Thursday, 12 November 2009
Anna_kournikova.ogg Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova born 7 June 1981) is a retired Russian professional tennis player and model. Her celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis players worldwide. At the peak of her fame, fans looking for images of Kournikova made her name one of the most common search strings on the Internet search engine Google.
Although also successful in singles, reaching World No. 8 in the world in 2000, Kournikova's specialty has been doubles, where she has at times been the World No. 1 player. With Martina Hingis as her partner, she won Grand Slam titles in Australia in 1999 and 2002. Kournikova's professional tennis career has been curtailed for the past several years, and possibly ended, by serious back and spinal problems. She currently resides in Miami Beach, Florida, and plays in occasional exhibitions and in doubles for the St. Louis Aces of World Team Tennis.
Country Russia
Residence Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Date of birth June 7, 1981 (1981-06-07) (age 28)
Place of birth Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Weight 56 kg (120 lb)
Turned pro October 1995
Plays Right; Two-handed backhand
Career prize money US$3,584,662
Following her arrival in the United States, Anna exploded onto the tennis scene, making her the internationally recognized tennis star she is today. At the age of 14, she went on to win the European Championships and the Italian Open Junior tournament. Anna also beat out the competition to win the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl, becoming the youngest player ever to win the 18 and under division at that tournament. By the end of the year, Anna was crowned the ITF Junior World Champion U-18 and Junior European Champion U-18.
In 1994, Anna Kournikova received a wild card into ITF tournament in Moscow qualifications, but lost to the third seed Sabine Appelmans. She debuted in professional tennis at age 14 in the Fed Cup for Russia, the youngest player ever to participate and win. In 1995, she turned pro, and won two ITF titles, in Midland, Michigan and Rockford, Illinois. The same year Kournikova reached her first WTA Tour doubles final at the Kremlin Cup. Partnering with 1995 Wimbledon girls' champion in both singles and doubles Aleksandra Olsza, she lost to Meredith McGrath and Larisa Neiland with 6–0, 6–1.
At age 15, she made her grand slam debut, when she reached the fourth round of the 1996 U.S. Open, only to be stopped by then-top ranked player, Steffi Graf, eventual champion. After this tournament, her ranking jumped from No. 144 to debut in Top 100 at No. 69. Kournikova was a member of the Russian delegation to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1996, she was named WTA Newcomer of the Year,[6] and she was ranked No. 57 in the end of the season.
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV born July 3, 1962, better known by his screen name of Tom Cruise, is an American actor and film producer. Forbes magazine ranked him as the world's most powerful celebrity in 2006. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and won three Golden Globe Awards. His first leading role was the 1983 film Risky Business, which has been described as "A Generation X classic, and a career-maker" for the actor. After playing the role of a heroic naval pilot in the popular and financially successful 1986 film Top Gun, Cruise continued in this vein, playing a secret agent in a series of Mission: Impossible action films in the 1990s and 2000s. In addition to these heroic roles, he played other parts such as the misogynistic male guru in Magnolia (1999) and a cool and calculating sociopathic hitman in the Michael Mann crime-thriller film Collateral (2004).
Born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV
July 3, 1962 (1962-07-03) (age 47)
Syracuse, New York, U.S.
Occupation Actor, producer
Years active 1981–present
Spouse(s) Mimi Rogers (1987–1990)
Nicole Kidman (1990–2001)
Full name Michael Fred Phelps
Nickname(s) The Baltimore Bullet
Nationality United States
Stroke(s) Butterfly, individual medley, freestyle, backstroke
Club North Baltimore Aquatic Club
Date of birth June 30, 1985 (1985-06-30) (age 24)
Place of birth Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 200 pounds (91 kg)
Michael Fred Phelps born June 30, 1985 is an American swimmer, frequently cited as the greatest swimmer and one of the greatest Olympians of all time. He has won 14 career Olympic gold medals, the most by any Olympian. As of August 2, 2009, Phelps has broken thirty-seven world records in swimming.
Phelps holds the record for the most gold medals won in single Olympics, his eight at the 2008 Beijing Games surpassed American swimmer Mark Spitz's seven-gold performance at Munich in 1972.
Born Louis Dobbs
September 24, 1945 (1945-09-24) (age 64)
Childress, Texas, U.S.
Occupation CNN News Anchor
Managing editor
Talk radio host
Spouse(s) Debi Lee Roth-Segura
Notable credit(s) Lou Dobbs Tonight
Louis "Lou" Dobbs born September 24, 1945 is an American radio host, a former television host and managing editor for CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, and an editorial columnist
Born in Childress County, Texas, Dobbs was born the son of Frank Dobbs, a co-owner of a propane business, and Lydia Mae Hensley, a bookkeeper. When Dobbs was 12, his father's propane business failed and the family moved to Rupert, Idaho. He attended Minico High School in Minidoka County, where he played tackle on the football team and served as student body president. Although accepted at the University of Idaho and Idaho State University, he was persuaded by the staff at Minico High to apply to Harvard University, where he was accepted and earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1967.
Labels: Biography of lou dobbs, Lou Dobbs picture
Jennifer Lynn Lopez born July 24, 1969, often nicknamed J.Lo, is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, fashion designer and television producer. She is the richest person of Latin American descent in Hollywood according to Forbes, and the most influential Hispanic entertainer in the U.S. according to People en Español's list of "100 Most Influential Hispanics".
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE born 25 May 1939, is an English actor of stage and screen. He has received a Tony Award and two Academy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is known to many for roles such as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and as Magneto in the X-Men films.
Born Ian Murray McKellen
25 May 1939 (age 70)
Burnley, Lancashire, England
Occupation Actor
Years active 1965 – present
Domestic partner(s) Brian Taylor (1964-1972)
Sean Mathias (1978-1988)
McKellen was born in Burnley, Lancashire, England, though he spent most of his early life in Wigan. Born shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the experience had some lasting impact on him. In response to an interview question when an interviewer remarked that he seemed quite calm in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks, he said: "Well, darling, you forget — I slept under a steel plate until I was four years old."
The Dalai Lama is a lineage of religious officials of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. "Lama" is a general term referring to Tibetan Buddhist teachers. In religious terms, the Dalai Lama is believed by his devotees to be the rebirth of a long line of tulkus, who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. The Dalai Lama is often thought to be the director of the Gelug School, but this position belongs officially to the Ganden Tripa, which is a temporary position appointed by the Dalai Lama who in practice exerts much influence.
Labels: dalai lama picture, the dalai lama photo
His Holiness the 14th the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, is the head of state and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He was born Lhamo Dhondrub on 6 July 1935, in a small village called Taktser in northeastern Tibet. Born to a peasant family, His Holiness was recognized at the age of two, in accordance with Tibetan tradition, as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama, and thus an incarnation Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion.
The Dalai Lamas are the manifestations of the Bodhisattva (Buddha) of Compassion, who chose to reincarnate to serve the people. Lhamo Dhondrub was, as Dalai Lama, renamed Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso - Holy Lord, Gentle Glory, Compassionate, Defender of the Faith, Ocean of Wisdom. Tibetans normally refer to His Holiness as Yeshe Norbu, the Wishfulfilling Gem or simply Kundun - The Presence. The enthronement ceremony took place on February 22, 1940 in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.
He began his education at the age of six and completed the Geshe Lharampa Degree (Doctorate of Buddhist Philosophy) when he was 25 in 1959. At 24, he took the preliminary examinations at each of the three monastic universities: Drepung, Sera and Ganden. The final examination was conducted in the Jokhang, Lhasa during the annual Monlam Festival of Prayer, held in the first month of every year Tibetan calendar.
MONTREAL – Canadian pop singer Celine Dion isn't pregnant after all. Dion's U.S.-based publicist, Kim Jakwerth, said Wednesday the couple's doctor had initially confirmed a pregnancy in August through in vitro fertilization. When that information started to leak to the public, Dion confirmed it. But a day later, she found out the embryo had not been implanted successfully. Jakwerth said Dion did not immediately announce that she wasn't pregnant because she was hopeful another implantation would work, and had wanted to keep the matter private. Jakwerth said the couple is going to keep trying.
Dion's husband Rene Angelil told the Journal de Montreal that he and Dion are disappointed but determined, and that they take comfort in the fact they already have one child.Dion, 41, and Angelil, 67, have an eight-year-old son Rene-Charles who was conceived by in vitro fertilization
Céline Marie Claudette Dion born March 30, 1968 is a Canadian singer, occasional songwriter, actress, and entrepreneur. Born to a large, impoverished family in Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record. In 1990, she released the anglophone album Unison, establishing herself as a viable pop artist in North America and other English-speaking areas of the world.
Birth name Céline Marie Claudette Dion
Born March 30, 1968 (age 41)
Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada
Origin Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genres Pop, pop rock
Occupations Singer, songwriter, actress
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1980–present
Labels Saisons, Super Étoiles, TBS (1981–1986)
CBS Records Canada (1986–1990)
550 (1992–2000)
Epic (1990–2007)
Columbia (2007–present)