishangarh, Ghashera, and Mahendragarh in India.

His educational show is broadcast on the religious TV channel Aastha, as well as shows on Zee network, Sahara One and India TV.

He has been regularly conducting yoga camps all over India and even abroad.

Awards and recognitions

* In January 2007, KIIT University awarded Swami Ramdev with an Honorary Doctorate degree in recognition of his efforts at popularizing the Vedic science of Yoga. The degree was presented to him in a ceremony presided over by the respected scientist and Nobel laureate Richard Ernst.

Claims of curing AIDS

In December 2006, press reports claimed that Ramdev had made claims of being able to use Yoga to cure AIDS.

A website promoting his products states that the CD4 cell count in some AIDS patients has improved after practising Yoga. This statement was translated by certain journalists as claiming a cure for AIDS.

As a consequence of these press reports he was sent a cease and desist order by the Indian Union Health Ministry and threatened legal action from medical NGOs. Ramdev responded by saying that he had been misquoted. His position was that Yoga and Ayurveda together can alleviate the suffering from AIDS, not cure it. He also added that Yogic education was preferable over sex education in response to the AIDS crisis.

Claims of curing Cancer

Other press reports quoted him as claiming to have a cure for cancer of the breast, liver, prostate, uterus, pituitary gland, brain tumors and leukemia by practicing the seven breathing exercises. They also said that he claimed to have documented proof of his successes.


Swami Ramdev was born in 1965 as Ramkishan Yadav in Alipur, Mahendragarh district of Indian state of Haryana. He attended school through the 8th grade in Shahjadpur. Thereafter, he joined a yogic monastery (gurukul) in Khanpur village to study Sanskrit and Yoga. Eventually, he renounced worldly life and entered into Sanyas (monastic living) - taking the name Swami Ramdev.

Then he went to Jind district and joined the Kalva gurukul and later imparted free Yoga training to villagers across Haryana. It is said that he travelled the Himalayas for several years before he settled in Haridwar. He discovered several medicinal plants in the Himalayas which he uses in treating his patients. Swami Ramdev started relentless efforts to popularise Yoga in 1995 with the establishment of DYM Trust, along with Acharya Karamveer and Acharya Balkrishna.

In 1995, Baba Ramdev joined the order of swamis after being initiated into the ascetic order by Swami Shankerdevji Maharaj. While training to be a Swami, Baba Ramdev spent many years undertaking an intense and thorough study of ancient Indian scriptures. At the same time, he also practiced intense self-discipline and meditation.

He teaches that God resides in every human being and that the body is God's temple. He is a firm believer in the concept of Vasudaiv Kutambakam (the whole World is one family) and decries practices that discriminate on the basis of caste, creed or gender. His fundamental belief is that expressions of love, affection and compassion towards all living things are the true worship of the Creator.

Swami Ramdev has taught several aspects of traditional Indian scriptures such as Ashtadhyayee, Mahabhashya and Upanishads along with six systems of Indian Philosophy in various Gurukuls (traditional Indian systems of education). He has helped establish Gurukuls in Kishangarh, Ghashera, and Mahendragarh in India. He has also founded the PYP Trust which has built several institutions. In addition to helping people learn about Yoga and spirituality, these institutions also provide a comprehensive facility that promotes the practice of Ayurveda - the traditional system of holistic medicine developed in India.

He teaches Pranayama which is a series of techniques for breath control that were developed as a part of the ancient Indian system of Yoga. Heretofore, these techniques were often thought of as being esoteric and complex and portrayed as being unsuitable for lay people. Consequently, their use was often limited to advanced practitioners of Yoga and undertaken only under the strict supervision of an experienced teacher. Swamiji has worked diligently to break these barriers and help make the practice of Pranayama achievable by the ordinary layperson.

He has devised a set of six simple Pranayama breathing exercises as listed in the section below. These techniques have been readily embraced by the general public as evidenced by the following facts:

His educational show is broadcast on Indian TV channels from morning 6-8 am and evening 8-9 pm (IST) & also several times a day on different TV channels and he also has dedicated shows such as Total Tandurusti airing ona network, a show on another one at 9:00 am, Yoga Science on still another at 7:30 am & 1:30 pm. Total viewership is in millions. According to the synopsis that is available to Sky Digital viewers, Swami Ramdev "claims that he was a paralytic" prior to taking up yoga, but this claim has yet to be completely verified.

He has been conducting week long training camps in cities all over India. Total attendance in these camps exceeds tens of thousands. In 2006 Summer, the Swami spent almost a month in London teaching Pranayam & yoga.

Viewers of the TV show and attendees at the camp have reported significant improvements in their health - citing relief from many illnesses such as Diabetes, Heart Disease, Arthritis, Thyroid Problems, Hypertension, Stomach ailments and different types of cancer without the use of any medicines. But it should also be noted that most of these 'patients' speak on television for the first time and are over awed by the situation. Like most human beings in such situations, which may explain the miracles he is believed to perform.

More about Swami Ramdev

Ramdev was born as 'Ramkishan Yadav' in Alipur, in the Mahendragarh district of Indian state of Haryana. He attended school through the eighth grade in Shahjadpur. Thereafter, he joined a yogic monastery (gurukul) in Khanpur village to study Sanskrit and Yoga. Eventually, he renounced worldly life and entered into Sanyas (monastic living) - taking the name Swami Ramdev.

Then he went to Jind district and joined the Kalva gurukul and offered free Yoga training to villagers across Haryana. It is said that he travelled the Himalayas for several years before he settled in Haridwar. He claims to have discovered several medicinal plants in the Himalayas which he uses in treating his patients. Ramdev started relentless efforts to popularise Yoga in 1995 with the establishment of D Y M Trust along with Acharya Karamveer.

In 1995, Ramdev joined the order of Swamis after being initiated into the ascetic order by Swami Shankerdevji Maharaj. While training to be a Swami, Ramdev spent many years undertaking an intense and thorough study of ancient Indian scriptures. At the same time, he also practiced intense self-discipline and meditation.

He teaches that God resides in every human being and that the body is God's temple. He is a firm believer in the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the whole World is one family) and decries practices that discriminate on the basis of caste, creed or gender. His fundamental belief is that expressions of love, affection and compassion towards all living things are the true worship of the Creator.

Work, Teaching and Honours

Swami Ramdev has taught several aspects of traditional Indian scriptures such as Ashtadhyayee, Mahabhashya and Upanishads along with six systems of Indian Philosophy in various Gurukuls (traditional Indian systems of education). He has helped establish Gurukuls in Kishangarh,Gharshera and Mahendragarh in India. He has also founded P Y P Trust, which has built several institutions. In addition to helping people learn about Yoga and spirituality, these institutions also provide a comprehensive facility that promotes the practice of Ayurveda -the traditional system of holistic medicine developed in India.

His Yoga Pranayama educational show is broadcast on numerous TV channels daily.

He has been conducting Yog science camp regularly all over the country, and sometimes abroad as well. In 2006, the Ramdev spent almost a month in London teaching Pranayam and Yoga.

KITT University, a well-respected teaching and research institute for Science and Technology, awarded Swami Ramdev with an Honorary Doctorate degree in recognition of his efforts at popularising the Vedic science of Yoga. The degree was presented to him in January 2007 during a ceremony presided over by the respected scientist and Nobel laureate Richard Ernst

David Crocket

Full Name: Mr. David Crockett
Place of Birth: Greene County, Tennessee, USA
Died: March 6, 1836
Place of Death: San Antonio, Texas, USA
Classification: Heroes & Icons

David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was a celebrated 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician; referred to in popular culture as Davy Crockett and often by the epithet “King of the Wild Frontier.” He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas Revolution, and died at the Battle of the Alamo. His nickname was the stuff of legend, but in life he shunned the title “Davy” and referred to himself exclusively as “David

Embodied as the King of the Wild Frontier, Davy Crockett became an icon of a rough, tough, and savvy expanding nation. In his autobiography entitled The Narrative of the Life of Davy Crocket, he claims to have killed a bear at the age of three, quit school by age nine, traveled all of Tennessee and other States, become a hunter, trapper, and excellent marksmen, and returned home before he was fifteen.

Already known as a public figure who stood strong for the true spirit of American expansion into the frontier, Crockett says it was the freedom he had experienced in his early years that allowed him to become such a natural leader of an American people with passion, but no direction. During his time in Virginia, Davy Crockett worked for farmers, wagon makers, and as a trapper and hat maker. Upon returning home, he worked to pay off his father’s debts and often won local shooting competitions because of his amazing rifle skills. After saving money and buying his own clothes, horses, rifles, and a house, he married Polly Finlay at the age of twenty. The two bore two sons and Polly died some years later. Crockett then married Elizabeth Patton, who was a widow at the time.

While some of his story has gone down as legend or myth, it is known that Davy Crocket was a man who kept his word, worked hard, and became an eloquent speaker, member of the House of Representatives and a congressman. Before his political career took off, he served in the Second Regiment of the Volunteer Mounted Rifleman in Tennessee where he fought in Alabama and quickly became a lieutenant.

In his autobiography, Davy Crockett also says he told his constituents that if he were not re-elected into the House of Representatives again, “…they could all go to hell and I will go to Texas”. Davy kept his word and when he wasn’t re-elected he joined the Texas Revolution in 1835, where he would be granted several thousands of acres for his service. When he joined the revolution, he had only 139 men under his command. When the entire group was killed after a surprise attack by Mexican forces, he left and went to fight the Battle of the Alamo. His feat at the Texas Revolution went down in history because the 139 men held off thousands of Mexican soldiers for over eleven days. When Davy Crockett’s men were finally killed, over two thousand Mexicans had been slain. Legend, lore, and myth live on about what happened in those days of battle, but Davy Crockett is still considered a martyr for the cause and spirit of the United States.

Top 10 Inspirational Biographies

A philosopher once claimed that “we can see the future better if we stand on the shoulders of giants.” We are not the first to walk this planet, and we can learn from past legends how to plan a more successful future.

Here’s a list of popular biographies that have meant something to me.

1. Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin – Few persons throughout history have succeeded in so many fields. This printer-writer-inventor-scientist-philosopher-statesman takes us on an unforgettable tour of his early struggles and eventual successes.

2. Davy Crockett: His Own Story – Here’s another autobiography of a legendary pioneer, written only two years before he died. His growth and outlook parallels that of many explorers of 19th century America.

3. Mark Twain by Ron Powers – This recent work is my favorite on the life of Samuel L. Clemens, perhaps America’s finest writer. Twain’s books continue to live and sell well nearly 100 years after his death.

4. Lincoln by David Herbert Donald – There are many books about the celebrated 16h President, and this is a superb one.

5. No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

6. Truman by David McCullough – This amazing story of Harry Truman – a vice-president suddenly asked to assume the Presidency only 12 weeks after FDR began his fourth term – discusses the life of a good man who made some of the 20th century’s most critical decisions.

7. Dale Carnegie: The Man Who Influenced Millions by Giles Kemp – Mr. Carnegie wrote one of the best-selling books of all time: How to Win Friends and Influence People. This book tells the story of a writer who has influenced thousands of people in many industries.

8. Eisenhower by Stephen E. Ambrose – This is a great book about the Allied Supreme Commander in World War II and the American President during the 1950’s.

9. The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany by Stephen E. Ambrose – This book vividly describes the war years of 1972 Presidential candidate George McGovern and his brave crew. It also discusses other flyers like the Tuskegee Airmen.

10. What Every American Should Know About American History by Dr. Alan Axelrod and Charles Phillips – This fascinating book offers a look at “200 events that shaped the nation.”

Mr. Walter Elias Disney

Full Name: Mr. Walter Elias Disney Date of Birth: December 5, 1901 Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois, USA Died: December 15, 1966 Place of Death: Los Angeles, California , USA Classification: Heroes & Icons

Although he had one failing business venture after another in his lifetime, Walt Disney never gave up hope that his dreams would one day be realized. As a young lad, Walt was a dedicated paper delivery boy and would rise early in the morning to complete his route. Later, he worked at a train station where he became amazed with the technology and science behind it. All of this with an obsessive drawing habit would lead to the creation of some of the world’s most popular characters and stories – many of which are still known today, 80 years later.

As a child, Walt grew up on a farm in Missouri. There, he would play outside with his sister, Ruth. They were both gifted at drawing at a young age; Walt would draw pictures of the neighbors’ farm animals for extra money. After only a few years, the Disney’s were forced to move to Kansas City, Missouri where Walt graduated from grammar school. In 1915, Disney attended the Kansas City Art Institute. And, in 1917, Disney found himself attending the McKinley High School in Chicago, Illinois, where he became a cartoonist for the school’s newspaper. At age 16, he quit school and attempted to join the Army. When he couldn’t enlist due to his age, he forged his paperwork and was taken with the Red Cross to serve a short stint in Germany.

Upon returning to the United States, Disney knew he wanted to be an artist for the rest of his life. But, like his father, he was also always looking for a business opportunity. After starting a couple different art companies that eventually went under, Walt decided to venture off to Hollywood. Once there, he looked for work as a live director, but soon returned to doing his short animations, based on fairy tales, such as Alice in Wonderland. After a deal with a distributor in New York, Disney began making money with his work. But, that was short-lived as Mintz took his cartoonist crew away.

Upon losing his main star, a cartoon character named Oswald; Disney supposedly came up with a new star for his short animation projects – Mickey Mouse. The newly developed mouse quickly gained popularity, as Disney did the voice and some of the design work for the new star. His first film was Plane Crazy, a silent film that showed a strong potential.

When Disney created Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he almost went under again financially. In fact, Disney had to borrow more money from the Bank of America and show why this film was going to dominate the industry – it was with sound and done in Technicolor, the first feature cartoon film of its time. Upon its release, with many claiming that it would be the end of Disney, the film grossed over 7 million dollars, or in today's figures, well over 95 million dollars profit.

With the later years of ups and downs for the animation industry, due to World War II, Disney began buying the land necessary in Florida to build Disneyland, which would later become Walt Disney World, EPCOT, and the Magic Kingdom. Over his lifetime, Disney would prove that those who have a dream, no matter how far-fetched, should always reach for the stars.

Adam Smith

Adam Smith was a Scottish political economist and philosopher. He has become famous by his influential book The Wealth of Nations (1776). Smith was the son of the comptroller of the customs at Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. The exact date of his birth is unknown. However, he was baptized at Kirkcaldy on June 5, 1723, his father having died some six months previously.

At the age of about fifteen, Smith proceeded to Glasgow university, studying moral philosophy under "the never-to-be-forgotten" Francis Hutcheson (as Smith called him). In 1740 he entered Balliol college, Oxford, but as William Robert Scott has said, "the Oxford of his time gave little if any help towards what was to be his lifework," and he relinquished his exhibition in 1746. In 1748 he began delivering public lectures in Edinburgh under the patronage of Lord Kames. Some of these dealt with rhetoric and belles-lettres, but later he took up the subject of "the progress of opulence," and it was then, in his middle or late 20s, that he first expounded the economic philosophy of "the obvious and simple system of natural liberty" which he was later to proclaim to the world in his Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. About 1750 he met David Hume, who became one of the closest of his many friends.

In 1751 Smith was appointed professor of logic at Glasgow university, transferring in 1752 to the chair of moral philosophy. His lectures covered the field of ethics, rhetoric, jurisprudence and political economy, or "police and revenue." In 1759 he published his Theory of Moral Sentiments, embodying some of his Glasgow lectures. This work, which established Smith's reputation in his own day, is concerned with the explanation of moral approval and disapproval. His capacity for fluent, persuasive, if rather rhetorical argument is much in evidence. He bases his explanation, not as the third Lord Shaftesbury and Hutcheson had done, on a special "moral sense,"nor, like Hume, to any decisive extent on utility,but on sympathy. There has been considerable controversy as how far there is contradiction or contrast between Smith's emphasis in the Moral Sentiments on sympathy as a fundamental human motive, and, on the other hand, the key role of self-interest in the The Wealth of Nations. In the former he seems to put more emphasis on the general harmony of human motives and activities under a beneficent Providence, while in the latter, in spite of the general theme of "the invisible hand" promoting the harmony of interests, Smith finds many more occasions for pointing out cases of conflict and of the narrow selfishness of human motives.

Smith now began to give more attention to jurisprudence and political economy in his lecture and less to his theories of morals. An impression can be obtained as to the development of his ideas on political economy from the notes of his lectures taken down by a student in about 1763 which were later edited by E. Cannan (Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue and Arms,1896), and from what Scott, its discoverer and publisher, describes as "An Early Draft of Part of The Wealth of Nations, which he dates about 1763.

At the end of 1763 Smith obtained a lucrative post as tutor to the young duke of Buccleuch and resigned his professorship. From 1764-66 he traveled with his pupil, mostly in France, where he came to know such intellectual leaders as Turgot, D'Alembert, AndréMorellet, Helvétius and, in particular, Francois Quesnay, the head of the Physiocratic school whose work he much respected. On returning home to Kirkcaldy he devoted much of the next ten years to his magnum opus, which appeared in 1776. In 1778 he was appointed to a comfortable post as commissioner of customs in Scotland and went to live with his mother in Edinburgh. He died there on July 17, 1790, after a painfull illness. He had apparently devoted a considerable part of his income to numerous secret acts of charity.

Shortly before his death Smith had nearly all his manuscripts destroyed. In his last years he seems to have been planning two major treatises, one on the theory and history of law and one on the sciences and arts. The posthumously published Essays on Philosophical Subjects (1795) probably contain parts of what would have been the latter treatise.

The Wealth of Nations has become so influential since it did so much to create the subject of political economy and develop it into an autonomous systematic discipline. In the western world, it is the most influential book on the subject ever published. When the book, which has become a classic manifesto against mercantalism, appeared in 1776, there was a strong sentiment for free trade in both Britain and America. This new feeling had been born out of the economic hardships and poverty caused by the war. However, at the time of publication, not everybody was convinced of the advantages of free trade right away: the British public and Parliament still clung to mercantilism for many years to come (Tindall and Shi). However, controversial views have been expressed as to the extent of Smith's originality in The Wealth of Nations. Smith has been blamed for relying too much on the ideas of great thinkers such as David Hume and Montesquieu. Nevertheless, The Wealth of Nations was the first and remains the most important book on the subject of political ecomomy until this present day.

SOCRATES

son of the statuary Sophroniscus and of the midwife Phaenarete, starts when he was born at Athens, not earlier than 471 B.C. nor later than May or June 469 B.C. As a youth he received the customary instruction in gymnastics and music; and in after years he made himself acquainted with geometry and astronomy and studied the methods and the doctrines of the leaders of Greek thought and culture. He began life as a sculptor; and in the 2nd century A.D. a group of the Graces, supposed to be his work, was still to be seen on the road to the Acropolis. But he soon abandoned art and gave himself to what may best be called education, conceiving that he had a divine commission, witnessed by oracles, dreams and signs, not indeed to teach any positive doctrine, but to convict men of ignorance mistaking itself for knowledge, and by so doing to promote their intellectual and moral improvement.
He was on terms of intimacy with some of the most distinguished of his Athenian contemporaries, and, at any rate in later life, was personally known to very many of his fellow citizens. His domestic relations were, it is said unhappy. The shrewishness of his wife Xanthippe became proverbial with the ancients, as it still is with ourselves. Aristotle, in his remarks upon genius and its degeneracy speaks of Socrates' sons as dull and fatuous; and in Xenophon’s Memorabilia, one of them, Lamprocles, receives a formal rebuke for undutiful behavior towards his mother.

Socrates served as a hoplite at Potidaea (432 - 429 B.C.), where on one occasion he saved the life of Alcibiades, at Delium (424), and at Amphipolis (422). In these campaigns his bravery and endurance were conspicuous. But while he thus performed the ordinary duties of a Greek citizen with credit, he neither attained nor sought political position. His “divine voice,” he said, had warned him to refrain from politics, presumably because office would have entailed the sacrifice of his principles and the abandonment of his proper vocation. Yet in 406 he was a member of the senate; and on the first day of the trial of the victors of Arginusae, being president of the prytanis, he resisted: first, in conjunction with his colleagues, afterwards, when they yielded, alone, the illegal and unconstitutional proposal of Callixenus, that the fate of the eight generals should be decided by a single vote of the assembly.

Not less courageous than this opposition to the civium ardor prava jubentium was his disregard of the vultus instantis tyranni two years later. During the reign of terror of 404 the Thirty, anxious to implicate in their crimes men of repute who might otherwise have opposed their plans, ordered five citizens, one of whom was Socrates, to go to Salamis and bring thence their destined victim Leon. Socrates alone disobeyed. But though he was exceptionally obnoxious to the Thirty as appears not only in this incident, but also in their threat of punishment under a special ordinance forbidding “the teaching of the art of argument,” it was reserved for the reconstituted democracy to bring him to trial and to put him to death.

In 399, four years after the restoration and the amnesty, he was indicted as an offender against public morality. His accusers were Meletus the poet, Anytus the tanner and Lycon the orator, all of them members of the democratic or patriot party who had returned from Phyle with Thrasybulus. The accusation ran thus: “Socrates is guilty, firstly, of denying the gods recognized by the state and introducing new divinities, and, secondly, of corrupting the young.”

In his unpremeditated defense, so far from seeking to conciliate his judges, Socrates defied them. He was found guilty by 280 votes, it is supposed, against 220. Meletus having called for capital punishment, it now rested with the accused to make a counter-proposition; and there can be little doubt that had Socrates without further remark suggested some smaller but yet substantial penalty, the proposal would have been accepted. But to the amazement of the judges and the distress of his friends, Socrates proudly declared that for the services which he had rendered to the city he deserved, not punishment, but the reward of a public benefactor - maintenance in the Prytaneum at the cost of the state; and although at the close of his speech he professed himself willing to pay a fine of one mina, and upon the urgent entreaties of his friends raised the amount of his offer to thirty minas, he made no attempt to disguise his indifference to the result. His attitude exasperated the judges, and the penalty of death was decreed by an increased majority.

Then in a short address Socrates declared his contentment with his own conduct and with the sentence. Whether death was a dreamless sleep, or a new life in Hades, where he would have opportunities of testing the wisdom of the heroes and the sages of antiquity, in either case he esteemed it a gain to die. In the same spirit he refused to take advantage of a scheme arranged by his friend Crito for an escape from prison.

Under ordinary circumstances the condemned criminal drank the cup of hemlock on the day after the trial; but in the case of Socrates the rule that during the absence of the sacred ship sent annually to Delos no one should be put to death caused an exceptional delay. For thirty days he remained in imprisonment, receiving his intimates and conversing with them in his accustomed manner. How in his last conversation be argued that the wise man will regard approaching death with a cheerful confidence Plato relates in the Phaedo; and, while the central argument which rests the doctrine of the soul’s immortality upon the theory of ideas must be accounted Platonic, in all other respects the narrative, though not that of an eye witness, has the air of accuracy and truth.

Annamacharya

Annamacharya was born of Narayana Suri alias Kumaranarayana and Lakshmamba of Tallapaka in Cuddapah district, Andhra Pradesh. At the age of eight, Annamacharya had to leave Tallapaka for Tirumala on a command from Lord Venkataramana in dream. The child prodigy had the vision of Alamelumanga (the damsel standing on a flower), the divine consort of Lord Srinivasa. Young Annama poured forth inspired songs numbering a hundred immediatedly at the same place, Mokallamudupu. As he ascended the seven hills, he was scaling spiritual heights too and he reached the Abode of Bliss, which to this day is an unparalleled inspiration to all categories of the public. Like the sages and the musical trinity, he was initiated into Vaishnava fold by Ghana Vishnu with Panchasamskaram rituals. Annamacharya remained at Tirumala till he attained the age of sixteen, an age immortalised by Markandeya of Tirukadayur. He had the manifestation of Lord Venkataramana and the commad of the Lord to compose not less than a song a day. his he carried out to the last. Divine will took him back to Talapaka and he married Thimmakka and Akkalamma.

Annamacharya toured the whole of South India worshipping and singing in praise of famous Vaishnavite shrines. Adivan Sathakopa Yathindra Maha Desikan (first acharya) of Ahobila Matam accepted him as his disciple and enlightened his life and mission. Inspired by the teachings of the guru, he sang the essence of Vasishtadwaita philosophy for the benefit of mankind. Saluva Narasingaraya, who ruled from Penukonda invited Annamacharya to his Court. But it was to last long. Delighted at the charm of the Poet's compositions, the Saluva expressed a desire for composing a song in praise of himself. 'Narastuti', (praise of man) was not within Annamacharya's comprehension. Quite in keeping with Prahalada's code Annamacharya told the chieftain that his compositions were of and for the Lord alone. Stung by the honest reply of the poet, the Saluva imprisoned Annamacharya. On release, Annamacharya left for his spiritual home, Tirumala.

Annamacharya, his son Pedda Tirumalacharya and his grandson Chinna Tirumala are together called as 'Tallapakam' composers. They were the first to compose songs in Telugu with Pallavi and Charanam which later composers adopted adding Anupallavi. A colossal output of thirty two thousand songs were sung by Annamacharya. Twenty thousand are not traceable. The copper plates onwhich they were inscribed are now with Sri Venkateswara Oriental Research Institute, Tirupati. The prolific composer had authored several works and the following are now available:
1. Sringara Manjari:
Poems of madura bhakti - Devotion and longing of the maiden for the Lord and her final union as in the case of Andal of Tirupavai songs symbolising the merger of the soul - jeevathma - with the ultimate - Paramathma.

2. Sringara Sankirtana:
Anthology of Nayaka - Nayika poems symbolising the Lord and the Poet in sringara.

3. Adhyatma Sankeertana:
Philosophical work expatiating on adoration.

The original Adhyatma Sankeertana in Sanskrit was transalated into Telugu by Chinna Tirumala and published by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. The works are all addressed to the patron deity, Lord Venkateswara (Venkataramana). About ninety ragas had been used for the twelve thousand songs including rakti ragas like Ahiri and Bouli which predominate. Annamacharya also wrote the Sanskrit treatise on desi song forms titled 'Sankirtana Lakshana'. His songs cover temple rituals, utsavams and certain aspects of life and after. Annmacharya has also authored other works like:
Ramayana in Dwipada kavya
Venkatachala Mahatyam in Sanskrit
Satakas - eleven and
Prabandas in different languages.

Visishtadwaitam and Lord Venkateswara were the prime themes of Annmacharya as Rama was to Tyagaraja, Guha and Devi to Muthuswami Dikshitar, Krishna to Jayadeva. The language is simple, direct, colloquial within the reach of the lay devotee. He made liberal use of folk forms to popularise the message; and it was the message of God, Dharma and Humanism. He called his songs Sankirtanas and thus came to be called 'Sankirtanacharya'. The preceptor is also called as 'Pada Kavita Pitamaha', i.e., the progenitor of padam lyrics. The devotee, poet, composer and saint is revered. The Devasthanam is taking steps to popularise his songs which are the first of their kind combining bakthi, music and sweet Telugu ( sundara Telugu, as Mahakavi Subramanya Bharati extolled its sweet charm).

Karl Marx

Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818 in Trier, where he received a classical education. He studied jurisprudence at Bonn and later in Berlin, where, however, his preoccupation with philosophy soon turned him away from law. In 1841, after spending five years in the “metropolis of intellectuals,” he returned to Bonn intending to habilitate. At that time the first “New Era” was in vogue in Prussia. Frederick William IV had declared his love of a loyal opposition, and attempts were being made in various quarters to organise one. Thus the Rheinische Zeitung was founded at Cologne; with unprecedented daring Marx used it to criticise the deliberations of the Rhine Province Assembly, in articles which attracted great attention. At the end of 1842 he took over the editorship himself and was such a thorn in the side of the censors that they did him the honour of sending a censor [Wilhelm Saint-Paul] from Berlin especially to take care of the Rheinische Zeitung. When this proved of no avail either the paper was made to undergo dual censorship, since, in addition to the usual procedure, every issue was subjected to a second stage of censorship by the office of Cologne’s Regierungspresident [Karl Heinrich von Gerlach]. But nor was this measure of any avail against the “obdurate malevolence” of the Rheinische Zeitung, and at the beginning of 1843 the ministry issued a decree declaring that the Rheinische Zeitung must cease publication at the end of the first quarter. Marx immediately resigned as the shareholders wanted to attempt a settlement, but this also came to nothing and the newspaper ceased publication.

His criticism of the deliberations of the Rhine Province Assembly compelled Marx to study questions of material interest. In pursuing that he found himself confronted with points of view which neither jurisprudence nor philosophy had taken account of. Proceeding from the Hegelian philosophy of law, Marx came to the conclusion that it was not the state, which Hegel had described as the “top of the edifice,” but “civil society,” which Hegel had regarded with disdain, that was the sphere in which a key to the understanding of the process of the historical development of mankind should be looked for. However, the science of civil society is political economy, and this science could not be studied in Germany, it could only be studied thoroughly in England or France.

Therefore, in the summer of 1843, after marrying the daughter of Privy Councillor von Westphalen in Trier (sister of the von Westphalen who later became Prussian Minister of the Interior) Marx moved to Paris, where he devoted himself primarily to studying political economy and the history of the great French Revolution. At the same time he collaborated with Ruge in publishing the Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher, of which, however only one issue was to appear. Expelled from France by Guizot in 1845, he went to Brussels and stayed there, pursuing the same studies, until the outbreak of the February revolution. Just how little he agreed with the commonly accepted version of socialism there even in its most erudite-sounding form, was shown in his critique of Proudhon’s major work Philosophie de la misère, which appeared in 1847 in Brussels and Paris under the title of The Poverty of Philosophy. In that work can already be found many essential points of the theory which he has now presented in full detail. The Manifesto of the Communist Party, London, 1848, written before the February revolution and adopted by a workers’ congress in London, is also substantially his work.

Expelled once again, this time by the Belgian government under the influence of the panic caused by the February revolution, Marx returned to Paris at the invitation of the French provisional government. The tidal wave of the revolution pushed all scientific pursuits into the background; what mattered now was to become involved in the movement. After having worked during those first turbulent days against the absurd notions of the agitators, who wanted to organise German workers from France as volunteers to fight for a republic in Germany, Marx went to Cologne with his friends and founded there the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, which appeared until June 1849 and which people on the Rhine still remember well today. The freedom of the press of 1848 was probably nowhere so successfully exploited as it was at that time, in the midst of a Prussian fortress, by that newspaper. After the government had tried in vain to silence the newspaper by persecuting it through the courts – Marx was twice brought before the assizes for an offence against the press laws and for inciting people to refuse to pay their taxes, and was acquitted on both occasions – it had to close at the time of the May revolts of 1849 when Marx was expelled on the pretext that he was no longer a Prussian subject, similar pretexts being used to expel the other editors. Marx had therefore to return to Paris, from where he was once again expelled and from where, in the summer of 1849, [about August 26 1849] he went to his present domicile in London.

In London at that time was assembled the entire fine fleur [flower] of the refugees from all the nations of the continent. Revolutionary committees of every kind were formed, combinations, provisional governments in partibus infidelium, [literally: in parts inhabited by infidels. The words are added to the title of Roman Catholic bishops appointed to purely nominal dioceses in non-Christian countries; here it means “in exile”] there were quarrels and wrangles of every kind, and the gentlemen concerned no doubt now look back on that period as the most unsuccessful of their lives. Marx remained aloof from all of those intrigues. For a while he continued to produce his Neue Rheinische Zeitung in the form of a monthly review (Hamburg, 1850), later he withdrew into the British Museum and worked through the immense and as yet for the most part unexamined library there for all that it contained on political economy. At the same time he was a regular contributor to the New York Tribune, acting, until the outbreak of the American Civil War, so to speak, as the editor for European politics of this, the leading Anglo-American newspaper.

The coup d’etat of December 2 induced him to write a pamphlet, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, New York, 1852, which is just now being reprinted (Meissner, Hamburg), and will make no small contribution to an understanding of the untenable position into which that same Bonaparte has just got himself. The hero of the coup d’état is presented here as he really is, stripped of the glory with which his momentary success surrounded him. The philistine who considers his Napoleon III to be the greatest man of the century and is unable now to exaplin to himself how this miraculous genius suddenly comes to be making bloomer after bloomer and one political error after the other – that same philistine can consult the aforementioned work of Marx for his edification.

Although during his whole stay in London Marx chose not to thrust himself to the fore, he was forced by Karl Vogt, after the Italian campaign of 1859, to enter into a polemic, which was brought to an end with Marx’s Herr Vogt (London, 1860). At about the same time his study of political economy bore its first fruit: A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, Part One, Berlin, 1859. This instalment contains only the theory of money presented from completely new aspects. The continuation was some time in coming, since the author discovered so much new material in the meantime that he considered it necessary to undertake further studies.

At last, in 1867, there appeared in Hamburg: Capital. A Critique of Political Economy, Volume I. This work contains the results of studies to which a whole life was devoted. It is the political economy of the working class, reduced to its scientific formulation. This work is concerned not with rabble-rousing phrasemongering, but with strictly scientific deductions. Whatever one’s attitude to socialism, one will at any rate have to acknowledge that in this work it is presented for the first time in a scientific manner, and that it was precisely Germany that accomplished this. Anyone still wishing to do battle with socialism, will have to deal with Marx, and if he succeeds in that then he really does not need to mention the dei minorum gentium.” [“Gods of a lesser stock;” meaning, celebrities of lesser stature.]

But there is another point of view from which Marx’s book is of interest. It is the first work in which the actual relations existing between capital and labour, in their classical form such as they have reached in England, are described in their entirety and in a clear and graphic fashion. The parliamentary inquiries provided ample material for this, spanning a period of almost forty years and practically unknown even in England, material dealing with the conditions of the workers in almost every branch of industry, women’s and children’s work, night work, etc.; all this is here made available for the first time. Then there is the history of factory legislation in England which, from its modest beginnings with the first acts of 1802, has now reached the point of limiting working hours in nearly all manufacturing or cottage industries to 60 hours per week for women and young people under the age of 18, and to 39 hours per week for children under 13. From this point of view the book is of the greatest interest for every industrialist.

For many years Marx has been the “best-maligned” of the German writers, and no one will deny that he was unflinching in his retaliation and that all the blows he aimed struck home with a vengeance. But polemics, which he “dealt in” so much, was basically only a means of self-defence for him. In the final analysis his real interest lay with his science, which he has studied and reflected on for twenty-five years with unrivalled conscientiousness, a conscientiousness which has prevented him from presenting his findings to the public in a systematic form until they satisfied him as to their form and content, until he was convinced that he had left no book unread, no objection unconsidered, and that he had examined every point from all its aspects. Original thinkers are very rare in this age of epigones; if, however, a man is not only an original thinker but also disposes over learning unequalled in his subject, then he deserves to be doubly acknowledged.

As one would expect, in addition to his studies Marx is busy with the workers’ movement; he is one of the founders of the International Working Men’s Association, which has been the centre of so much attention recently and has already shown in more than one place in Europe that it is a force to be reckoned with. We believe that we are not mistaken in saying that in this, at least as far as the workers’ movement is concerned, epoch-making organisation the German element – thanks precisely to Marx – holds the influential position which is its due.

Gautam Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama(Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali:Siddhattha Gotama) was aspiritual teacher in the north eastern region of the Indian subcontinent who foundedBuddhism He is regarded by Buddhists as the SupremeBuddha(Sammāsambuddha) of our age. The time of his birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE; more recently, however, at a specialist symposium on this question, the majority of those scholars who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death, with others supporting earlier or later dates.

Gautama, also known asŚākyamuni or Shakyamuni("sage of the Shakyas"), is the key figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to Gautama were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later. Early Western scholarship tended to accept the biography of the Buddha presented in the Buddhist scriptures as largely historical, but currently "scholars are increasingly reluctant to make unqualified claims about the historical factsof the Buddha's life and teachings."^[

Very little is known about Gautam Buddha. The biography of Gautam Buddha has come to know through ancient scriptures which were written after details related to him were passed by generations orally. It is stated that Gautama Siddartha was a North Indian Prince who lived between 563 and 479 BC and later on came to be known as Buddha or Enlightened One. It is stated that Queen Maya died seven days after giving birth to Gautama and Prince Siddhartha is said to have gone to Trayastrimsa Heaven and stayed there for three months to preach supreme knowledge to his mother.

Astrologers had stated that Prince Siddhartha would become a great sage on growing up if he came to know of the sufferings of mankind and in order to prevent this from happening his father King Suddhodana tried to prevent access of the outside world to Prince Siddartha and offered him all the worldly pleasures so that he could turn out to be a worthwhile king but its stated that nothing can change destiny but a visit to the kingdom changed all where he saw the sufferings of mankind and he left his kingdom to go on to become an ascetic.

Lord Buddha tried self mortification for six years but failed and traveled to Gaya and sat under a fig tree to gain enlightenment. Here he achieved what he wanted and became Buddha, a person who was released from consciousness of suffering.

It was at the age of thirty that Gautama Buddha left all his worldly belongings and devoted his life for self denial and spent the rest of his life teaching his disciples the Four Noble Truth and how they could achieve the state of Nirvana. The rest as they say is history and Buddhism spread throughout the world. This is the just of the biography of the great Gautam Buddha.

Gaius Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar (pronounced [ˈɡaː.i.us ˈjuːli.us ˈkaɪsar] in Classical Latin; conventionally /ˈɡaɪ.əs ˈdʒuːli.əs ˈsiːzər/ in English), (13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Romanmilitary and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republicinto the Roman Empire.

As a politician, Caesar made use of popularist tactics. During the late 60s and into the 50s BC, he formed political alliances that led to the so-called "First Triumvirate," an extra-legal arrangement with Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus ("Pompey the Great") that was to dominate Roman politics for several years. Their factional attempts to amass power for themselves were opposed within the Roman Senate by the optimates, among them Marcus Porcius Cato andMarcus Calpurnius Bibulus, with the sometime support of Marcus Tullius Cicero. Caesar's conquest of Gaul extended the Roman world to the North Sea, and in 55 BC he also conducted the first Roman invasion of Britain. These achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to eclipse Pompey's, while the death of Crassus contributed to increasing political tensions between the two triumviral survivors. Political realignments in Rome finally led to a stand-off between Caesar and Pompey, the latter having taken up the cause of the Senate. With the order that sent his legions across the Rubicon, Caesar began a civil war in 49 BC from which he emerged as the unrivaled leader of the Roman world.

After assuming control of government, he began extensive reforms of Roman society and government. He heavily centralised the bureaucracy of the Republic and was eventually proclaimed "dictator in perpetuity" (dictator perpetuo). A group of senators, led by Marcus Junius Brutus, assassinated the dictator on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC, hoping to restore the normal running of the Republic. However, the result was another Roman civil war, which ultimately led to the establishment of a permanent autocracy by Caesar's adopted heir, Gaius Octavianus. In 42 BC, two years after his assassination, the Senate officially sanctified Caesar as one of the Roman deities.

Much of Caesar's life is known from his own Commentaries (Commentarii) on his military campaigns, and other contemporary sources such as the letters and speeches of his political rivalCicero, the historical writings of Sallust, and the poetry of Catullus. Many more details of his life are recorded by later historians, such as Appian, Suetonius, Plutarch, Cassius Dio and Strabo.

On the Ides of March (March 15; see Roman calendar) of 44 BC, Caesar was due to appear at a session of the Senate. Mark Antony, having vaguely learned of the plot the night before from a terrified Liberator named Servilius Casca, and fearing the worst, went to head Caesar off at the steps of the forum. However, the group of senators intercepted Caesar just as he was passing the Theatre of Pompey, located in theCampus Martius, and directed him to a room adjoining the east portico.

The senators encircle Caesar.

According to Plutarch, as Caesar arrived at the Senate Tillius Cimber presented him with a petition to recall his exiled brother. The other conspirators crowded round to offer support. Both Plutarch and Suetonius say that Caesar waved him away, but Cimber grabbed his shoulders and pulled down Caesar's tunic. Caesar then cried to Cimber, "Why, this is violence!" ("Ista quidem vis est!").At the same time, Casca produced his dagger and made a glancing thrust at the dictator's neck. Caesar turned around quickly and caught Casca by the arm. According to Plutarch, he said in Latin, "Casca, you villain, what are you doing?" Casca, frightened, shouted "Help, brother!" in Greek ("ἀδελφέ, βοήθει!", "adelphe, boethei!"). Within moments, the entire group, including Brutus, was striking out at the dictator. Caesar attempted to get away, but, blinded by blood, he tripped and fell; the men continued stabbing him as he lay defenceless on the lower steps of the portico. According to Eutropius, around sixty or more men participated in the assassination. He was stabbed 23 timesAccording to Suetonius, a physician later established that only one wound, the second one to his chest, had been lethal

The dictator's last words are not known with certainty, and are a contested subject among scholars and historians alike. Suetonius reports that others have said Caesar's last words were the Greek phrase "καὶ σύ, τέκνον; (transliterated as "Kai su, teknon?": "You too, child?" in English). However, Suetonius himself says Caesar said nothing Plutarch also reports that Caesar said nothing, pulling his toga over his head when he saw Brutus among the conspirators.The version best known in the English-speaking world is the Latin phrase "Et tu, Brute?" ("And you, Brutus?", commonly rendered as "You too, Brutus"); this derives from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, where it actually forms the first half of a macaronic line: "Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar." It has no basis in historical fact and Shakespeare's use of Latin here is not from any assertion that Caesar would have been using the language, rather than the Greek reported by Suetonius, but because the phrase was already popular at the time the play was written.

According to Plutarch, after the assassination, Brutus stepped forward as if to say something to his fellow senators; they, however, fled the building.Brutus and his companions then marched to the Capitol while crying out to their beloved city: "People of Rome, we are once again free!". They were met with silence, as the citizens of Rome had locked themselves inside their houses as soon as the rumour of what had taken place had begun to spread.

A wax statue of Caesar was erected in the forum displaying the 23 stab wounds. A crowd who had amassed there started a fire, which badly damaged the forum and neighbouring buildings. In the ensuing chaos Mark Antony, Octavian (later Augustus Caesar), and others fought a series of five civil wars, which would end in the formation of the Roman Empire.

Aftermath of the assassination

Deification of Julius Caesar as represented in a 16th-centuryengraving.

The result unforeseen by the assassins was that Caesar's death precipitated the end of the Roman Republic. The Roman middle and lower classes, with whom Caesar was immensely popular and had been since before Gaul, became enraged that a small group of high-browed aristocrats had killed their champion. Antony, who had been drifting apart from Caesar, capitalised on the grief of the Roman mob and threatened to unleash them on the Optimates, perhaps with the intent of taking control of Rome himself. But, to his surprise and chagrin, Caesar had named his grandnephew Gaius Octavian his sole heir, bequeathing him the immensely potent Caesar name as well as making him one of the wealthiest citizens in the Republic. Gaius Octavian became, for all intents and purposes, the son of the great Caesar, and consequently also inherited the loyalty of much of the Roman populace. When Caesar's funeral was held several days later in the Roman Forum, Antony did not give the speech that Shakespeare penned for him more than 1600 years later ("Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears..."), but he did give a dramatic eulogy that appealed to the common people, a reflection of public opinion following Caesar's murder. Further, it was announced to the public during the funeral oration that Caesar in his will had left his private gardens on the Tiber to the Roman public as well as 300 sesterces to every enrolled Roman citizen. (While 300 sesterces was not a fortune, such was the equivalent of three month's wages for the average Roman worker, a very nice gift.) These bequests, combined with Antony's funeral oration, only served to increase Caesar's posthumous stature among the populace, increasing the grief at his death as well as the rage against his assassins. The crowd at the funeral boiled over, throwing dry branches, furniture and even clothing on to Caesar's funeral pyre, causing the flames to spin out of control, seriously damaging the Forum. The mob then attacked the houses of Brutus and Cassius, where they were repelled only with considerable difficulty, ultimately providing the spark for the Liberators' civil war, fulfilling at least in part Antony's threat against the aristocrats. However, Antony did not foresee the ultimate outcome of the next series of civil wars, particularly with regard to Caesar's adopted heir. Octavian, aged only 19 at the time of Caesar's death, proved to have considerable political skills, and while Antony dealt with Decimus Brutus in the first round of the new civil wars, Octavian consolidated his tenuous position.

In order to combat Brutus and Cassius, who were massing an enormous army in Greece, Antony needed soldiers, the cash from Caesar's war chests, and the legitimacy that Caesar's name would provide for any action he took against them. With the passage of the lex Titia on November 27, 43 BC, the Second Triumvirate was officially formed, comprised of Antony, Octavian, and Caesar's loyal cavalry commanderLepidus. It formally deified Caesar as Divus Iulius in 42 BC, and Caesar Octavian henceforth became Divi filius ("Son of a god") Seeing that Caesar's clemency had resulted in his murder, the Second Triumvirate brought back the horror of proscription, abandoned since SullaIt engaged in the legally-sanctioned murder of a large number of its opponents in order to secure funding for its forty-five legions in the second civil war against Brutus and Cassius. Antony and Octavius defeated them at Philippi.

Afterward, Mark Antony married Caesar's lover, Cleopatra, intending to use the fabulously wealthy Egypt as a base to dominate Rome. A third civil war broke out between Octavian on one hand and Antony and Cleopatra on the other. This final civil war, culminating in the latter's defeat atActium, resulted in the permanent ascendancy of Octavian, who became the first Roman emperor, under the name Caesar Augustus, a name that raised him to status of a deity.

Julius Caesar had been preparing to invade Parthia, the Caucasus and Scythia, and then swing back onto Germania through Eastern Europe. These plans were thwarted by his assassination. His successors did attempt the conquests of Parthia and Germania, but without lasting results.