Leonardo da Vinci was a gifted painter, talented musician, and dedicated scientist and inventor, designing flying machines, submarines, and even helicopters.  Yet he had a hard time finishing things, a problem anyone can relate to.  Only thirteen paintings are known to be his; as for the illustrated...

By popular demand, the 100th Who Was...? subject is Steve Irwin!Steve Irwin did not have a typical childhood. Born in Melbourne, Australia, on February 22, 1962, he was raised on the wildlife park his parents owned. He cared for the animals and especially loved reptiles--he got a python for his sixt...

Discover the man behind the chocolate bar! Milton Hershey’s life was filled with invention and innovation.  As a young man, he was not afraid to dream big and work hard.  Eventually, he learned the secret to mass-producing milk chocolate and the recipe that gave it a longer, more stable shelf life. ...

Alexander the Great conquers the New York Times best-selling Who Was...? series!When Alexander was a boy in ancient Macedon, he already had grand ambitions. He complained that his father, the great king of Macedon, wasn't leaving anything for him to conquer! This, of course, was not the case. King A...

Isaac Newton was always a loner, preferring to spend his time contemplating the mysteries of the universe. When the plague broke out in London in 1665 he was forced to return home from college. It was during this period of so much death, that Newton gave life to some of the most important theories i...

Hold on to your Viking helmets as you learn about the first known European to set foot on North America in this exciting addition to the Who Was? series!Leif Erikson was born to be an explorer. His father, Erik the Red, had established the first European settlement in present-day Greenland, and alth...

A marvel of engineering that proclaimed the might of the Emperor of Ancient Rome.The Emperor Titus opened the enormous Colosseum in AD 80 to host 100 days of games, and it will astound readers to learn what the ancient Romans found entertaining. Over 50,000 screaming fans watched gladiators battling...

Marco Polo was seventeen when he set out for China . . . and forty-one when he came back! More than seven hundred years ago, Marco Polo traveled from the medieval city of Venice to the fabled kingdom of the great Kublai Khan, seeing new sights and riches that no Westerner had ever before witnessed....

Discover the ruins of the Parthenon, one of the most famous and beautiful places in the world!     Athens, Greece, is best known for the Parthenon, the ruins of an ancient temple completed in 438 BC to honor the goddess Athena. But what many people don't know is that it only served as a temple for a...

Learn to make 56 lettered puzzles in the shapes of animals from around the world! Inside Woodimals you'll find 56 creative animal puzzle patterns, including: Beloved Dog Breeds: Golden Retriever, Labrador, Poodle, German Shepherd, Boxer, Bulldog, and more Sea Creatures: Dolphin, Humpback Whale...